STOCKTON 3 - 14 PERCY PARK
Once again after a slow start Park ground out a win away from home to cement their third place in Durham & Northumberland 1. The team travelled to Station Road, Norton, with few changes from the side that won away at Ryton last week.
George Purdy was moved up from the bench with the unavailability of Chris Reekie, and Giles Tipsword returned to the squad after recovering from a rib injury. The squad was completed by a last minute reshuffle with coach Paul Jobson sitting on the bench for Jimmy Baldwin who elected not to travel.
There was no wind to speak of, but the pitch was heavy due to the recent down pours over the previous days. The home side started the better of the two and for large periods of the first half were camped in Park territory. Only solid, stubborn defence kept the red shirts out and limited their first half tally to a meagre 3 points coming from the boot of fly half Jeremy Good on 15 minutes after Park had been penalised for handling in a ruck.
There were few highlights to speak of in the first period from a Park perspective, with a catalogue of handling errors and knock ons when possession was secured, and the home supporters were sensing an upset. At half time the home side led 3 - 0 with Park having the advantage of the sloping pitch in the second period.
Ash Smith came on soon after the second half had begun and moved to the number 10 spot, with Phil Morse moving to full back to replace Rich Berne who had to retire due to a shoulder injury picked up in a tackle early in the game. Park had the chance to level the scores with a penalty attempt but Phil Morse's effort went narrowly wide.
Park's first try of the game came after a series of penalties against the home side, and with the referee playing advantage for an earlier infringement, the visitor's continued play with centre David Griffiths crashing over the line to score under the posts, and Morse converted the easy chance of extra points.
Percy Park's continued pressure, led to Stockton number eight Phil Austen being sin binned for collapsing a driving maul on the home side's line, and it could be argued that a penalty try should have been awarded.
The visitors continued to dominate territory and possession, and were awarded a 5 metre scrum after a driving maul again collapsed close to the Stockton line. A sloppy feed led to a strike against the head, and pressure was relieved as the home team cleared their lines. In the next 5 minutes both Mark Foster- Moore, and Phil Morse had try scoring chances, with last ditch tackles saving the almost certain try, with Fozzie being bundled into touch on the corner flag, and Phil Morse being held up on the line for the second time in 2 weeks.
It seemed that Park must score another try, but Stockton refused to give up, and ventured into the Percy Park half only to lose the ball in contact in the 22. Park chose to run the ball out of defence, and with a miss pass to Liam Casey, Phil Morse took a pass and made great strides up field and off loaded to Foster-Moore on the wing. Play continued up to the home side's 10 metre line, and when it seemed that play would be driven into touch by the cover defence, the ball was kept alive and played back in field. It was Greg Dixon's turn to take on the ball deep into the Stockton 22, and the ball finally ended up in the hands of Brett Sylph, with play having been switched from the left wing across to the right side of the field. With the home side running out of defenders, Sylph crossed the line, and Phil Morse converted, with 3 minutes of normal time remaining.
Back at Preston Avenue, Park Pumas and Marauders were playing Ashington II and Prudhoe and Stocksfield in the third and fourth team cup. The Pumas ran out easy winners by 41 - 10, but the Marauders were on the wrong side of a fifty pointer against a strong Prudhoe side who seem like the likely winners of this competition.
Next week Percy Park have all four sides playing with the Ist XV and Lions playing Gosforth at home, the Pumas are away to Keighley and the Marauders play Ashington also at home.