Kendal won local bragging rights when they beat Penrith 13-0 at Mint Bridge in Regional 1 North West.
Penrith’s task was never going to be easy at their mid table and local rivals but it was made even more onerous by the conditions on the day.
There was a strong swirling cross field wind; it rained heavily for most of the game and additionally there was the poor state of pitch, which for being a relatively newly laid surface was cut up and soft underfoot.
Penrith couldn’t have made a poorer start. The home kick-off was palmed into touch and within 60 seconds they were defending an attacking line-out.
They did well initially staunching the attempted driven maul for the line but as the home side continued to drive for the line and play drifted to the centre of the pitch, they conceded a penalty under the posts. Aaran Stephens’ successful kick pit them behind from the second minute.
The home side then knocked on the restart in their own 22 to give the visitors an attacking scrum.
The visitors’ set scrum was solid all afternoon and Archie Rattray made ground from number eight. Adam Howe followed this with a strong run but the home defence was solid and the visitors, after a number of drives for the line, were penalised for not releasing.
This would be their only foray into the home half in the opening half hour.
What followed was increasing pressure from the home pack, camped in the visitors’22 and more often than not just short of the line.
Penrith defended stoutly but could never effectively clear their lines. They were only winning possession on their own line and finding touch midway in their own half for Kendal to win their line-out and the whole process then started again.
They could only hold out for so long, continually defending on their own line and after 20 minutes they finally cracked from a blind side break from a scrum deep in the 22 which saw Greg Wrathall cross for an unconverted try.
The home side scored again just before the half hour, after the their forwards had sucked most of the cover in, for once the ball went wide and winger Dini Noyo went in at the corner for a 13 point lead.
The visitors then had a bit more of the play and spent some time in home territory with ball in hand as the half drew to a close.
They won three penalties at the set scrum and went close to scoring from a line-out on the 22. They took the ball and drove some way into the 22 before Joe Kirkup broke and rode a couple of tackles before being brought down just short.
This did give the visitors some hope in the second half as the wind would just favour them.
Unfortunately the second half was a dour spectacle as the wind and rain dominated and both sides made a number of mistakes as a result.
Penrith did much better than in the first period and probably just had the better of it but were unable to break down the stubborn home rear guard.
They could never really get up a head of steam or put their hosts under real pressure as the ball from broken play was too slow giving the defence plenty of time to reorganise at the breakdown.
The away supporters thought their side were back in the game with ten minutes to go. Nick Dudson had run on to a nice ball from Joe Spencely to break the first line of defence and when it went wide Rob Coward looked to be in at the corner but he was forced into touch.
In the final minutes the home side gave a lesson in game management keeping the despairing visitors at arms length, kicking long diagonal balls deep into their half and taking no unnecessary risks happy to see the game out as it stood.
The final score was probably a fair reflection of the game as the home side just had the edge but Penrith couldn’t have asked their players for any greater effort or commitment. It was just the small margins.
