No-one at Winters Park was in any doubt of the significance of Saturday’s game against visitors Northwich – and for the Cumbrians it provided an important step forward.
The visitors arrived trailing the Cumbrians by one place and a single point just above the drop zone, and a home defeat would seriously impact on their hopes of maintaining their Level 5 league status and avoiding relegation.
But apart from an early scare Penrith rose to the occasion and a 35-5 victory was both deserved and timely.
However, they had a disastrous opening two minutes, after the visitors’ kick-off ran into touch off a home hand and they had to defend a line-out on their 22.
Northwich secured their line-out ball and immediately launched an all-out assault on the home line, and 90 seconds and a tap penalty later they had scored the opening try. The conversion was missed but the Penrith men looked a little shell-shocked.
They soon got into the game and in the tenth minute were back on terms. Rob Coward tidied up ball on half-way after a kick ahead by Northwich and George Graham spotted a gap on the fringes of the resultant ruck and was clean away.
As the cover closed in he got the ball away to Rossi who showed them a clean pair of heels to go in unopposed. Mike Fearon’s conversion was true and the home side were two points to the good.
They went further ahead just after quarter of an hour, again running back a kick. Good work by Isaac Murray and Matty Boustead put Sam Wilson away on a penetrating run to the 22 where good support play ended with a ruck ten metres out.
Graham saw Joe Kirkup on the charge and flipped the pass up for him and he burst through the last line of defence leaving defenders in his wake and touched down next to the posts to give Fearon an easy conversion.
Just before the break the home side extended their lead, running back turn-over ball they won on their own 22. First Wilson and then Scott Lancaster made ground, before a clever pass out of contact found Rossi and he went from half way into the 22 and supported by Boustead they got to within five yards of the line.
The forwards won the ruck and Graham, with the defence on the back foot, saw the gap and a sharp dummy allowed him to stroll over. Again Fearon added the two points and Penrith led 21-5 at the break.
The third quarter was where the game was won and lost, although there were no points scored. For 20 minutes the visitors had the lion’s share of possession and almost all of the play was in the home side’s half.
As hard as the Cheshire men pressed the Penrith defence was resolute and didn’t look like conceding. No tackles were shirked or dropped off as bodies were put on the line and they got their reward as the game went into the final quarter.
There had been a front row crisis during the week and Craig Tyson and Bryn Jeremiah had received late call ups so there was a concern they might have problems at the set scrums.
No-one need have worried as the home eight dominated the scrums and this led to the fourth and bonus point try. Their pressure caused the visitors to concede a penalty at a scrum on their own 22, where Penrith opted to scrummage again and from the good possession they ran the ball right.
When it came back left Richy Dadley made yards and they got the ball almost to the line, where the forwards turned the screw and Wilson was able to break off the maul and force his way over from close range.
From the re-start the home side knocked on and conceded the scrum, where again the home pack showed their worth and disrupted the visitors possession for Graham to steal the ball.
Murray then launched the ball forward and Dadley followed up quickly to claim possession. Kirkup and Fearon got the ball to the 22 and when it came to man of the match Wilson he powered his way to the corner to seal the game. Fearon converted off the touchline for a perfect fifth conversion from five attempts.
With just over ten minutes to go the game was finished as a contest but try as they might for a consolation score Northwich could not add to their tally as the home defence remained solid as it had for all but the opening two minutes of the contest.
