Penrith were disappointed by their defeat at the hands of a confident
Kirkby Lonsdale side but could have no argument with the result as
clearly the better side won. They cannot make as many basic, unforced
errors and expect to beat a side who had won their last half dozen
games with an economic efficient approach to the game.
The home side started well enough, Pale Tuilagi hoisted a near perfect
kick off which the ever improving Harlan Corrie won in the air, they
then proceeded to put together a series of plays which took them close
to the Kirkby line before being penalised. They were soon back on the
attack and took the lead in the fourth minute following a lineout on
the 22. JJ Key took the ball and driving play by first Ryan Johnson and
then Craig Price earned them a penalty which Mike Fearon converted.
Kirkby Lonsdale then levelled the scores with a well struck penalty
from wide out before Fearon restored the lead with another good
strike,
this time head on to the posts from the 10m line. The visitors then had
a period in the ascendancy and their half backs were running the game,
outside half David Barton was well known as he had a season at the club
four years ago and although he was subject to a bit of special
attention he made the break for the first try of the game which was
followed by a couple of smart off loads for a try in the corner, He was
instrumental in a second try switching play to the narrow side of the
scrum and creating the space for a try in the opposite corner. At this
stage the game was drifting away from the home side who were 6-15 in
arrears and struggling to put their game together with problems at the
scrummage and with individual handling errors adding to their woes.
They got back into the game on the half hour with a well worked try, a
penalty was kicked to the 22 and the home eight took the lineout and
drove the resulting maul into the red zone, the ball then came wide and
Tuilagi found Kris Bratton with a perfectly weighted wide pass and he
hit the gap between the outside centre and the winger. He was through
on the fullback who took the dummy and the try was scored close to the
posts, the conversion went over and Penrith were within two points.
They then immediately put themselves under unnecessary pressure when
the kick off was secured but the clearance kick from just outside the
22 went directly into touch and they had to defend a lineout in an
attacking position. Kirkby won the lineout, their forwards rumbled
forward and the home side conceded a penalty and a decent strike left
them trailing by five points.
The second half started much as the first had finished with the home
side inviting pressure on themselves, a simple dropped pass in their 22
allowed excellent field position for the visitor's scrum. An under
pressure Penrith pack conceded a penalty at the scrum and they were a
further three points behind.
Again they failed to help themselves, a hastily taken 22 drop out with
players in front of the ball lead to another good position for the
visitor's scrum on the 22, clean ball was then moved through several
phases of play before forcing their way over in the corner for an
unconverted try. A further penalty for an infringement at the scrummage
saw the visitors pull their lead out to 29-13 and with 20 minutes left
on the clock Penrith were looking down the barrel.
Kirkby were looking for a fourth try for a bonus point but Penrith
never gave in, although they became a little frayed at the edges and
their composure and discipline left a little to be desired the effort
didn't drop although the frustration was clear to see. They nearly got
a score back when James Boustead floated a delightful pass out to
Darren Lee on the wing who scorched past his winger and took the
fullback on on the outside only to be pulled down just short and be
penalised for a double movement. They did get on the score sheet at the
death with some frantic attacking in the visitor's 22. They ran a
couple of tap penalties as Kirkby defended desperately and finally Will
Morgan forced his way over if only to make the score look more
respectable.
This is the first game Penrith have failed to take at least a losing
bonus point but the margin of defeat was not that great, they have lost
half the league games they have played and this is probably the only
game they couldn't claim they might of won. They are not a million
miles away but this defeat in reality means they will not be competing
at the very top of the league as the season progresses.