Penrith came away from the North East pleased with their afternoon’s work in Regional Two North.
They beat Consett 45-12 having known they needed a bonus point win to keep up with the pace at the top of the table.
It was far from a foregone conclusion though on a cold breezy afternoon which didn’t lend itself to the Cumbrians’ style of play.
In addition Consett were far from the poorest side the Cumbrians have played this season and were physical in attack and defence, running and tackling hard.
In previous seasons the Winters Park men might have struggled but their forwards stood up to the test well here and the backs always had the guile and pace to do the rest.
They couldn’t have had a better start after Archie Rattray won a penalty at the breakdown in the first minute. Jamie McNaughton, with the wind at his back, launched the kick to the 22. The line-out was overthrown but Mike Fearon was up quickly to secure possession and set up the ruck.
The ball came to Andy Muir as first receiver and he flipped it on to Mason Lewthwaite who hit the gap, made a clean break and outpaced the cover for the early try.
They then conceded a needless penalty which allowed the home side into their 22 and some slack defending saw the home side break the line to level the scores.
The visitors were not long in restoring their lead. They won turn-over ball on half-way and quickly moved it right, where Lewthwaite, Matty Boustead and Chris Jackson were all involved but the ball then ran loose just short of the line.
Fearon was on hand to scoop it up, squeeze over in the corner and run around behind the posts.
They then extended their lead after winning line-out ball in the home 22. The forwards drove for the line before the ball came to the backs, where McNaughton made the break down the middle to within ten metres of the line and the ball was then rapidly spun wide giving Boustead a clear run to the corner.
The bonus point try was all down to the strength of the forwards. From an attacking line-out five metres out they won the throw, set-up the maul and drove for the line.
They had to re-set it a couple of times but took their time and trundled over for Muir to ground the ball.
They managed a fifth try before the break and it again came from a line-out.
The ball was slapped back and George Graham managed to tidy it as it ran loose, before the pack got back and drove the ball back infield.
Graham then sniped down the blindside, with Muir and Scott Lancaster involved before the ball went wide to Craig Price on the touchline who made good progress before feeding the ball back inside to Lancaster who crossed for the try.
The Cumbrians led 33-5 at the break and although they would face the stiff breeze in the second period the result never looked in doubt.
The home side did spend more time in the visitors’ half when they had use of the wind but Penrith managed two more tries.
The pack were having the better of the set scrums but only just and put in an extra effort when on the home side’s line.
They shunted them off their own put-in and when the ball ran loose the ever alert Graham was there to snap it up and score.
The final away score came from another line-out close to the home line. The driven maul went to ground and a number of forwards were brought down inches short before Adam Howe finally powered over.
The home side then completed the scoring from a wheeled scrum which found the Penrith back row ahead of the ball and out of position and Consett got a second try their efforts over the full 80 minutes deserved.
Penrith now face two tough games where they will again have to try and secure bonus point wins to stay in contention, Percy Park at home and then probably more onerous, Middlesbrough away who are the only side who have beaten the Winters Park men so far this season.
