Penrith took on a Sale FC side reputed to be one of the richest clubs
outside the Premiership. In recent seasons they have flexed their
financial muscle winning back to back promotions and the squad that
faced the Cumbrians looked to have been assembled at great cost with
talk of Sale Sharks Acadamy, Wigan Warriers and Sedgley Park.
At half time Penrith looked to have more than met their match but by
the end of the game they were very unfortunate to come away with
nothing.
Penrith didn't have the best of starts losing captain Ryan Johnson in
the warm up to a reoccurrence of a back injury he could not run off.
After that Ben Littleton got them off to a decent start kicking a
penalty after five minutes following an early period of possession and
pressure forcing the penalty.
They then fell behind to the softest of tries, after losing possession
just inside their own half a ruck was formed virtually on the left hand
touchline and the blind side was left undefended. The visiting scrum
half was alive to the situation, skipped down the narrow side for a
walk in from 35m out. The conversion bisected the posts as did a
penalty shortly after and after 10 minutes the home side were 3-10 down.
Littleton reduced the lead with a second penalty shot but midway
through the half Sale were going through their repertoire and Penrith
were hanging on for grim death. On the half hour they scored two tries
in as many minutes with a couple of flowing moves and almost scored
another immediately after but managed to over elaborate when it looked
easier to score than not. It just looked a matter of how many at this
stage but Penrith were given a little hope just before the break.
Sandy Kerridge broke from his own 22, launched a high kick and chased
it himself, he caught it on the half volley and raced into the
visitor's 22. The ball was cynically killed by the Sale fullback at the
ruck and Ed Swale took the penalty before anyone had a chance to react
and was over the line when the referee called play back to yellow card
the perpetrator. Swale again took the tap and when it came wide
Littleton looked to be through but was brought to a juddering halt and
as hard as they tried they could not find an opening before losing
possession and hearing the halftime whistle.
That foray would give the home side some hope at the team talk at the
break, although already trailing 6-22 it looked as if they would do
well to keep the score to acceptable proportions in the second period.
Sale continued to try and show their pedigree but were masters of their
own downfall as the backs dropped a pass as part of an expansive move.
It fell for Phil Armstrong who took a much more direct approach and
snapped up the ball, made as much headway as he could before releasing
Kerridge on the right who galloped in at the corner.
The home side's spirits were lifted but they were having a poor
afternoon with injuries. Not only had they lost their influential
captain before the game started but their hooker James Thornton had
limped off the field with what looked like a serious knee problem just
before the break and now Gary Hodgson had taken a knock to the head and
was escorted off. Three of the sides leading forwards missing and still
a mountain to climb.
It was the remaining forwards who got their side right back into the
game, from a line out close to the visitor's line they took the ball
and battered the line, they followed the rolling maul with numerous
pick and drives and it was eventually James Hogg who crossed the line.
Littleton's conversion pulled the score back to 18-22 and it was game
on with Sale not looking anything like as composed as they had earlier
in the game.
Sale did goal a penalty to go seven points ahead before Penrith came
storming back and again it was the forwards battering the line, Sale
again and again were cynically killing the ball and Swale kicked the
ball to the corner for a 5m attacking lineout. Teenager Dan Richardson
took the lineout throw as he did all afternoon and the forwards again
drove for the line, they were held up and this time the ball was spun
wide left, the pass to winger Jon Fell wasn't too accurate as it
bounced in front of him but he sped onto it and sped outside the last
man and Littleton's kick levelled the scores at 25 apiece.
The home side now looked as if they were in the ascendancy and could go
on and claim the game in the final quarter but the next play of the
game was to prove pivotal. They secured the restart but took too long
in launching the clearance kick, it was charged down and in the
scramble that followed Sale won a lineout on the Penrith line.
Their tails up again at such an opportunity they caught and drove the
throw for a forwards try and never looked back. On 40 minutes they
kicked the penalty that robbed the home side of a bonus and try though
they may Penrith could not get another score to get something out of
the game their efforts certainly deserved.
The graft and spirit had been excellent, their refusal to accept defeat
half way through the game when it looked inevitable was exemplary but
it didn't add up to any points. The PD Edenhall Man Of The Match was
youngster Dan Richardson who had rewarded the coaching staff's belief
in him with an outstanding performance when one or two eyebrows were
raised at the decision to start him. He will start a lot more games as
the season goes on!