Travelling to the north-east on Sunday 22nd April the Penrith under 13 squad came up against Darlington Mowden Park. Having played this team at home on the first day of the season the Penrith team knew they would be facing a well organised outfit with a strong pack. Although the result earlier in the season had gone Penrith’s way Mowden Park had strengthened their squad since then and the visitors knew that they would have to play well to get a good result against a team with some very big players amongst their numbers.

For the first few minutes of the game both teams looked for weaknesses amongst their opponents but the defences held firm. However, as the game approached the ten minute mark, Alex Pantechis broke through to score the first try of the match for Penrith and then, almost straight from the re-start, the visitors struck again after a flowing move saw some great passing which released David Whittle to score. The Penrith team then began to dominate in all areas of the game and although the home team battled well, slick passing and strong running saw a further try for the visitors through Freddie Pritchard. Inside the final ten minutes of the half, the Penrith team were reduced to 13 players with two players sent to the sin-bin in quick succession for what the referee saw as dangerous tackling. Undaunted, the remaining players for the away team not only continued to defend their lead but extended it as David Whittle showed his pace and strength to score twice more and Myles Harrop side-stepped several opponents on his way to crossing the try line. The final try of the half was converted by David Whittle to make the half time score 32-0 in favour of Penrith.

For the first few minutes of the second half Penrith continued with a reduced complement of players but in that time they managed to cross the try-line once again as good support play from Fergus Vecqueray saw him score from close range. Once they were fully restored to 15 players Penrith scored a further three tries. First Alex Pantechis outpaced the defence to score his second which David Whittle converted and then David Whittle completed a prolific personal tally by scoring the final two tries for Penrith. With over 50 unanswered points for the visiting team on the scoreboard the referee finished the match early giving Penrith a 54-0 victory.

Once again the full squad of Penrith players had a hand in producing a good performance and result for the team. The forwards more than matched their much bigger opponents with strong rucking and powerful surges into the opposition territory and the handling amongst the whole team encouraged players to run on to the ball at pace which enabled them to secure a good victory. Mowden Park deserve to be congratulated in the way that they continued to play with maximum effort through to the final whistle and although they were unable to get on the scoreboard they remained well organised throughout the game.

The Penrith squad consisted of: Lewis Birkbeck, Jake Borgogno, Thomas Broadhead, Adam Cutting, Ben Dixon, Jake Edmondson, Syd Ellwood, Alex Fawcett, Euan Gillespie, Thomas Graves, Nathan Hamilton, Myles Harrop, Adam Howe, Jack Huddart, Will Melling, Alex Pantechis, Freddie Pritchard, Kyle Ryder, Keegan Shaw, Fergus Vecqueray, David Whittle.