GATESHEAD 5 – 26 PERCY PARK
Despite their forward dominance, Percy Park never really got into gear against second bottom side Gateshead. On a cold day and on a heavy pitch, Park needed to put their woeful performance against Old Crocs behind them and started well enough with 2 penalties from Simon Greatham who was back in the 1st XV at centre and took over kicking duties from Marcus Rutter who was on the injury list.
Park were pleased to see skipper John Scott back in the 1st XV after a prolonged spell out of the side due to injury, and David Griffiths resumed the full back position which in previous seasons had been his regular slot.The visitors had most of the early pressure and were rewarded with a penalty on 5 minutes, which was made all the easier by an extra 10 metres given for back chat to the referee. Minutes later one of the Gateshead locks was shown yellow for some injudicious words to the match official.
The second Greatham penalty on 15 minutes, kept Park noses in front, although the home side had a penalty chance which fly half Jack Dove pulled left of the posts. With Park on the attack play was halted with a high tackle and flanker Greg Dixon was shown a yellow for taking the law into his own hands on 27 minutes.
Percy Park had the ascendency at both scrum and line-out and when Gateshead had a scrum near their own line Park pressure saw the scrum go through 90 degrees and Park had the put in. Even with one forward down Park managed to push the Gateshead pack back towards their try line and when it was pulled down, as Park were about to score, referee Brian Mitchelhill from the Cumbrian Society had no choice but to award a penalty try. Greatham kicked the easy conversion and Park were now 13 – 0 up with half time approaching.
With Park restored to a full complement of players, they were given a scrum on the Gateshead 22. John Scott picked up and darted down the blind side and throwing a dummy, went through a gap in the defence to score to give Park 18 points but the difficult conversion was missed. At half time the score board read Gateshead 0 – 18 Percy Park.
The second half was a dour affair as the crowd gradually dwindled to the sanctuary and warmth of the bar. Simon Greatham kicked another penalty on 55 minutes, before Gateshead got themselves on the score sheet with a good try by centre Martyn Heelbeck, who’s strength took him through a couple of tackles from the Park 22. Surprisingly Dove missed the relatively easy conversion.
As the game went on Gateshead had a couple of flowing moves which Park snuffed out, but their back line looked dangerous on occasions particularly when full back David Tate counter attacked from miss directed kicks to touch. With the home side attacking on the left hand side, Ali Blair intercepted a pass and raced up field. With a covering defender cutting off his path to the try line, the Park wing checked his stride before putting on the gas and made the line for the third try on 84 minutes.
Park had several chances to score the bonus point with a fourth try, and supporters thought it was in the bag when Blair crossed the line again, only for play to be brought back for a previous infringement. Some 10 minutes of injury time had been played before the game was brought to a close. Gateshead remain in a relegation fight, and with Sheffield winning with a bonus point Park slip to fifth in North 1 East. Next week Park entertain Middlesbrough who are currently third in the table.
PERCY PARK LIONS 45 – 31 BILLINGHAM LIONS
The Lions moved back to second in the Candy Division 1 League with a good win over Billingham who had beaten Park by a single point early in the season. Hamish Lockwood, back from his trip to New Zealand score three tries, and Brett Sylph in only his second game of the season notched two playing at inside centre. Mike Baker and Liam Blackburn both scored a try each and Paul Spowart kicked 5 conversions.