Penrith avoided a potential banana skin in Regional Two North when they won 62-22 at relegation-threatened Stockton.
But it still proved to be an awkward day in the North East as they had transport problems and then faced extremely windy and cold playing conditions.
This would make their open running rugby style difficult and although the pitch was in good condition for mid-January they would have preferred it much firmer.
The Winters Park men opted to play into the wind which was blowing straight down the ground and they couldn’t have got to a better start.
They scored from their own half as Jamie McNaughton joined the line off the blindside wing and made the break up the middle of the field.
He then found Jay Rossi on his inside who fed the ball to George Graham on the 22 and he ran in under the posts for an early seven point lead.
It was clear Stockton weren’t going to be dangerous from their own half but if the visitors made too many mistakes, then conceded penalties, it could be different.
Wind assisted kicks deep into the 22 suggested the home side could win an arm wrestle on the line and force their way over.
This is exactly what they did do to level the scores and then kicked a penalty to lead by three.
However, Penrith always looked dangerous with ball in hand and retook the lead when James Thompson claimed line-out ball on the 22.
Play was moved left and when it was recycled and came back right Rossi danced his way through the home defence to score from the ten metre line.
From the off the Cumbrians were bossing the set scrums and on a number of occasions opted for the scrum when awarded a penalty in an attacking position. This led to their third try when the ball came to Mike Fearon who made the half break and had Rossi on his shoulder to take the pass and stroll in.
Penrith then invited their hosts deep into their 22 following a couple of knock-ons and a penalty and again they won the close quarter battle on the visitors’ line to pull themselves back within two points.
Penrith finished the half opting for a scrum when awarded a penalty under the posts and Archie Rattray scored from number eight, although he didn’t get clean ball and had to out-muscle half the home pack to get over the line.
Penrith started the second period 24-17 to the good with the wind at their backs and could have been expected to run away with the game but that didn’t happen initially.
Fraser Nicolson did get the next score when he skipped outside his winger to score on the left but one or two poor decisions, a brace of penalties conceded and some rank bad tackling saw Stockton score a third try and with half an hour to go they were within a score.
Penrith then got their act together and dominated the remainder of the game and scored five unanswered tries to get the outcome they were looking for but it was all just a bit scruffy.
A quickly taken Graham tap penalty saw Andy Muir power over from close range; 17-year-old debutant Rob Coward then took a Graham pass to finish well in the corner before Muir added another via a catch and drive from the line-out.
The home side then tried to run the ball from their own 22 looking for a fourth try with no luck. They dropped the ball in front of their posts and Arran Pamphilon seized on the chance to score before Muir completed his hat-trick with an interception. Young Coward topped his afternoon by slotting the final conversion.
