Penrith gained a welcome three points from a 2-1 win at Pickering Town to lift them off the bottom of the Northern League.
The Cumbrians deservedly led 2-0 at half-time with goals from Johnny Murray (34) and Luke Hunter (43), but it could have been four or five.
Harry Maguire, the Pickering goalkeeper won their man of the match award and included in his heroics was a penalty save late on.
Manager Darren Edmondson said: “We had a couple of one on ones which could have brought more goals and their young keeper made some good saves.
“We were comfortable but then ten minutes from the end they were awarded a penalty and scored from it so we had a bit of a nervous last ten minutes to get through.
“I still can’t believe the penalty. There was the usual pushing and shoving at a corner and the referee is there on the edge of the box. But it’s given by a linesman some 60 yards away so how on earth he saw something and the ref didn’t baffles me.”
It was an important win, too, because it lifted Penrith above Pickering and to fifth bottom, although they face a tough home game on Saturday against Ashington who are unbeaten with five wins from their six games.
“The thing is we are getting a bit more consistency now. The younger players are seeing what a performance needs to be successful and it’s given them confidence.
“We also don’t have a mid-week game again so that’s giving us more time to spend with the players in training and that can only help,” said Edmondson.
