U16s - Penned in by Penrith

After a spirited performance on the Northumberland coast the previous weekend the Under 16s were back in action for a first game at home on the pitches 'out the back', the Cumbrian opposition in the form of the boys in green and white from Penrith lined up at the other end. The conditions were a marked improvement on the last fixture, where the white stuff was providing a covering as the faithful made the journey across the Pennines. Having gone through the usual pre-match warm up the boys were looking raring to go when they exited their huddle, but unfortunately some old frailties were once again evident as within a few minutes of the start the away team were in front, taking full advantage of a few missed tackles. This was to be the story of the first twenty minutes, the boys just couldn't get out of the blocks and were under a lot of pressure from their opposing numbers. It took until the twenty fifth minute until the boys got up a head of steam and rediscovered some of the form that they had shown against Blyth, the forwards picking and driving until the powerhouse that is Josh Brown rumbled over the line. The remainder of the first half was a fairly even encounter and when oranges were served the score stood at 5 - 29.

The second half saw two reshuffled packs, but as usual the spirit from our team was constant and the contest proved to be much more even. The driving runs; competition in scrums, rucks and mauls; and the possession gained from line-out ball were an improvement and the ball was even finding its way across the back line, so it was no more than the team deserved when once again Josh Brown powered over for his second try of the game. Some good interplay amongst the backs, five minutes later, allowed the newly crowned James Souter to jink through the home defence and go in under the posts. The extras being neatly dispatched from the boot of Ross. The away team added two further tries, to make it a hat-trick as they had opened the scoring, which saw them edge the second half 15 - 12.

Well done to the boys from Penrith and also to their coaches and supporters for a well earned victory