SSE NORTH DIVISION PLAY – OFF
PERCY PARK RFC (North 1 East) v Liverpool St.Helens FC (North 1 West)
Percy Park will start the 2012/13 season in the National Leagues after winning a nail biting promotion play off 18 – 12 against a spirited Liverpool St.Helens side. It could have been a case of history repeating itself, when Park were defending a 6 points lead with only minutes to go, having been under the cosh for a sustained period at the end of the game. LSH broke down the right hand side and had the pass to Neil Hull gone to hand, the visitors would have had a kick at goal to steal the game by a single point at the death. Fortunately for Park the ball was spilled five metres from the line, and a certain try went begging.
Park made a few last minute changes to the bench prior to the game, with influential lock Craig Fidler failing a late fitness test. Sean Williamson came in and was soon in action as Michael Langlands had to leave the field on 8 minutes after a nasty cut resulting from an accidental clash of heads left him requiring 21 stitches. Ali Blair was nursing a tight hamstring, so coach, James Ponton made the decision to bring in a second back replacement rather than go with 3 forwards. Alun Barlow was the lucky recipient although he didn’t actually get on the pitch. Johnny Dubois was the replacement unlucky to miss out.
The North 1 East runners up opened the scoring with two Phil Morse penalties in the first half in a game so well managed by the officials that there were only 9 penalties conceded in the whole game. Park elected to take the wind advantage in the first half, and Ash Smith kept the Liverpool side playing in their own half with some good positional kicking.
The opening try of the game came after 23 minutes from Park’s try scoring machine Ali Blair. Andy Dunn broke down the left hand side and offloaded a well judged pass to wing Jimmy Baldwin who cut back inside leaving several tacklers in his wake. The ball was recycled and found player coach James Ponton charging towards the line before finally passing to Ali Blair who crossed the try line under the posts. Phil Morse’s conversion gave the North East 1 side a 13 – 0 lead, and they looked in command.
Just before the break Liverpool St.Helens shook Park out of their comfort zone with a well earned try by Alex McClurg. The chunky centre burst through the Percy Park defensive line and found one of his team in support 5 meters out before receiving a return pass to go over for the try. Skipper Simon Worsley kicked the conversion to keep his side in contention, and at half time Park led 13 – 7.
Despite being a bright and dry sunny afternoon, the North Easterly wind was biting, but this didn’t deter a large crowd with lots of support from other clubs in and out of the area. In fact a small contingent of support came from last year’s promotion winners Burnage, proving the fellowship that surrounds the game of Rugby.
From the Percy Park kick off after the break, none of the LSH players went for the ball, and open side Jack Davidson snapped it up just outside the visitors 22. The ball was recycled to fly half Ash Smith who called for the switch with the young Park wing. The dummy took out several players and as Smith was brought to the ground he free his arms as off loaded a one handed pass to Howard Stock who outpaced the opposition full back to score in the right hand corner with less than a minute on the clock. Although Phil Morse missed the difficult conversion, Park led 18 – 7.
LSH cam straight back into the game with a lengthy spell of pressure keeping Park penned in their own half, and on 54 minutes Liverpool’s top try scorer Dave Cunliffe scored wide on the right after Park had run out of defenders. The conversion was off target, but the visitors were within a converted try of returning to the National Leagues.
Park held out for the remaining 20 or so minutes as LSH threw everything at them. When the North West 1 side failed to score near the end of the game, Park were awarded a scrum on their 5 metre line and played out the remaining 2 minutes of the game by playing keep ball in the forwards. As the referee indicated time was up, skipper John Scott received the ball and hoofed it into the proverbial row Z as the final whistle went.
Although there will be a good deal more travelling next season, as far afield as Chester and Birkenhead, Park will be playing rugby at level 5, which will be a true test of character for the young squad.
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