Penrith 29, Bradford & Bingley 13

For the fourth time this season, an SSE National League Three North game turned away from Bradford & Bingley after they conceded an interception try.

There must be a statistic kept somewhere for the most number of games lost in a season due to a wayward pass, and this Bees team must be near the top of that list.

With the score at 16-13 to the home side, the visitors were around 15 metres from the Penrith line when Phil Greaves threw out a pass which was anticipated by a Penrith defender, allowing the home side to gallop away and claim seven points at the other end of the field.

However, that was not the only costly error as the Bees also managed to drop the ball over the line on two occasions and gave a penalty away from a position where it was easier to score than not.

In the build-up to the game, Bradford & Bingley's director of rugby Martin Whitcombe had emphasised that his side must be much better at retaining the ball and must keep hold of it from the contact area.

However, the work on the training pitch seemed not to have carried over to match day as the Bees were guilty of giving the ball away far too easily.

Things began brightly enough as Richard Tafa steamed over for an early score which Gavin Stead converted.

A seven-point lead with seven minutes played, and it seemed that the Bees were set fair to claim their first away victory since October 8.

However, things began to go awry and it seemed as though the backs were finding themselves where the forwards should be and the forwards were too often involved in the back play.

Penrith fought their way back into the game and with fly half Steve Wood controlling the pace of the game, it was inevitable that the home side would get on the scoresheet.

Wood landed two penalties and, with 24 minutes played, second-rower Robert Dawson put the home side in the lead with a five-pointer.

With Wood adding the extra points, it was now 13-7 to the home side.

Wood and Gavin Stead exchanged penalties before half- time, and with Giles Hetherington slotting a drop goal, the sides turned round at 16-13.

Another point made by Whitcombe earlier in the week was that the side that wins the ten minutes immediately after half-time usually wins the game, and Penrith were first on the scoresheet eight minutes into the second half as Wood claimed the score from the interception.

This score seemed to knock the wind out of the Bees and, much as they huffed and puffed to get back into the game, the result was sealed on 68 minutes as James Ellar ran in Penrith’s third score.