North One East: Bradford & Bingley 23 Penrith 12

A SUPERB defensive display from fifth-placed Bradford & Bingley was at the heart of this victory, and although second-placed Penrith stuck to their up-tempo game-plan, they could not find a way over, under or around the home tacklers.

Penrith are obviously well drilled in offloading the ball in contact, so the Bees were not allowed any respite for long periods, and the visitors must have thought there was an extra man on the field at times in the second half as the hosts somehow always had an extra body diving in to plug any gaps that appeared as Penrith laid siege to the home line.

For all their possession though, Penrith scores all came from the boot of fly half Mike Fearon, who landed four penalties - three in the first half and one in the second.

The Cumbrians were on top in the opening exchanges but the Bees gradually began to see some of the ball and make inroads into the Penrith 22.

The home pack had a slight edge over their opposition all game and their first score came on 15 minutes when flanker Mani Riaz slipped off the edge of a maul to reach the line.

The initial break which set up the score was a gallop up the left wing from Harry Jeffrey, who ended up making a complete hash of an overlap where a simple pass either to the left or back inside would have surely resulted in a score, and it was fortunate that the Bees were able to score from the next phase of play to save the young second-rower's blushes.

Bradford & Bingley's pack were now establishing a firmer grip on the game, and an extended period of possession was rewarded in the 24th minute by a score in the left-hand corner as Gerhard Nortier reached the try line right in the corner.

With Fearon landing his third penalty it was 10-9 as the sides turned round, and the gap was extended to 13-9 by a Nortier penalty, matched by another kick from Fearon.

It appeared that the Bees player injured his calf in the act of taking the kick, and Nortier was replaced by Richard Tafa, who immediately added further purpose to the home midfield and increased the advantage with a trademark rumble straight through the Penrith defence to score under the posts.

At 20-12, Bradford & Bingley at last had a slight cushion, but the next 20 minutes were dominated by the visitors, who tried every sleight of hand to break down the home defence, but were thwarted by an outstanding effort right across the team.

Brett Mitchell was picked out as man of the match for his part in this rearguard action, and even when Benny Greaves was lost to the sin bin, Penrith could not benefit from their numerical advantage, Dom Copsey slotting a penalty to seal the win.