Penrith 13's Reach County Cup Final

Unfortunately the latter turned up on Sunday at Frenchfields for the County Cup semi-final and as a result an error strewn yet exciting match followed that can also be attributed to a hungry Kirkby Lonsdale team.

Penrith were under pressure from the off and only some impressive box kicking and general clearance kicks by man-of-the-match Jamie Fawcett at scrum half relieved the pressure. Billy Waistell tackled superbly as did Vince Chan who later in the match brought audible gasps from the large crowd with one bone-crunching tackle.

Penrith got their noses in front after some good pressure through the forwards with Max Lancaster, Alex Verrall and Sam King showing glimpses of the forward power that they are capable of. Jamie Fawcett exhibited some quick thinking with a quick tap and go and dived under three defenders to score. An outstanding conversion kick from Aiden Young added the two points – a crucial score as it turned out.

The much larger Kirkby Lonsdale pack and a huge front row in particular made life difficult for Ryan Williamson, Vince Chan and Will Holliday but they battled well and stuck to their task. Will unfortunately suffered a broken thumb yet would have carried on if the coaches had let him!
After the break KL clearly wanted to win this one and after lots of errors by both sides managed to secure a try after a Penrith scrum looked to have been shunted backwards before the put in but was missed by the referee. The conversion was missed though so Penrith maintained a slender lead of two points.

Will Holme and Ollie Baty showed well in the loose with some impressive defending as did Jamie Braithwaite who made an outstanding cover tackle out wide. More handling mistakes meant the much vaunted Penrith back-line didn’t really get going all match but the team displayed some dogged determination when things weren’t really going for them.

The score remained 7-5 despite KL battering the Penrith line. The last play of the match was a penalty to KL that they chose to kick for goal but it fell short and Penrith were able to celebrate a hard fought victory and can now look forward to a County Cup Final. This team deserve it for their determination but the feeling is the ‘other’ Penrith 13 team will need to turn up if they are to be crowned Kings of the County.

Man of the Match – Jamie Fawcett