Saturday saw a massive game at the top of 3 North as we travelled up to Cumbria to play at the excellent facilities at Winters Park in Penrith. A 17 man squad was assembled as we looked to keep hold of the league leaders slot but Penrith had other ideas with a fine display to take over at the top from Carnforth. Jason Waterhouse and John Greenland returned to a strong looking pack.
Playing on the main pitch and with a decent crowd in attendance (plenty of support from Carnforth and we thank them) Carnforth were confident of keeping their excellent run of league victories going. Our last league defeat on the pitch was back in September 2015 - a magnificent run of 31 games - lets hope this defeat can spark another run of wins. Penrith had a strong squad on show with an excellent number 8 who was returning from injury and will surely be back in their first team soon. The hosts had a perfect record of 8 from 8 so today something was going to give.
Penrith started the stronger but within 5 minutes Carnforth thought they had opened the scoring when Jason Short put through Liam Hall but the referee had deemed a forward pass. Penrith hit back with a penalty before Mathew Short levelled the game with a well struck penalty. A late tackle saw the Cumbrians take the lead with a 2nd penalty before Carnforth again got on the wrong end of the match official. First John Greenland was given a ten minute break before Liam Hall followed him to the sin bin - to make matters worse a penalty try was also awarded as Penrith took a 13 - 3 lead.
Down to 13 men Carnforth played some excellent rugby and the backs enjoyed plenty of possession coming from the forwards. The 6 man pack still managed to win ball in the scrums with hooker Dave Hones taking a couple against the head. The ball came out with Nick Hamer, Jason Short and Mathew Short linking to allow centre Sam Griffiths to power through for a try, Short converted to reduce the gap to 3 points with a couple of first half minutes remaining.
On the stroke of half time it was the hosts who scored their 2nd try , also converted as they were able to take a 20 - 10 lead into the second half - not the ideal time to concede a try. Things got worse early in the second half when a penalty was converted and this was followed by another converted try - from 13 - 10 down to 30 -10 down in a matter of minutes and now having to play catch up. The game was a decent affair with Dan Blenkharn, Waterhouse, Greenland and Hamer all making breaks, Hall had a great battle with the Penrith defence before Carnforth received a third yellow card.
Penrith capatalised on their advantage with a forwards try, conversion attempt hitting the uprights. Carnforth kept finding themselves on the wrong end of the referees whistle with frustration creeping in but to their credit they tried to run the ball and salvage something from the game. With ten minutes to go Hamer, Joe Harrison and Griffiths linked up to release Olly Murray on the wing, he had plenty to do but a superb run and a show of strength saw him go over in the corner for a great try.
The last play of the game saw the home hooker go over for the games final try as Penrith claimed a well earned 40 - 15 victory. We wish them well for the season and thanks for their hospitality - Carnforth lets regroup and get to training Tuesday night please - we need to get back on the right track starting with a home game this weekend against Liverpool St Helens.
Man of the Match - Nick Hamer