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Try feast in the Lake District
Tony McArdle17 Feb - 13:49
Seven tries scored at Penrith
Saturday saw Saints travelling up the M6 to the Lake District to play Cumbrian side Penrith. With cold overcast conditions the floodlights lighting the artificial pitch up from the start, the small band of Saints and large local crowd were treated to a real try fest of running rugby.
It was Penrith who opened the scoring with a penalty 3-0 after a couple of quick breaks from their speedy backs. However, Saints came back strongly after the restart, with a penalty they decided to go for the corner and with a catch and drive it was Joe Sanders at the back of the back who touched down for a try, unfortunately not converted for 3-5.
With the tactic working so well Saints again spurned the chance for 3 and again went to the corner, the resulting catch and drive was illegally pulled down and the man in the middle awarded a penalty try and brandished a yellow card to the Penrith 6.
With the score now 3-12 and down a man Penrith showed what a good running side they are with the 10 and 15 cutting through the Saints defensive line to score under the posts to bring the score to 10-12, then scoring again out wide, missing the conversion but putting them in the driving seat at 15-12.
With both teams both attacking at every opportunity, Ewan Nolan broke through the centre shrugged off a couple of tacklers and ran unhindered to score under the posts to make it 15-19 Saints continued to drive the ball towards the Penrith line and with the breakdown 10m out scrum half Liam Sadler spotted a gap to speed through and touchdown to increase the gap to 15-26, conversion by Baldwin.
Within 3 minutes it was Deja vu with Sadler picking up at the ruck and strolling through the gap to score unhindered beside the sticks, easy conversion for Balwin and 15-33. However, Penrith never give in and with the 10-15 combination again cutting through the line for another score saw the teams go in 20-33 at Half time after a frantic 40mins of rugby.
With Saints using their bench due to lads tiring and cramp, no doubt to the different nature of playing on an artificial pitch according to Geoff Smith Saints assistant referee on the day. The Penrith scrum, dominant in the first half seemed to seem less so with the change as slightly heavier lads came on. The second half saw Penrith have the majority of the possession and again with the Penrith backs getting good ball, despite gritty defence it was Penrith who opened the scoring with an unconverted try to bring it back to 25-33.
With the game now fairly evenly matched, up stepped Man of the Match Sadler to pick up the ball at the base of a well defended ruck on the try line and a spectacular dive over the defending players to score 25 -38 not converted. Within a few minutes of the restart Nyle Davidson found himself in the open and passing the ball out wide allowing Sub Myles Holmes to brush off a tackle and go over the whitewash for a try converted by Baldwin and finally put a bit of daylight between the teams 25-45.
However, Penrith still managed to score another try at the death, converted to make the final score 32-45. Never an easy place to go it was a relief when the final whistle went as the game never really felt safe until the last 15mins of the game. With the water going off in the Penrith clubhouse, it was a happy bus which however did smell of unwashed rugby player, which made its way home down the M6 with five points in the bag.
Many thanks to Penrith members and their chairman David for the warm welcome and hospitality before and after the game, luckily plastic glasses don’t need washing so beer intake was not affected.
It was Penrith who opened the scoring with a penalty 3-0 after a couple of quick breaks from their speedy backs. However, Saints came back strongly after the restart, with a penalty they decided to go for the corner and with a catch and drive it was Joe Sanders at the back of the back who touched down for a try, unfortunately not converted for 3-5.
With the tactic working so well Saints again spurned the chance for 3 and again went to the corner, the resulting catch and drive was illegally pulled down and the man in the middle awarded a penalty try and brandished a yellow card to the Penrith 6.
With the score now 3-12 and down a man Penrith showed what a good running side they are with the 10 and 15 cutting through the Saints defensive line to score under the posts to bring the score to 10-12, then scoring again out wide, missing the conversion but putting them in the driving seat at 15-12.
With both teams both attacking at every opportunity, Ewan Nolan broke through the centre shrugged off a couple of tacklers and ran unhindered to score under the posts to make it 15-19 Saints continued to drive the ball towards the Penrith line and with the breakdown 10m out scrum half Liam Sadler spotted a gap to speed through and touchdown to increase the gap to 15-26, conversion by Baldwin.
Within 3 minutes it was Deja vu with Sadler picking up at the ruck and strolling through the gap to score unhindered beside the sticks, easy conversion for Balwin and 15-33. However, Penrith never give in and with the 10-15 combination again cutting through the line for another score saw the teams go in 20-33 at Half time after a frantic 40mins of rugby.
With Saints using their bench due to lads tiring and cramp, no doubt to the different nature of playing on an artificial pitch according to Geoff Smith Saints assistant referee on the day. The Penrith scrum, dominant in the first half seemed to seem less so with the change as slightly heavier lads came on. The second half saw Penrith have the majority of the possession and again with the Penrith backs getting good ball, despite gritty defence it was Penrith who opened the scoring with an unconverted try to bring it back to 25-33.
With the game now fairly evenly matched, up stepped Man of the Match Sadler to pick up the ball at the base of a well defended ruck on the try line and a spectacular dive over the defending players to score 25 -38 not converted. Within a few minutes of the restart Nyle Davidson found himself in the open and passing the ball out wide allowing Sub Myles Holmes to brush off a tackle and go over the whitewash for a try converted by Baldwin and finally put a bit of daylight between the teams 25-45.
However, Penrith still managed to score another try at the death, converted to make the final score 32-45. Never an easy place to go it was a relief when the final whistle went as the game never really felt safe until the last 15mins of the game. With the water going off in the Penrith clubhouse, it was a happy bus which however did smell of unwashed rugby player, which made its way home down the M6 with five points in the bag.
Many thanks to Penrith members and their chairman David for the warm welcome and hospitality before and after the game, luckily plastic glasses don’t need washing so beer intake was not affected.
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