Carlisle made the short trip to friendly opponents Penrith to fulfil the second of what will likely be many outings against each other this season. Played on a glorious Sunday autumn morning on a flat well surfaced pitch, the players, supporters and officials were in for a treat of Under 16s rugby.

Neither team managed to gain continuous possession in the early stages of the half as possession was spilled on numerous occasions. The Carlisle pack who were without a specific hooker settled into the early scrums well and laid down a marker for how they would dominate this set piece for the 70 minutes. James Sisson stepped into the 2 role and played his part throughout winning all of his own ball and taking some strikes against the head. Penrith eventually fell foul in the backs and Carlisle were awarded a penalty between the 22m line and 10m line slightly to the left of the sticks. Patrick Noutch, who was playing out of position at 13 stepped up and dissected the uprights, 3-0 to the City side.

Penrith hit back following the restart and time and time again threatened to beat Carlisle out wide. Freddy Pritchard and Alex Pantechis made numerous carries and used their evasive footwork to keep the Carlisle defence on their toes. A couple of dangerous breaks down the touchline ensured Luke Kemp held his position well to cut out any danger on a couple of occasions. But against the run of play, Josh Watson rallied his troops and found some structure. John Short and Mike Newstead made good carries up the middle before Watson released Noutch who found Barton with a nice offload to score out wide 8-0. Noutch obviously had his kicking boots on as he nudged over a monster conversion from out wide 10-0. A parent, Mr Short said this was one of the best team tries he had seen!

Penrith continued to batter the Carlisle defence time and time again, the back row players of Josh Park and Luke Scott were kept busy all day and it was only a matter of time before Adam Howe bundled his way over from close range despite the best efforts of Adam Robinson trying to get under the ball. The conversion was missed and at 10-5 the game was now anybody’s. This seemed to spark Carlisle to life and some further good structure play allowed the influential Watson to scan and find space deep in Penrith’s half from a ranging punt. The return was loose and left a lot of the home side players offside under the 10m rule, the referee awarded a penalty and Carlisle again handed the duties to the trusty Noutch who slotted again and gave Carlisle the half time lead of 13-5.

Into the second half and Carlisle brought on fresh legs in the back row with Cameron Steele. Steele immediately made an impact and created early turnover balls to allow Watson to clear the lines and provide the opportunity for further lineout lifting practice for both packs. A good line break by Josh Park took Carlisle into the Penrith 22 and good work at the breakdown from Luke Finney ensured the ball was recycled. Penrith infringed and Noutch again slotted from close range taking his points tally for the day to 11.

Penrith continued to dominate the possession statistic but lost the ball at key times, again allowing Carlisle to clear the lines following a dominant scrummage set piece. Tom Graves playing for Penrith on the left wing rampaged through the Carlisle defence on a couple of occasions outlining his potential and giving the home side better field position. After a couple of penalties close to the Carlisle line, Penrith opted to run everything as oppose to kick at goal but this paid off as Pantechis scored out wide. Unfortunately David Whittle could not add the conversion and left the scores at 13-10.

With the closing minutes being frantic as P chased a final score and Carlisle tried to keep possession to run down the clock, Grant Taylor bossed his forwards and organised his defence well, despite a couple of line breaks Penrith were unable to find a way through and Carlisle came away with a penalty awarded by Referee Mr Tyson, who was consistent throughout, which Watson kicked to touch to end the game. The final score 16-10.

This was a great game of rugby played between two balanced sides in the right rugby spirit providing a good insight into some further games between these sides over the season.

Carlisle Rugby Club

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