Penrith were unfortunate to come back from Whickham without a point last night as they lost out 2-1 to their hosts.
A bizarre second goal made all the difference in a game where a draw would have been the fairest outcome.
Penrith boss Darren Edmondson said: “There wasn’t a lot in the game, and actually we had probably more of the territory, but their second goal was so unfortunate for us.
“It was one of those where a shot is blocked but spun into the air and over Aaran Taylor into the net – so unlucky.”
Penrith had only arrived at the Wickham ground 25 minutes ahead of kick-off so preparations were poor and unsurprisingly they started slowly.
Scott Robson gave them the lead after 21 minutes before Penrith settled and it was an even contest up to half-time.
Edmondson said: “Robson is a dangerous player, who scored a lot of goals for them last season. He got away, and I thought we had closed him down but he was still able to finish with the opening goal.
“We levelled early in the second-half and dominated possession and territory. Their keeper had to go off and they had to use an outfield player but he pulled off two fine saves to keep it at 1-1.
“Then nine minutes from the end their lad had a shot which struck a defender and somehow looped up and over Aaran into the net for the winning goal. It was a bit hard to take because there was nothing in the game and we should have had something.”
Luke Hunter had scored the Penrith equaliser after 49 minutes.
