New Brighton . . . . . . 62pts, Penrith . . . . . . 16pts

NEW Brighton cruised into the fourth round of the NPI National Cup, on Saturday, by completely overpowering plucky Penrith.

It took the Blues just four minutes to open their account, signalling a torrid afternoon for the Cumbrians. Hodgers powered forward from the base of a scrum on the halfway line. The big man created the space for full-back Kennedy to burst through from a deep position to score under the posts. Guest converted for 7-0.

Penrith spirits were lifted briefly on 10 minutes with a penalty from Sergeant (7-3). Within seconds of the re-start, Heffin O'Hare danced through a packed defence to finish off an impressive move to score under the posts. Guest converted (14-3).

Sergeant landed his second penalty on 16 minutes, reducing the deficit to 14-6. From this point, the Blues took firm control to overwhelm their visitors with another devastating sequence of unrelenting power and pressure. Williams took a fast penalty on his own 10 yard line to start a flowing move which ended with a speeding Kennedy ghosting over for his second score. Guest converted for 21-6.

From a set scrum on their own 22, New Brighton launched an attack that ran Penrith ragged. Fifteen passes later, Steve Hancock crossed for a memorable score which fired coach Connor's men up to end the half in total control with further scores coming from Kennedy and O'Hare, effectively ending the contest at the interval with a 36-6 score line.

Connor substituted Lee Hodgers - he had been warned twice by referee McNally in the opening period - for Shaun Gallagher, still recovering from injury, and the big lock relished his return to the fray to score after just 12 minutes. Guest converted for 43-6.

Knubblie took a rare opportunity for the Cumbrians to score in the corner for 43-11, but moments later Kennedy ended yet another New Brighton raid to pick up his fourth try (48-11).

New Brighton displayed their full array of attacking moves and an appreciative crowd produced the biggest cheer of the afternoon when the giant form of 19-stone Mark Dorrington crashed over to finish a powerful forward drive. Guest converted for 55-11.

Robbie Harman came on for Whalley, Kay replaced Williams at scrum-half and Kevin Brookman gave way to give veteran Bernard Hearn a nostalgic run out on the Reeds Lane pitch.

For the record, Paul Feely moved to the back row with Bernie taking his familiar spot in the middle of the front row. Lawrie Connor came on in the second row replacing Paul Fox to keep the party spirit alive.

A mix-up at scrum-half gifted Penrith with an interception possession which put Young over in the corner for 55-16.

Connor capped a fine afternoon for him and his team, scoring himself under the posts in the dying minutes to round off a fine afternoon for New Brighton to make it 62-16.

The Blues will be interested to see who they draw in the next round and, of course, are hoping for a home tie at Reeds Lane.

New Brighton travel to Chester this Saturday for a 'friendly' against a Deva team - a welcome break from League and Cup action.

New Brighton squad: Mark and Steve Dorrington, Paul Feely, Steve Fox, Carl Turley, Lee Hodgers, Colin Lamprey, Kevin Brookman, Hywel Williams, Alex Guest, Sion O'Hare, Heffin O'Hare, Andy Whalley, Steve Hancock, Ian Kennedy, Robby Harman, Paul Kay, Lawrie Connor, Shaun Gallagher, Bernie Hearn, Sean Mooney.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.