Penrith Rugby Club were 43-22 home winners against Firwood Waterloo in their first North One West game of the season but it wasn’t quite as comfortable as that sounds.

The hosts started brightly and were 10 points up in as many minutes although, for the remainder of the first half, they were pretty dire and trailed at the break.

They looked like a side who hadn’t recently trained or played together but, in the second half, they found a bit of cohesion and eventually won well.

Matt Allinson kicked a penalty after early Penrith pressure and they soon added a try. Ryan Johnson broke from number eight on halfway and Allinson put Jay Rossi away to score. Allinson converted.

However, the longer the first period went on, the more dominant the visitors got. They kicked a simple penalty and levelled with a converted try.

They took the lead when they won turnover ball on their own 10m line and quickly moved it wide to move the ball down their left wing and scored in the corner to lead 15-10 at the break.

The second period was a completely different affair, though, as the home side eventually got their act together and the visitors began to tire.

After a series of Penrith five-metre scrums, the referee had had enough and awarded a penalty try.

They then added a third try from their own 22 after scrum ball was fed straight to Allinson who burst through the first line of defence, Johnson made ground before the ball went wide to debutant Brook Birley. He escaped the clutches of his winger and then the full-back looked to have him closed down, but Birley found another gear and his pace took him clear for the bonus-point try.

Although Penrith did invite pressure on to themselves by giving too many penalties away, they never now looked in any great danger. Birley got his second try on the short side following a line-out and ruck on the Waterloo line.

As the visitors threw the ball about in desperation to try and get back into the game, Rossi intercepted and ran the ball in from inside his own half.

Waterloo did get another score when Penrith conceded a penalty on their own line but the Cumbrians had the last word in stoppage-time, with George Graham going in at the corner.

In the same league, Keswick lost heavily at Stockport.