Penrith retained the Cumbria Cup with a convincing 40-17 victory over Carlisle at Aspatria, although head coach Dave Preston conceded it was “a strange game”.
The Winters Park men had several first team regulars missing after the date of the final had been switched to accommodate Carlisle following the collapse of Penrith’s group games in the Papa John’s Community Cup. However, those who stepped in — including four Colts players — were up to the task.
“It was a strange game. We got off to a flying start and then seemed to get on the wrong side of the ref,” said Preston.
“I believe we gave away over 30 penalties and this season it would have taken three league games to do that.
“It was frustrating for the coaches and the players, but they dealt with it and we got the result we were after.
“It was disappointing for the seven lads who were missing through injury and other commitments as they would have loved to play, but the squad players came in who have played most of the season anyway. They filled in the gaps and did a job.
“It was good to finally get the final played. With the Papa John pool games falling through it was an ideal opportunity.”
Preston said the focus this week had been on helping the club’s Colts team prepare for their North West Senior Colts Cup final against Sandbach at Heaton Moor Rugby Club tomorrow (3-30pm kick-off).
“Get that out of the way and we’ll be thinking about our Papa John’s semi-final away at Leek the week after (4th May),” he said.
On a less happy note, Penrith’s influential No 8 Archie Rattray had to leave the field with a leg injury during the cup final.
“We don’t seem to be able to steer clear of injuries,” said Preston. “We’ve just got Archie back from a lay-off and he has now fractured a bone in his leg.”
