Penrith Panthers travelled to Stockton Rockets for their first league game of the season and went down 60-31.
In a high-scoring game Penrith actually led 26-24 at half-time but faded out of contention after the break.
It only took 10 minutes for the try feast to start as the much bigger Stockton pack used this advantage well in the scrums.
They opened their account by turning over a Panthers scrum, moving the ball two passes out and running under the posts.
The Panthers were quick to reply, after building pressure on the Rockets five metre line where Beth Hook finally broke through after taking a short pass off Ghana Walker round the fringe of a ruck. Caitlin Wood added the conversion.
Panthers were quick to score again after Walker took a penalty quick and moved the ball wide. Wood then kicked through and out-ran the defenders to gather her own kick to score.
Stockton then turned another scrum over to score their second of the game but once again the Panthers were quick to reply.
They gained possession in the Rockets half where Karen Phillips-Craig took the ball hard off Walker, off-loaded just before the tackle to Sarah Kidd. She then drew the last defender and passed to Chloe Capstick who went over to score, with Wood adding the conversion.
The Panthers struck again when Capstick took a quick tap penalty quick on her 10-metre line and ran hard and fast round the opposition before timing the pass perfectly to Rach Byers who went over to score. Wood added the conversion.
The Rockets then came back and scored two more tries before half time which cut the deficit to just two points as the Panthers savoured a 26-24 lead.
The Rockets opened the scoring in the second half with two quick tries from penalties.
The Panthers were then awarded a penalty which Katie Jackson drove hard down the pitch before being brought down. From the ruck the ball was moved wide and Sian Peet powered over to score.
An hour had gone but the Panthers were tiring and Stockton weren’t!
The home side kept up the pressure with their much bigger forwards starting to dominate the game.
With this dominance they scored a further four tries to finish well ahead but it was a game in both sides played some really nice rugby and battled hard to the end.
Penrith’s forward of the match was Beth Hook, her work rate around the park was fantastic. Back of the match was Chloe Capstick, physical in defence and always a danger in attack.
Panthers: Sarah Jenkins, Katie Jackson, Bernie Willets, Pippa Shay, Karen Phillips-Craig, Sarah Kidd,
Beth Hook, Caz Davidson, Ghana Walker, Caitlin Wood, Sian Laud, Sian Peet, Sarah Doyle, Rach Byers, Chloe Capstick, Liz Brooks, Heather Grainger, Amber Sullivan, Becca Grierson.
