Penrith were beaten 15-8 by Sandbach in the NW Halbro League Senior Colts Cup final.
But if a game was won on possession and territory alone then Penrith would have won hands down.
The Cumbrians were equal to everything Sandbach had, however, mistakes and missed opportunities were their stumbling blocks.
It was a game won on good strong defence and speed in the counterattack.
Sandbach had been formidable in the league beating Penrith both home and away, but on both occasions the Winters Park side had depleted squads due to injury or senior rugby commitments.
For the Colts final Penrith had a full squad of 23 and were quietly confident of a win.
The first ten minutes of the game ebbed and flowed as both teams were assured in the set piece with the heavier Sandbach pack dominating the early scrummages.
Penrith were pressing and moving the ball well when an infringement in a ruck, central in the opposition half, provided a kickable penalty which was accurately dispatched by Angus Dixon with the wind behind him.
The game remained tight but the next score came from a Sandbach try. A Penrith catch and drive line-out on halfway made initial hard yards but when the ball was spun out wide a knock-on was quickly gathered and then passed out wide to the wing.
Penrith had players covering across but the winger’s strength in the tackle opened the way to the left corner for an unconverted try.
From the re-start Penrith retained the ball and moved efficiently, first left and then right against a well-drilled blitz defence, although at times looking to be off-side.
A Sandbach infringement on their five metre line wide left gave Penrith prop Thomas Pantry a chance of a tap and go. It caught most of his team-mates on the hop but not Sandbach.
He crashed over the line with three tacklers in tow, but the referee could not see a clear grounding so a goal-line drop-out followed.
Penrith spent the next fifteen minutes camped in the Sandbach half threatening the try line on several occasions, a notable one from a ruck in open play on the five metre line.
Fly half Isaac Murrey took the ball at first receiver, then carried it into contact with a three-player overlap. Three defenders completely wrapped him up for a turn-over scrum.
With half-time looming, Penrith conceded a penalty on halfway. It was taken quickly and a Sandbach tap and go then moved the ball out wide right.
The winger was stopped just shy of the line, but support was good with a pick-up and dive over on the short right into the corner.
At halftime, Penrith trailed 10-3 with both tries coming from mistakes and against the run of play.
Sandbach picked up the second half where they left off the first. Straight onto the front foot with the wind to their backs a deft chip and chase then fly-hack on looked like a certain try, but the bobble of the ball beat the player as it went dead.
From the resulting scrum, Penrith worked their way back into the opposition half with the forwards recycling the ball well and the backs handled cleanly.
A chance to add three points from a penalty from a central position into a strong wind was another missed opportunity.
The Cumbrians kept the pressure on and eventually turned it into points. With the blitz defence stepping up very quickly Murray spun out an intelligent long pass to Andy Conner at outside centre to leave a two-on-one. Having drawn in the last defender the pass went out to Tom Connell on the wing, and he ran the touchline before diving in at the corner for an unconverted try.
Sandbach however scored within minutes of the re-start. A number eight pick-up from the base of a scrum took him up onto the ten metre line.
With good support and their pack running good lines off the rucks, the Penrith defence was on the back foot but thwarted numerous crash balls.
A wide ball down the back line opened the way for their third and last try of the game.
From the re-start Penrith dominated in open play, support was always close by and the offloads kept the momentum going forward.
The lads dug deep and were determined to make amends.
Into the last quarter of the game and Penrith were awarded a penalty for no release. Scrum-half Ashton Hook dummied a pass on the loaded right, then spun a short ball left.
Although the ball carrier was tackled just shy of the line a pick-and-go saw the referee raise his arm for the try. However, the linesman had his flag raised for an earlier infringement at the line-out.
A late tackle on the Sandbach scrum half cancelled what would have been a certain seven points to draw level.
The rest of the game was played out with Penrith searching for a converted try to level the game.
They dug deep and never gave up but were up against a formidable defence.
