Match report Penrith II v Carlisle 27-1-24

On paper this was the league leaders against a side in the lower half of the Cumbria league, and a good chance for Carlisle to maintain their distance from the chasing pack.
In reality this was a chance for a club, recovering from longstanding injuries, to strengthen their side and give the visitors something to think about.

Penrith demonstrated this by showing strong running from the off to put the Carlisle defence under pressure, but the visitors resisted and a series of penalty infringements by the home side gave Carlisle field position for a 5m line out.
Tyler Callaghan got 5points on the board for Carlisle as he dived round the blind side from the line out to give Carlisle their first try after 8mins.

Carlisle were keen to press from the restart and kept the home side pinned in their half for the next 10 mins, but were to rue a malfunctioning lineout, when the Penrith flanker intercepted a pass out to the Carlisle half backs. Sidestepping the last Carlisle defender he got through for a try against the run of play, converted to give them a 2 point lead.

Carlisle took the game back to the home side from the restart and were beginning to exert set piece dominance, although strong Penrith defence kept them from pressing home that advantage. It was however at times on the other side of legality, resulting in Carlisle gaining field position for another 5m line out, which again was butchered, this time for a technicality with a player beyond the 15m mark. They won the resulting lineout from the free kick, pressing Penrith back to their try line. Some desperate Penrith defending then resulted in a scrum for Carlisle and a home player to the bin for repeated infringements.

Carlisle were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty try when the scrum was driven over only for a penalty to be awarded to them for another Penrith infringement. They then lost momentum as Penrith won a penalty for a double movement from Carlisle as they pushed Penrith back over their line.
The home side were very quick to exploit this opportunity and a good break by their rapid flanker took Carlisle right back to their own try line. Some desperate defending allowed Penrith a 5m line out opportunity from a penalty.

Carlisle managed to defend this well, and eventually overturned ball was duly returned back up the field with interest, to relieve the pressure from Penrith. Carlisle would win ball back from a scrum and they finished the half on top on the front foot, leading on the possession and territory scales but behind in the points 5-7 down.

Carlisle managed to get their line out functioning a bit better in the second half and utilised the driving maul to gain field position but were unable to convert that into points.
Penrith often looked dangerous on the break with some significant pace in the back line available to them.

By the halfway mark in the second half it was clear that the pace of the game on the artificial surface was beginning to tell with a number of players beginning to cramp up.

Further penalty infringements from Penrith, resulting in another player to the bin, gave Carlisle the opportunity for a scrum just 10m out in front of the posts. Number 8 Lloyd Clark made a dart from the back down the blind side, feeding the ball to Vinny Lung who was brought down short of the line. With the forwards arriving in numbers, a couple of pick and go’s and flanker Rory Parish was driven over for Carlisle’s second try, converted by Robbie James for a 12-7 lead with 65mins on the clock.

Penrith quickly struck back 5mins later as they were rewarded for some strong forward running and some neat footwork in the backs to gain a ruck just 5m out from the Carlisle try line. With Carlisle coughing up a penalty, a quick tap penalty caught the Carlisle side completely cold, and Penrith retook the lead with a soft try, converted for a 14-12 lead to Penrith.

By now though the pace of the game was beginning to tell on the home side with a number of Penrith players going down with cramp and having to be replaced. Carlisle scented that there was a try left to score here, and continuous pressure on the Penrith side had them defending deep within their 22m. Rory Parish was unlucky not to score from a pick and go, as he was held up over the line with just a few minutes on the clock.

The restart from the try line gave Penrith little respite as Carlisle drove the ball down the right setting up a ruck on the 22m line. Carlisle then swung the ball left and winger Jonny Park was just prevented from scoring in the left corner. From the resulting ruck ball, Carlisle drove towards the line through a series of pick and go’s, just prevented from scoring as play stopped for a concussion to a Penrith player.
It was however only inevitable that from the resulting scrum to Carlisle 5m out, that Carlisle would score from their dominant scrum set piece, with no 8 Lloyd Clark dotting down with the clock running dead.
A harem scarem end to a game played at pace, Carlisle finally finding a way through to win 17-14.

An enthralling game to watch under lights with Penrith belying their mid table position, and clearly well prepared to try to put one over the visitors. Carlisle, despite some early rustiness in the line out, and struggling at times to use the set piece dominance effectively, found a way to overcome a determined Penrith side, who were probably the best prepared side Carlisle have faced this season.

Sometimes you have to win ugly and that’s what Carlisle did tonight, to keep their promotion drive on track.

Complacency is the enemy of success, and at times Carlisle were rocked by Penrith’s desire to win at home. A win against this quality of opposition though should give Carlisle the belief, that by sticking to their processes in the upcoming games, they will be hearing the fat lady sing soon enough.