Penrith 21 Vale of Lune 50: Vale hit a half-century in preparing for the new campaign

Vale of Lune were 50-21 winners at Penrith last weekend as they prepare for the start of the new rugby union season, writes BARRY LEES.

With the scheduled pre-season fixture programme delayed on the grounds of player safety with hard, dry, playing surfaces, the artificial pitch at Penrith posed no issues.

The Vale returned to action, hungry to make up for lost time as the planning done by coaches Mark Goodman and Scott Armstrong was to be given a test drive against old rivals.

The travelling faithful were keen to see how the new players gelled and were not disappointed.

It took only three minutes for Billy Swarbrick to crack open the Penrith defence, allowing Damon Hall to strike in the right corner.

Penrith came back strongly, but Jordan Dorrington kept them in check with tenacious tackling, while Hall’s clearance kicks restored calm and set up Ben McGarvey to score in the left corner.

Luke Procter was the pick of the forwards with his powerful carries and determination, battering his way over the line for the third try as Jamie Mayall got into his stride with the conversions.

Penrith regrouped and played to their strengths as dogged forward possession resulted in a try, only for Sam Walton to respond with a score in the corner as Vale led 26-7 at the break.

Player rotations came along, as is customary in pre-season matches, though Dorrington lit up the game by sprinting through the first wave of defenders and barging his way past the next line before offloading for McGarvey to finish.

Mayall’s 10-minute absence brought about a swift reshuffle, though Penrith later scored two more tries before normal service was resumed with scores from Casey England, Luke Procter and Eddie Abdelghafar.

Vale of Lune: Crompton, Verlaque, Butler, Procter, Sutcliffe, Ayrton, Walton, Wallbank, Swarbrick, Mayall, McGarvey, Hall, Abdelghafar, McFarlane, Dorrington. Replacements: Stevens, Dokter, Ryder, Fox, England, Briston.