Sunderland RFC 44 v Percy Park Lions 12.
An nus horribilis of a second half
Don’t let the score fool you there were loads of positives to come out of this game. For another match day the Lions were a new mix of players. Availability is becoming a problem this year although we still managed to travel with 18 willing souls. Percy Park welcomed back Pete Basara and Joey Clark and new signings Fin Ruddock and Teddie Summers both put in shifts.
There really was nothing between the two sides in the first half. Sunderland crossed first on 3 mins but failed to convert. 5-0. What followed was a dogged battle with no further score until the 20th minute when Andrew ‘Steiners’ Steinburg crashed over to make it 5-5.
On the 30 Sunderland moved the ball wide and crossed again but the kick was missed 10-5 to the hosts.
Several minutes of ‘keep ball’ from Park led to a push over opportunity with Captain and fill in back row Joe Cassidy darting over to put the away team ahead.12-10 to Percy Park.
Then on the stroke of halftime Percy Park inexplicably eased off and Sunderland went over 17-12 at the interval,
I can’t bring myself to type much more. 3 yellow cards and two penalty tries coupled with one or two injuries put paid to us taking anything from this game. To say we lost the ref would be an understatement.
Final score 44-12
Lots of positives although we should have been more disciplined within the contest. The first half gave hop the second made it a difficult afternoon.
Our thanks to the hosts who played the game in good spirit.