Penrith Rugby Club lost top spot in North One East when they went down 25-10 to Alnwick, the new leaders.

Alnwick now clearly have the advantage and look to have an easier run-in than Penrith, but it is still all to play for.

With five games left, the north east side currently have a three-point lead over the Cumbrians and Driffield.

The home side started at a frenetic pace in an all-out effort for the win that would see them leapfrog the visitors.

Penrith found themselves under early pressure, being pinned back in their own 22 after a high kick had been misjudged in the testing conditions.

Alnwick were on the front foot and were playing to their strength, their excellent back-row.

All three were big, strong and ran the ball in hard, and their open-side wing-forward broke the tackles that led to the first try in the corner after only three minutes.

The Penrith defenders would find themselves confronting the physicality of the Alnwick back-row all afternoon.

The Penrith eight drove the home forwards off their own ball at the first two scrums and, throughout the contest, more than held their own in the set scrum against a side who see this part of the game as one of their strengths.

When Penrith won a line-out, the home forwards were again penalised which led to the ball being put into touch close to their line.

The visitors again went for the catch and drive and, this time, they were able to drive the maul to the line where the hard-working Dan Richardson claimed the try.

George Graham then had a very difficult conversion attempt close to the touchline, but he hit it low and hard and it skimmed the crossbar for a 7-5 lead.

The game then set into a pattern where the home side had the majority of the territory and possession and Penrith spent a lot of time defending desperately deep in their own half.

Graham always seemed to be found where the danger was and must have made at least three try-saving incursions.

Although the home sides efforts did not result in them adding to their try count in the first half, their pressure did draw three kickable penalties.

In the conditions, the Alnwick place-kicker did very well to judge all three to perfection.

It meant Penrith trailed 14-7 at the break but the cross-field gale would rather favour them in the second half.

The pattern of the game changed little in the second half with Penrith doing most of the defending and the hosts extended their lead with a fourth penalty.

Although Penrith did have some possession and put some phases together, they never looked like taking the home side apart.

With 10 minutes to go, they were able to spend some time in the home 22 and apply some pressure. They won a penalty when the home back line were caught offside and Graham obliged.

Penrith now were in bonus point territory, only trailing by seven points which was as much as they could hope for on such a difficult afternoon.

This sparked renewed efforts by the home side and they eventually managed a second try from all their possession when the stand-off and centre combined to create a gap in midfield which ended up with a try in the corner.

The icing on the cake for them was a fifth penalty and a well-deserved victory.