Penrith edged a fiercely contested encounter with Radcliffe.
They showed the importance of setpiece goals, scoring twice from well delivered corners in a 4-2 win.
Penrith started the game slowly and weathered a number of attacks initiated by Radcliffe’s lively midfield early in the game.
They were well dealt with by young goalkeeper Sophie Paton who was making her league debut for Penrith with regular choice Hope Lawson away on holiday.
Penrith conceded first but quickly equalised after a high press led by Jodie English and she went on to score.
In the second half Penrith had a goal disallowed after a corner delivered by Stacey Harkness-Grant which could have turned the game.
Radcliffe took advantage and scored from an in-swinging corner that beat Paton, followed by a second corner that was well met at the back post.
Penrith maintained the pressure on the Radcliffe defence which led to a second goal for English.
While pushing for an equaliser, Penrith conceded a final goal late on in the game from a well taken strike from outside the box by a Radcliffe midfielder.
Penrith will hope to bounce back from that first defeat when they welcome Fleetwood Reserved to the Penrith Stadium (ko 2pm) on Sunday.
Penrith’s Development squad travel to face Workington Town Reserves this Sunday, also with a 2pm ko.
