Penrith Canoe Club took part in its first multi-club tournament for over two years.
The club was invited to the pre-season tournament at Lancaster University on Sunday.
A spokesman said: “Not having played a tournament with other clubs since pre-COVID, there were nerves about how we would fare, especially as the team had three new young players, with little tournament experience. There were four teams from Lancaster University and two teams from Sheffield University. Penrith was invited as the organiser is an ex-Penrith player!”
Nerves were soon calmed after winning the first match against Sheffield A 6-1 with goals from Jethro Carrot, Tom Nelson, Avery Bolton and Tim Mather.
Having watched the initial games, Penrith identified key players to look out for against Lancaster and successfully kept them well marked to win the second game against Lancaster Comets 4-2 with goals from Tim Mather, Dan Farley and Tom Nelson.
In the third match, Penrith found their form, defending well against Lancaster Asteroids and winning 5-0 with goals from Jethro Carrot, Tom Nelson and Dan Farley.
In the fourth match, Penrith were on fire, winning 10-0 against Sheffield B with goals from Jethro Carrot, Tom Nelson and Avery Bolton. In the fifth match against Lancaster Astronauts, Penrith had to fight hard and with two minutes to go it was still 0-0.
However, a flurry of breaks in the last two minutes saw Penrith win 5-0.
In the last match of the evening, Lancaster combined their best players. This proved to be a well fought game, but Penrith managed to go two in front. However, Lancaster came back to finally draw 3-3. Penrith goals from Jethro Carrot, Tim Mather and Tom Nelson.
A great tournament to boost Penrith’s confidence ahead of the national leagues, which are starting in a new format after the COVID shutdown
