League Cup – Penrith U18 Colts v Manchester Broughton PK U18 Colts
 
The quarter-final of the Halbro North West Senior Cup was a welcome home fixture at Winters Park on a sunny spring like day. The visitors were in high spirits and full of confidence, they remained unbeaten all season in the “D” league. We had the rare luxury of a full squad and a large crowd who were thoroughly entertained with some fine open play. With 20 minutes in Penrith had accrued a 26 – 0 advantage and a buffer that was never under real threat. The visitors eventually settled and started to play to their strength up front with some big ball carriers making good yards in the rucks and mauls. We conceded a string of penalties to give away possession and territory deep in our half, the visitor's hard work was rewarded with two tries to narrow the gap on Penrith’s four at half-time.
The second half was similar to the first with the lads putting in an awesome shift to keep the momentum and scoreboard ticking over. A late injury-time try from the visitors went some way to make the score more respectable but had no real effect on the full-time result, 52 – 26.

The visitors started the game kicking deep, our pack handled the ball well and started to make headway up the pitch. MBP were on the back foot and under pressure where mistakes were made. A couple of quick tap penalties and we were within sight of the line. A second phase offload found Sony Askins with just yards to crash over. The hard work of the forwards in open play continued to give our talented backline quick ball that challenged the visitor's defence and exploited gaps. Andy Connor at centre got the next two tries in quick succession. The first from a penalty line-out on the 22m, he gathered a short ball running a straight line weaving his way to the posts. Angus Dixon made the extras. His second came 4 minutes later, the forwards had a slow ball from a ruck on the 22m line, we were stacked left with a pod at the ready. Instead, the ball was shifted right finding Andy at first receiver, a couple of side steps and an injection of pace took him over for his second try. Angus again converting.
The best try of the game came from the re-start. Having safely gathered the ball it was recycled back up onto halfway. Ashton Hook at scrum half darted up the short blind-side on the right and made a timely offload to James Bent at full-back. He made good yards deep into the opposition's half before offloading to Isaac Murray who in turn drew the last defender before the final pass went back to James. The path opened all the way to the posts for a converted try. A little shell-shocked the visitors did manage to claw back two tries before the half-time whistle to remind us they weren’t here to make up the numbers and that they posed a serious threat.

From the off at the start of the second half, we put the defenders under pressure, a poor clearing kick was returned and we were rewarded with a 22m line-out. We continued to press and were eventually bungled into touch on the 5m line. Although MBP secured their own ball at the line-out the exit strategy was poor. A short pass to a prop inside the try line was fumbled, and a diving Matt Austwick capitalised on the mistake for another early score. From the re-start we knocked the ball on, the visitor's powerful pack then started to make ground down the pitch off the fringes of the rucks. A couple of quick tap penalties later and another seven points were secured.
With no clear exit strategy, the visitors repeatedly tried to run the ball out of their own 22m where poor decisions were made along with poor ball handling. We were quickly back on the scoreboard through right-wing Ollie Kellett. A 5m scrummage on the left saw the ball spun out wide where Ollie still had work to do with a fullback covering across at full pace. Strength in the tackle shrugged him off to secure another five points. Andy Connor added another for his hat-trick in a repeat performance, another 5m scrum on the left. This time a pop pass to Andy running at pace from inside centre direct and straight met with little opposition. Our last try came as a result of the visitor's desperate attempt to clear their lines. A poorly executed kick dropped straight into the arms of left wing Tom Edmondson, he needed no second invitation with plenty of space for him to run into and over the line. Late into time added on the visitors had the last say, full-time score 52 – 26.

A massive well done to all the lads for a well-deserved win. “Hats off” to Andy Connor for his hat-trick!
We now have a semi-final place at home to a very strong Chester Senior Colts on Sunday 14th April 2pm kick-off.