Penryn had a bit of a nervous start, knocking on from the off but some solid defence from the resulting scrum saw the home side soon win back possession and settle in to their game, managing to pass the ball out wide several times and just held off from scoring by some fearless tackling from the North Petherton defence.

Penryn were, however, relentless in their pressure and eventually their efforts were rewarded when some quick hands out to the wing allowed Small to go over in the corner for her first ever try.

Penryn handled the restart kick better this time and quickly worked the ball back into the North Petherton half. With forwards and backs working well together Penryn were able to pressure the North Petherton line, resulting in a series of penalties that saw several forward carriers almost breach the defence, only to be held up short each time.

After a series of forward attacks, the ball was spun out to the backs and the resulting ruck out towards the wing saw the ball pop out for scrum half Dennis with space in front to run in for Penryn’s second try.

North Petherton followed up their restart with even more physically this time and their dominance at the break down, winning the majority of the rucks, gave them the possession, and confidence they needed to get back into the game.

Their forwards took the ball on in close contact for a few phases until they were in a position to get the ball along the line and score out wide for their first points.

The visitor’s comeback in the first half was short lived however, and Penryn were soon back in control, with solid scrummaging and some great individual carries.

It was H Evans though that was eventually successful in breaking through the North Petherton defence and reach over to score Penryn’s third try.

This was followed up by an exceptional individual try from winger McKelvey, who ran round and through several North Petherton defenders from deep in her own half to score and leave the home side 20 points to 5 at half time.

It was Penryn again who started the second half strongest too, putting pressure on the visitors from the kick off and forcing the knock on giving possession back to Penryn.

A series of hard fought phases, where North Petherton defended excellently, eventually gave Penryn the opportunity to get the ball down the blind side where debutant Defriez gave a perfectly timed pass for McKelvey to get her second try, which was successfully converted by Rickard.

North Petherton were not out of the match yet though. This time they took the restart cleanly and made ground into the home team’s half.

Their continued pressure led to a series of forced penalties at the break down and they were eventually rewarded for their efforts with their first converted try.

Penryn swiftly followed this up with another (unconverted) try of their own, again using the blind side with Small this time giving the ideal off load to allow McKelvey to go over for her hat-trick.

North Petherton refused to go down without a fight and for a good percentage of the second half attacked the Penryn line with force.

The home forwards matched their opposition well in the scrums but North Petherton continued to rule at the break down and this again gave them the momentum to eventually go over for another unconverted try.

The home team were however determined to finish on top and scored again with just one minute to go.

Following another solid scrum by the Penryn forwards, the backs worked the ball well through the hands, with captain Chenoweth powering up the middle then offloading to Lorrain-Smith who was able to dance through the North Petherton defence to go over under the post, allowing Rickard to get the conversion and end the match for the victorious home side 39-19.

Penryn Ladies will enjoy a weekend rest before travelling to North Bristol for their next league fixture on Sunday November 7.
To find out more about training and playing for this successful Cornish side follow the team on:
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