North Ribblesdale Under 13’s 12 – 33 Penrith Under 13’s

On Sunday 15th April the Penrith under 13 squad travelled to North Yorkshire for a match against the North Ribblesdale team at their home in Settle. A bright day offered good conditions for running rugby in the wonderful surroundings of the hosts ground and a good match was anticipated by all.

Penrith got off to a good start, keeping the home team pinned back in their own half with good phases of play. The North Ribblesdale team managed to withstand the pressure from their visitors for a while but eventually good handling allowed Freddie Pritchard, playing on the Penrith wing, to score the first try of the match which was well converted by Myles Harrop. The Penrith forwards rucked well which kept the home team on the back foot, allowing the backs to launch attacks towards their opponents try line. On two such occasions, powerful runs through the centre saw David Whittle score further tries for the visitors, both of which were converted by Myles Harrop. Although North Ribblesdale defended well, managing to withstand long periods of sustained pressure from the Penrith team, they were again beaten down the wing after a good passing move which allowed Freddie Pritchard to score his second try as the match reached half time. Once again Myles Harrop added the conversion to make the score 28-0 at the interval.

In the second half changes were made to the Penrith team as all squad members were utilised and this appeared to unsettle the away team and North Ribblesdale took full advantage with an early try and conversion. As the half progressed the match was punctuated by handling errors from both teams and this combined with good tackling from each set of players to limit the scoring opportunities until eventually the home team showed good passing skills to score in the corner. Still with a comfortable lead the visiting team were able to see out the match without allowing their opponents to gain any further ground on them. In the final minute of the game the Penrith number 8, Ben Dixon, picked up the ball from the base of one of the many scrums and crossed the try line making the full-time score 33-12 in favour of Penrith.

Despite the handling errors the whole Penrith under 13 squad can be commended for their efforts throughout the game against opponents who played their part in a good spirited match and who displayed determined efforts of their own.

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