Park were looking to avenge the two defeats of last season at the hands of the Wearsiders, and opened the scoring with a penalty from the boot of Greetham after the home side had been penalised, not for the first time, for holding on, after the tackle.
The first 15 minutes were keenly contested but the visitors broke the dead lock with a try from prop Chris Reekie. Aggressive tackling from scrum half John Scott won the ball from Sunderland and the ball was passed through several pairs of hands before Reekie used his strength and physique to drive over the line for the first try. The score remained 8 - 0 as Greetham was unable to convert.
Percy Park were not winning their usual share of clean line out ball, with usual 2 jumpers Sylph and Fidler on holiday, but Park were keen to run ball on the counter attack, and scored an excellent try at the hands of wing Liam Blackburn, as Park ran the ball from their own 22. Forwards Dunn and Griffiths linked with wing Craig Firth who set off up field slicing through a gap in the Sunderland defence, and with only the full back to beat passed inside to fellow wing man Blackburn who rounded off the try, which Greetham converted.
With the score line 15 - 0 nothing seemed to be going right for the home side, who were incurring the wrath of the referee for repeated infringements. It did appear harsh however when they were ordered to reset a scrum with Park advantage when the scrum had supposedly turned 90 degrees. The resulting back chat gave Park a penalty, then on 27 minutes the Sunderland fly half was ordered to the sin bin.
The pick of Park's tries came from open play with centre David Griffiths setting off up field and passing to Firth who made extra yards before finding Liam Blackburn in support. Blackburn passed inside to Simon Greetham who scored under the posts and converted his own try. The final try of the half came on 30 minutes, from fly half Thomas Turnbull. Scrum half Scott had broken through a ruck and with the Sunderland defence all at sea, the ball reached Turnbull who chipped over the advancing line and retrieved his own kick to dive over for the try.
On the half time whistle Park were awarded a penalty inside the home side half, and with no time left on the watch Greetham stepped up and slotted the penalty kick to take Park into the break with a 30 point advantage.
The home support must have feared a repeat of the drubbing they received last week at the hands of Hartlepool Rovers, but the Sunderland team did not lie down, and for long periods of the second half denied Park any meaningful possession. Park's Craig Firth was given a yellow card for a late tackle, and although the Ashbrooke side had the numerical advantage, and possession, they couldn't breach the rock solid Park defence.
Ironically, when Percy Park were on the attack and looking the more likely to score, an intercepted pass from Thomas Turnbull was snapped up by centre John Gregson who ran the length of the field to score. The last score of the game came right at the end when a speculative kick by Phil Morse was chased by Blackburn. The ball stopped inches short of the Sunderland line and the sole defender dropped the ball when tackled by Blackburn who pounced on the loose and dive over the line for his second try of the game. With Greetham now off the pitch, it was Phil Morse who converted, and Park had won 37 - 5.
With Hartlepool Rovers winning away at Alnwick, Park are in second place in Durham and Northumberland, and entertain Alnwick at home next week. Percy Park Lions won convincingly for the second week in a row, this time dispatching Blaydon Development XV 57 - 3, with Ali Blair scoring 5 tries. Park's Marauders lost in a close encounter with Blyth III going down 12 - 10.