Penrith came away from Bradford and Bingley's Wagon Road ground with a
draw and a four try bonus point for their efforts and were reasonably
pleased with the outcome. As is always the case with draws you could
have won and Penrith could well have come away with a five point win
but in the final five minutes the home side's kicker missed two
eminently kickable shots so honours even was acceptable. The home side
would feel the harder done by.
In the first quarter the Cumbrians looked nothing like taking anything
from the game, they spent almost the entire period defending in their
own 22, when they did get hold of the ball they either kicked it
straight back to the opposition or dropped or knocked it on and invited
attack after attack. Their ball retention in this period maybe wasn't
up to much but their defending was excellent, they turned back wave
after wave of
attacks, the tackling throughout the whole side was terrific the only
thing that let them down was the penalty count.
They went three points down to a penalty and then went ten points down
when constant defending on their own line finally told. If the game was
going to continue to this pattern they would go down by a cricket score
but slowly they found some form, they strung together a few phases and
kept the ball a lot better.
They got back into the game when Ed Swale snipped blind from a ruck on
the home 22, drew the last defender and put Phil Fell away, he still
had a bit to do but made it in at the corner. Ben Littleton's touchline
conversion attempt was just inches short. Penrith were visibly growing
in confidence and Sandy Kerridge went close with a surging run into the
home 22.
They were still conceding penalties and would continue to do throughout
the game. The Yorkshire side had missed a shot at goal and from the
ensuing 22 drop out Penrith managed to retain possession, Joe Ellis ran
a good angle and his strong run saw him make a clean break up to half
way, he found Littleton wide out who stepped the home side's Tongan
international, then beat the full back for pace on the outside and ran
round under the posts to give himself the easiest of conversion.
Penrith were 12-10 ahead but half time was approaching and they did
their almost weekly trick conceding at the break, three needlessly
conceded penalties in succession gave the home pack a lineout 5m out,
they didn't need a second invitation and rumbled over for a converted
try.
Penrith started the second period strongly, Littleton was a thorn in
the side of the home team all afternoon and when he was taken out
illegally making a telling run up the left wing the penalty kick was
put in the corner. The attacking lineout was won and the pack drove for
the line, the rolling maul went to ground and they picked and drove
time and time again, with the home pack fully committed when the ball
came to scrum half Swale he fed Phil Fell on the short side and he went
in the corner from two yards. Littleton's touchline conversion put
Penrith noses in front and they looked to seal the game.
Forwards and backs were linking well, Mike Stephens made good ground
with a robust run, the ball came to Swale who made a scampering run
before releasing Will Morgan whose charge for the line saw him just
held up, he was however able to play the ball out of contact and Ellis
on his shoulder in support strode over.
Penrith were now seven points up and that might have been that but
their penalty count took it's toll again, again the Bingley side were
able to kick them selves within 5m of the try line and again their
forwards did the business and the converted try levelled the scores at
24 apiece. With quarter of an hour to go the home side were pressing
but were penalised on the Penrith 22, they lost their concentration,
centre Phil Armstrong spotted the opportunity, took a quick tap and
ran. He was through before they realised what had happened and
approaching halfway, the fullback was closing him down but Littleton
was awake to the situation and catching him fast, he was slipped the
ball by Armstrong and the fullback wasn't going to catch him, they were
5 points up with the clock ticking down.
Into the last few minutes and penalties again put the home side deep in
the Penrith 22, they opted for a 5m scrum and although they did not
score directly from it they did score from the resultant set of rucks.
That was the scores level with the conversion to come, it went wide as
did a penalty which proved to be the last kick of the game.
This was Penrith's best performance of the season by far and with the
whole squad looking to be available on a regular basis in the coming
weeks there is plenty to build on.