Penrith 69

Leek 7

Leek embarked on their longest league trip of the season as they looked to emulate last season's win at Winters Park, Penrith.
Alas, it turned into an ill-fated adventure as the Moorlanders conceded 11 tries with only a single try for Billy Kidd to Leek's name.

Jack Newton Taylor started at full back with Josh Cartlidge and Josh Nadin on the wings. Kin Critchlow moved to centre, partnering Josh Ballance with Joe Byrne with Noah Reaney at half back.
Captain Joe Newton Taylor, Ed Cheadle and Ollie Powell were in the front row and Joel Booth with Joel Hine at lock. Joe Gorman started at No.8 with Tom Hayes, making his seasonal debut, on the flank with Billy Kid.
Will Hill, Danny Griffin and Brenig Hughes were on the bench.

On the astro-cum-grass pitch and a fine but blustery day in Cumbria, the start for Leek was similar to that of last week with Penrith retaining possession for 4 minutes before being held up over the Leek line. It took the home side 13 minutes to score their first try after a penalty against Leek for a no arms tackle and from the lineout, the maul set up the drive for the prop to open the scoring.
From the kick off, poor tackling led to the Penrith scrum half breaking through with the flanker on hand to score a simple try. Converted and up to 12-0 on 16 minutes.
From this kick off, an attempted clearance from inside their 22 saw Billy Kidd charge the ball down and he raced over the line to score Leek's only try of the day. Converted by Joe Byrne, it was to be Leek's highlight. 12-7 after 17 minutes.
2 minutes later and Penrith scored their 3rd try from the kick off knock on by Leek. From the scrum, the home backs switched right to left allowing an overlap on the left for the centre to score. Conversion was good. 19-7.
Finally on 24 minutes, Leek received their first penalty for holding onto the ball on the floor, but Byrne's attempt was short and 3 minutes later, Penrith scored their 4th and bonus point try after quick passing, a dummy lef,t the Leek defence unable to stop the pacey Penrith backs. Again, the conversion landed and at 26-7, after 27 minutes, it was to become a very long afternoon for Leek.
Penrith scored 2 more tries before half time, on 35 and 39 minutes, converting one and missing one to go in at the half on 38-7.
Billy Kidd, who had again played well in the lineout, Leek's strongest part of its game, had to leave the field for a head injury and this caused Leek's lineout to be less secure during the 2nd half.
The tries continued to flow at regular intervals with 5 more in the half and only a half chance for Leek, midway through the half, but a stray pass led to a clearance and Leek didn't get another close-range chance to convert. Try, as the team did to control what possession they had, even in their own 22, pressure led to mistakes which Penrith were eager to punish Leek with.
In the end, the whistle blew on a game which was heavily one sided and Leek will have to work hard in midweek, coaches and players, to up their performances as they welcome Newport to Altrad Park for the opening game of the season at home.
In other games, Newport was beaten at home by Stockport and there were wins for Old Anselmians, who lead the table, Blackburn, Rossendale and Wirral.
Still early days and time to get things right for Leek and hoping to see a reaction this Saturday.

The 2s continued their great opening to the season with another home league win, this time against Stone by 45-24 and they, along with Barton, Uttoxeter and Handsworth have a maximum 10 points from their opening matches.
This week, the 2s go on the road for the first time to Newcastle 2s and with 2 wins as well to their name, this should be a great game.

The 3s opened their merit table season with a 35 all draw against Longton 2s at Leek and with the Colts just losing out in the last minutes to Longton Colts, 79 players played for the club on Saturday.

This Saturday is a 3pm kick off at Altrad Park against Newport in the Regional 1 North West league.
Please come on down and support the team as they start their home campaign.