On a warm sunny day at Wigton Rugby Club, Carlisle U17 Colts looked forward to a keen battle against old rivals Penrith to see who would be crowned County Champions for the 2016/17 season. The sides had met once before this campaign, an opening season friendly when Penrith had narrowly triumphed 12-0. This afternoon would be a measure of how far this Carlisle side had improved.

A stiff breeze blew down the Wigton pitch, but up the slope rather than normal southerly direction. Carlisle had the advantage of the breeze in the first half and from the kick off were the dominant force. Right from the kick off they established a platform in the Penrith 22 and after a period of sustained pressure it was Shaw Bell who crashed over for the first score after only 5 minutes. When Joe Marrs followed him over on 10 minutes Carlisle had made the perfect start.

It had been expected that Penrith would have the edge in the pack but Carlisle's backline and in particular their impressive back three of Bell, Creighton, and Tingey would offer the counter challenge. In the event the Carlisle forwards established a dominance at scrum time and Penrith played into Carlisle hands early on by kicking away under pressure and allowing the Carlisle back three to show their counter attacking skills. Penrith defended manfully but two infringements allowed Carlisle fly half Theo Manihera to add two penalties to a previous conversion.

At 23-0 the Penrith supporters may have been wondering where there side was. However, finally they made an appearance with a sustained period of pressure in the Carlisle 22 aided and abetted by persistent infringements by the defending team. Despite this the Carlisle line held firm and when they secured a turnover a sweeping move turned the tables and they were back in the Penrith 22. Theo Manihera found a gap and went in under the posts to make his own conversion easy and Carlisle had a very healthy 30-0 half time lead.

With such a significant lead it would take a major Penrith effort to get back into the game. They certainly had more possession in the second period and never gave up, but an organised and effective Carlisle defence kept them at bay without being greatly troubled. Then second half never reached the heights of the first and the result of the game was never in doubt when Carlisle added a fifth try midway through the period. Penrith continued to battle and earned a consolation score ten minutes from the end. It was however Carlisle who fittingly had the last word as Johnny Creighton rounded a tired Penrith defence for the final score right at the death.

Congratulations to the whole squad, which included a number of U16s in preparation for next years Colts. The coaching team of Si Little, Matty Little, and Sam Meakin have been instrumental in guiding them and fully deserve this success.

Carlisle Rugby Club

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