Percy Park 15 – 14 West Hartlepool
It was top versus second at Preston Avenue, and after the game both sides remained top and second, although Park leapfrogged their Teeside visitors to lead the table by a single point. Despite West having lost twice this season, they have picked up more bonus points than Park who are still undefeated in North East 1.Once again the weather gods smiled, and the conditions were ideal for two sides who are both renowned for their expansive style of play. When the two sides last met at Preston Avenue in September 2006, West won 36 – 10, and looking at the team sheet from that day only 5 players from each side were in the starting line up 4 years later.
Park kicked off with the slope, and the game was pretty even for the first 10 minutes, although a couple of missed touch kicks from penalties by Park allowed the West back line to counter. Solid defence by both sides kept the game scoreless, although West came closest to scoring after Darren Thomas ducked under a tackle in the Park midfield and Boatman took the ball over the line only to be held up by skipper John Scott.
On 20 minutes Gareth Foreman made a trade mark break through a gap in the Park defence inside his own half and set the West back line loose. With a two on one, fortunately for Park full back Scott Jordan decided to chip the covering defender and kicked the ball dead in the process.
Martin Potts left the field with a ham string injury to be replaced by Simon Greetham, who made an immediate impact with a couple of good breaks in midfield, one of which set up Park for an overlap in the visitors 22, only for a pass to be spilled and the resulting scrum relieved the pressure. After another break by Greetham, Martin Shaw took the ball on and looked to have reached the line, but some last ditch tackling denied the Park fly half the try. Skipper John Scott was on hand and picked up to go over the line, under the posts, to give Ash Smith the simple conversion chance, to give the home side a 7 – 0 lead.
West came straight back, and were awarded a series of penalties, which resulted in a line out on the Park 5 metre line, which was stolen by man of the match Craig Fidler, and the clearance kick was made deep into the West half.
Park came close again just before the end of the half, when scrum half John Scott made a telling break through the West Hartlepool defence, but the last pass found Cheslin for West rather than a black and white shirt, and the visitors managed to scramble the ball away from danger.
Percy Park led at half time, and early in the second half put the West scrum under a good deal of pressure, from which an attack was launched right up to the visitors line. A good steal by Anth Carr in the tackle set up a counter attack, as the ball was spun left and Darren Thomas set off up field and raced to the line. Ali Blair covering for Park managed to stop the grey haired winger just short of the line, but the ball was offloaded to Scott Jordan in support., After juggling the ball the young full back regained control to go over the line under the post, and his conversion levelled the scores at 7 – 7.
Only a minute or so later Ash Smith broke through the West defence and set up an attack which again saw the green, red and whites counter in similar fashion, but this time the cover defence kept West at bay. Gareth Foreman had a chance to break the deadlock with a drop goal which went wide, then Scott Jordan was well off target with a penalty attempt on 47 minutes.
Park came back in this see saw game, with another break by Simon Greetham in midfield, and the home side was awarded a penalty in front of the posts which As Smith converted to take back the lead for Park. Percy Park were penalised a few minutes later for holding on, although the West tackler clearly didn’t release the tackled player. From the resulting penalty Jordan was again off target.
With tensions high, there were a few fractious moments when tempers frayed; then James Ponton was sin binned much to his visible annoyance, for what the Australian referee Mick Harris deemed repeated offending, and Park were down to 14 men. Almost from the restart West skipper Jonny Boatman broke through the home side defence, with a gap appearing as Craig Fidler tripped, and the back rower finished off a mazy run to score under the posts, and Jordan converted to take the lead back for West 14 – 10.
9 minutes of the game remained, and with Park a man down, the signs did not look good. Nevertheless, the side showed great fortitude and fought back eventually winning a penalty in the West half. The ball was kicked to the corner for a line out which Park won and a maul was driven closer to the West Hartlepool try line. The visitors defended the drive, but the ball was recycled by John Scott down the blind side, and hooker Andy Dunn barged his way over the try line in the corner to score on 80 minutes to the shear delight of Park players and supporters, and utter dismay of the visitors who felt the player was in touch.
Ash Smith was close with the conversion attempt, but the ball fell short. From the kick off Park retrieved the ball, but eventually after a few phases, West regained possession, and Gareth Foreman could have been the hero if his drop goal attempt had been on target. Ash Smith caught the ball and called for the mark, then with the referee signalling last kick of the game, the ball was kicked dead for the whistle to go signalling a Park victory.
After the last home win, the 1stXV celebrated their victory in the comfy sofas in front of the TV enjoying “The Mummy Returns” much to the chagrin of the older members who felt they should have celebrated in a more traditional rugby style. This week, no doubt you can guess the movie of choice. “How the West was won”