Penrith and Wigton played-out a hard-fought Cumbria Cup quarter final tie at Winters Park last night before the home side triumphed 27-5.
 
It was only Wigton’s second defeat of the season and came after they had much the better of the first half. The Greens thoroughly deserved to lead at the break but the home side's quality finally told in the second period although for a long time it was a close run thing. 

Wigton opened impressively and had all the early pressure and possession, but the home side did not help themselves by making numerous unforced errors.
 
It was no surprise when Wigton took the lead after nine minutes. A break from a line out on the home 22 by Tane Manihera saw them in behind the home defence and Matthew Atkinson put Andy Brown in for a well taken try.
 
They had further chances to extend their lead but Manihera missed with a penalty and they also had a try disallowed rather harshly. The Wigton forwards pressurised the Penrith line, drove a penalty and Andrew Bell twisted over to score, but the referee gave a double movement.
 
As the half wore on they had two tap penalties on the home line but failed to turn pressure into points as the home line held firm. On one occasion Brown could not quite find Callum Studholme with the final pass.
 
They did continue to make life uncomfortable for the home side turning them over at a number of line-outs and pressure from Bell in the front row resulted in Steve Carruthers taking three scrums against the head. 

Penrith showed little in attack before the break but the two moves they did manage to string together could have both resulted in tries if the crucial pass had not gone down.
 
The home side was pleased to reach the break only fiver points in arrears. They had the breeze at their backs in the second half and the low sun in Wigton’s eyes. 

The second half was a completely different affair. Two Steve Wood penalties in the first ten minutes put Penrith's noses in front although the game was still in the balance.
 
It took over 60 minutes for them to conjure up a try and this says something about the Wigton effort and defensive organisation as Penrith have been scoring tries for fun all season.
 
A Gavin Cartmel break up the left, and then a chip and chase won a lineout in the visitors 22. The home forwards won the lineout and drove for the line, where they eventually bundled David Preston over in the corner for the try. Wood's conversion off the touchline put Penrith two scores ahead and this seemed to calm the nerves as they scored a second try directly from the kick off. 
 
Preston caught the restart and galloped into the visitors half. Rob Dawson continued the drive and when the ball came to Wood his flat miss pass found Cartmel who burst through the first line of defence before drawing the fullback to give Mike Hawley a simple run in. Wood again converted. 

It was only now with the game won that Penrith really hit the straps and showed what they are capable of and they scored a third try to put them out of sight.
 
Several phases of play had opened up the game. Cartmel and Hawley combined to create the space for Preston who appeared at outside centre to claim his second try. Wood converted for a 100% record with the boot.  

Action from the game shows Dave Preston and Mike Hawley scoring tries for Penrith with line-out action as well during the Cumbria County Cup quarter final tie with Wigton.

Pictures DAVID NATTRASS and DAVID HANABURY senior.

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