Match report Carlisle v Penrith County Cup Final 20-4-24

It finally happened!
It was on then it was off then on then off more times than a pair of.....
Anyway the day was perfect for both sides to finally settle who should be the County Cup champions.
Not the ideal preparation for Carlisle with three training sessions since the beginning of March, but at least the players were given the chance they deserved to finish off the season.
With Carlisle going into this as the underdogs against a Penrith side two divisions above, was there a chance for an upset?

Well it didn't go to plan for Carlisle from the off, with the Penrith fly half breaking through tackles and showing a fleetness of foot to offload to his colleague who went under the posts with just 6 minutes gone. It only took the Penrith backline another two minutes from the restart to exploit space down the outside to combine to great effect for a try in the right corner. Carlisle were now 0-12 down with less than 10mins on the clock, and the ring rust was showing.
However gradually Carlisle started to show exactly how they have dominated Cumbria 1 this season with the forwards beginning to exert significant pressure, even winning the odd scrum penalty, showing they were not going to be the push overs people thought. In fact Carlisle dominated both territory and possession for much of the next 15 minutes. Then as Carlisle were striving forward deep inside Penrith's half, a pass out wide inside Penriths 22, was intercepted by one of Penriths wingers. There was no catching him with Carlisle caught flat at the back. A cruel blow when Carlisle were scenting a try for themselves.

It didn't deter Carlisle and they were again keeping Penrith honest inside their half, with a 5m line out, giving them the opportunity to go again. Despite some desperate efforts by Carlisle to get over, Penrith's defence held firm and a Carlisle knock on just a few metres out gave Penrith the chance to relieve the pressure. Unfortunately for Carlisle they were defending the Penrith scrum too narrow. With the Penrith back line spotting the open space out wide, it was inevitable that they would exploit the opportunity, with the some very neat interplay at speed by their backline the length of the field, securing their fourth try with half an hour gone.
Carlisle could have given up at this point, but to their credit, they still kept at it. A long period of sustained pressure by Carlisle, including a ball held up over the line, eventually resulted in Tom Graham being driven over under the posts right at the end of the half, giving Carlisle some reward for their considerable efforts as they finished the half 7-26 down.

The second half didn't start so well for Carlisle as a lost scrum by them, resulted in a scrum to Penrith from which they cleverly worked the ball across the pitch and under the posts for a 7-33 lead with just three minutes gone of the second half.
Seven minutes later some slick footwork from the Penrith outside centre to dance through a crowd of Carlisle defenders and through under the posts effectively killed the game off at 7-40, and most Carlisle supporters were hoping that the side would avoid a cricket score.
Avoid it they did, with a combination of good defence, a return to the form they showed in first half to retain ball, and take the game to the opposition.
They were well worth the second Carlisle try scored by replacement hooker Matt Tompkins, as they worked a driving maul over the line on 69 minutes.
Carlisle kept sniping away at the Penrith side and winger Rhys Callaghan just dropped a pass with the try line beckoning moments later.
Finally Carlisle got their third at the death of the match, as Park,Tingey, Rawling and Greenhow finally found some space out wide down the right to attack at speed, with Greenhow somehow getting onto the ball and over the line despite the presence of the Penrith fullback.

So Carlisle lost 17-40 and Penrith deserved the win, with their pacy back line being the difference. Carlisle more than matched them up front, but couldn't turn possession into points, and thats the name of the game, because points means prizes. It would have been interesting to see the statistics on which side had most territory and possession because Carlisle were certainly well up there.
The players were obviously disappointed but you couldn't fault them for endeavour, they just failed to find a way through a well drilled Penrith side when they had the opportunities.
Still if they start their campaign at level 6, playing as they did today, then they should have no fears about next season.
Onwards and upwards.