Candy League 2 North
Novocastrians RFC 2ndXV 17 v Percy Park RFC Lions 19
11 wins out of 11 so far in Candy League 2 North
The Lions got out of jail against a spirited Novos team at Sutherland Park on Saturday. Many enforced changes brought plenty of talented individuals together for Park but our team play was missing. A failure to go through the phases and protect our own ball meant that we allowed Novos to thrive who had some strong runners on the field.
Novos moved the ball well and picked out their flying right winger, who what he was missing in rugby skills he made up for with sheer pace. He scorched past Sam McDonald and finished from the halfway line for a great individual effort 5-0 to the home side.
It wasn't until 25 minutes that the forwards did some real damage with a driving maul which saw Mark Sanderson touch down, a great conversion from Sam McDonald put us 7 - 5 up.
Then more of the same nothing between the two sides. On the stroke of half time we had a penalty 6 m out in the left hand corner. Whilst the defence napped, skipper Steve Turner took the quick tap and crashed over 12-5 Park at the break.
The second half really turned into more of the same, the unlucky Andy McGrath just returning from a cracked rib was off with a broken knuckle. The front row was rejigged with Mark Barry moving up and Jamie Guthrie slotting into the back row.
We played some decent stuff but failed to go wide when we had suckered the defence in and the Novos defence were adept at soaking up the close quarter’s pressure.
Novos were in this game and guess what? The ball went wide to the right wing who got the better of Sam for the second time and crossed. Thankfully Novos did not have a kicker. 12-10 to Park.
Park then played some of their best stuff , camped in the Novos 22 they took pick and go after pick and go and eventually Jacob Dunsdon crossed , a great kick from Sam put us 19-10 up , 14 minutes to go.
But Novos were far from done, a series of missed tackles put them into the red zone and eventually their pressure told and they were over again, the kick was good this time 19-17 to Park 8 minutes to go.
We then played some smart rugby stayed on our feet, retained the ball and ran down the clock as Novos started to infringe, the final penalty awarded. The clock was done and Steve Turner got the ball off the park for the away win. Phew!!!! Well done Sam for getting two kicks under pressure. Not one for the faint hearted, next fixture is Medicals on 5th March as the team has a week off to rest and recuperate. 11 wins out of 11 so far in Candy League 2 North.