Counties 1 Cumbria newcomers Penrith 2nds picked up a deserved 26-5 home win over Whitehaven.
They were on the front foot from the start, camped deep inside the opposition half for long periods.
They dominated possession and field position, but stray passes and the occasional lapse in discipline allowed Whitehaven to clear their lines.
The visitors showed very spirited defence to repel the home team time and time again and they actually took a surprise lead against the run of play.
On a rare foray into the Penrith half they managed an unconverted try through Kyle Jenkinson just before half time.
Whitehaven were by no means at full strength but they had some very capable rugby players within their group.
They showed great togetherness and spirit throughout the game and the players involved were a credit to their club.
Their try five minutes before half-time seemed to spur Penrith into action and a short ball by Matty Boustead found Will Morgan on the charge through midfield.
He then offloaded to Jack Tinkler who was brought down two metres short, but quick ball allowed captain Dan Morgan to dive over for a well taken converted try for a half time lead of 7-5.
The second half started well for Penrith with the forwards running strongly and with more purpose. Robbie Phillipson again impressed as did eventual man of the match Aaron Cavaghan.
Early in the second half Morgan got over the line with a typical barnstorming run from 25 metres after great work from Mo Geranshaub and Zac Parkin.
Whitehaven had their spells but good defence from the Penrith back-row kept their much bigger opponents at bay.
A further long distance try was added by Boustead who showed his class beating a number of opponents on the way to the line.
This score finally took the game away from the away side and there was still time for Boustead to show his class cutting inside from halfway to score under the posts.
