Penrith 2nd team took a large squad to Carlisle for their clash under the Warwick Road floodlights.
They were never behind in a good well contested game that was a deal closer than the 36-17 score would suggest.
Penrith largely owed their victory to the sharpness of Nick Dudson at outside half and the strong tackling and tenacity of their starting back row in the first half of Mo Geranshoab, Lewis Birkbeck and young Archie Rattray,
But the whole squad contributed as team manager Chris Watson rang the changes as the game progressed.
Penrith got off to a strong start with probably their best 15 on the pitch and had three early tries on the board from Dudson, Rattray and Tom Kirk.
They would have been more than 15 points to the good had their goal kicking not been so wayward.
Carlisle then got their game together and rewarded just before the break with a try of their own when a high kick was hoisted into the visitor’s 22 and was allowed to bounce.
Euan Forlow was first to the ball and he scored a simple try which was converted by Jake Whittasker.
They were back in the game at half-time and it was even closer shortly after the break when Ben Tiffen forced his way over in the corner to trail by just three points.
Dudson then took the game away from the hosts as his side provided him with quality running ball and he scored three top notch tries, two from distance, and converted them himself taking his points tally in the second half to 21 and 26 for the game.
Carlisle looked the part especially in the backs where they ran the ball well with some pace but centres Adam Pate and Ben Brookes were up to the task and Brookes in particular made some storming runs, bouncing off many would-be tacklers.
The home side’s effort never faltered and they got a third try at the death from Jack Bell following a clever cross kick.
It was a decent game watched by a tidy number and a good work out for all concerned.
The pleasing feature for Carlisle was that all three try-scorers were making their senior debuts.
