Vale of Lune came to Penrith on Saturday with a free scoring reputation having picked up a four try bonus point in everyone of their five games this season, they left with their reputation dented as this new look Penrith side almost stopped them in their tracks. They are an exiting young side that has not been set up with defence as a priority but they defended with some determination against a Vale team who clearly were capable of playing a good running game.
The visitors showed their intentions early on running the ball from their own 22 and even running penalties deep in their own half. In the main the Penrith tackling was more than up to the task and on the rare occasions when the line was broke there was plenty of pace to plug the gaps.
Penrith were first on the score sheet, their scrummaging was much improved and Vale were penalised on their own 22 head on to the posts when the home pack took a scrum against the head. Pale Tuilagi chipped that one over and was soon to get another two chances, the first came as Ryan Johnson broke from a scrum on his own 22, the ball then came wide on the right to Jon Fell who made ground to half way and chipped ahead. The full back tried to run the ball out, was caught on the 22 and then penalised for not releasing the ball. The attempted penalty drifted wide and from the 22 drop out Vale regained possession and were again penalised for hanging on, again the kick drifted agonisingly wide.
The visitors then had a period of extended possession as Penrith seemed to immediately gift the ball back to them when they finally got their hands on it, that said they spent some time without the ball as Vale went through their repertoire of moves as the home line held firm. The visitors were rewarded with only a penalty shot from the 10m line that levelled the scores.
As the first half drew to a close Penrith spent some time deep in Vale territory, from a free kick first Mark Bowman on for the injured Johnson, carried the ball with some conviction to be followed by Tama Toomata who carried deep into the 22. The Penrith attack petered out but a penalty had been awarded for a high tackle and Tuilagi put the ball over for the lead. He got his third kick as Vale attempted to run the ball under their own posts and were penalised for crossing.
At 9-3 up they turned round for the second half and the game looked far from won. After the first phase of play the game was up for grabs as a poor pass gifted the visitors an interception and an easy run in, the conversion came back of the post and the visitors trailed by only one point.
Penrith came back after they had kicked a penalty to the corner, the ball was thrown to the tail of the line and they then strung a series of plays together until finally the ball was released to the backs, Kris Bratton's dummy run stood up a couple of defenders and James Boustead set up Ban Littleton who hit the gap and stepped back inside the cover to score. The conversion was missed and Penrith were six points to the good but it didn't last long.
Penrith were penalised on their 22, much to their surprise and were caught napping. Vale ran the ball which was no surprise, an outrageous dummy was thrown and the defence left flat footed. The conversion went over and the Cumbrians trailed by a point.
The winning score came as they again were able to string a series of phases of play together, this time a penalty resulted and Tuilagi on his favoured left hand side of the pitch slotted it for a two point advantage. At this stage there was quarter of an hour to go and although Vale kept running the ball the Penrith tackling kept them at arms length and they saw the game out with no further scares.
It was not a vintage display but there was plenty of effort, guts and determination on show. The football pundits talk about a good side being able to win when playing badly and maybe that was the case here. There is a tricky trip to Broughton Park this Saturday and they will be buoyed after ending Bolton's two year unbeaten home record.