Percy Park 33 - 7 Morpeth
Park kicked off into a strong wind, and the bright conditions, with the pitch in excellent nick, promised perfect conditions for running rugby. The home side had the first opportunity to get on the newly installed scoreboard, with a penalty attempt by Ash Smith after Morpeth were judged to be offside, but the kick was off target. Matthew Jinks then had a penalty kick which he pulled right of the posts, but the resulting drop out went straight into touch giving Morpeth an attacking scrum on the Park 22. It was from this, that Joe Forsythe scored the opening try of the game after a couple of phases saw the burly lock barge over on 10 minutes, and the Jinks conversion gave the visitors a 7 – 0 lead.
Morpeth were using the conditions to their advantage, attempting to keep Park penned in their own half, but the home side seemed to have the upper hand in the set piece. Park stole the ball from a Morpeth scrum and a quick feed to Martin Shaw, saw the fly half find Ash Smith with a long pass down the blind side. The ball was then passed to wing Howard Stock who gave the ball back inside to Alun Barlow who sped for the line to score. Ash Smith kicked the difficult conversion and Park had levelled the scores on 37 minutes, which was how the half ended.
Early in the second half, Percy Park showed their commitment to running the ball at every opportunity, and pressure on the Morpeth ball saw them spill possession, with Adam Fidler pouncing on the loose ball, then feeding Shaw who put in an astute chip to the corner for Alun Barlow to chase. The Park fullback retrieved the ball and went over in the right hand corner to score his second try. Ash Smith seemed to have found his kicking boots and slotted the conversion as Park took the lead 14 – 7.
Adventurous play sometimes doesn’t always pay off, and an attempt to run the ball from their own try line put Park in a spot of bother which saw the visitors camped in the home 22 for an eight minute spell, but solid defence kept Morpeth at bay, and eventually Barlow cleared the ball to half way with a good kick to relieve the pressure. Thomas Turnbull was forced to leave the pitch with badly cut mouth, which gave Ali Blair his chance to take the field, and he immediately showed his pace with a couple of timely runs, the second putting him away to the line before being brought back for a knock on.
Colin Murphy scored his second of the game after 69 minutes with another fine break and made the try line, after just having recovered from being winded. This gave Park their bonus point, and Ash Smith then kicked his fourth conversion of the day.
Percy Park continued to put pressure on Morpeth and from a line out in the visitors 22, James Ponton was penalised for barging, and was then given a yellow card, and would play no further part in the game. Morpeth were keen to cut the deficit and had another spell camped near the Park line, but the scrummage was so solid that even with 7 v 8, Park held firm to deny the Northumbrian side any further points. With four minutes of added time on the clock, Park scored their fifth try of the game when a line out near the Morpeth line was caught and driven, and Adam Fidler wriggled over to score. Ash Smith couldn’t make the final conversion attempt, but Park had won the game 33 – 7 and with another bonus point in the bag, maintained their place at the top of North 2 East.
Meanwhile the Lions were playing their Candy league game against Morpeth Edwardians at Mitford Road, and won 29 – 7 scoring 5 tries and claimed a bonus point to maintain their top spot in the Candy League Division 2. Park’s Pumas didn’t fare as well and went down 33 – 7 to Medicals II at Cochrane Park.