North One East
Durham City RFC 45 v Percy Park RFC 50
Percy Park Lions 10 v Tynedale Raiders 27
For 68 minutes Park shone brightly in the Land of Prince Bishops; for the remaining 12 they conspired to give the travelling support a nervous breakdown.
The Durham City’s Presidents pre-game address eloquently described Percy Park’s difficulty in defeating his side at their ‘Hollow Drift’ ground…he made a good point… over the years we really haven’t won many games here…history was on his side….a point he stretched further when he described their ground as Percy Park’s ‘Rourke’s Drift’….for the many who may not have seen that famous adaptation, ‘the story’ is centered around the defence of a mission station in Natal by a beleaguered company of British soldiers who are attacked by superior numbers of Zulu warriors, whilst being directed by their tribal leader on a nearby crest. Taking that analogy to a ‘far end’, I had this image of the Durham hordes, directed by a Prince Bishop high up on the ‘Hollow Drift’ bank, peppering our Northumbrian line until they emerged the victor by many points to nil. In this relegation ‘nail biter ’a five point win was as good as 10 and a buoyant Durham crowd were very assured that there was going to be one winner taking maximum points and it wasn’t going to be us!.......
As the game kicked off Park went on the attack, having decided that it was better to take the game to the opponent rather than sit back and wait for the expected beating, and we did with some aplomb and panache quickly moving into a 21-7 lead and in the doing gave the Bishop ‘a bit of a bash’. As half time came and went, Park were still flying and ahead by 28 points to 50…that is until 12 minutes to go!…the Prince Bishops must have gathered and obtained some divine permission… where leniency had been given to both sides the man in the middle had a change of heart and started waving yellow cards at the ‘Black and Whites’ in rapid succession…with 8 minutes to go we were playing with 13 and the score was creeping up…40 to 50…and it really was like ‘Rourke’s Drift’….the Durham support were getting what they expected at the beginning of the game….you could hardly watch as our boys ‘chased and chased’ in an attempt to make up for the lack of numbers. They were on their ‘last legs’ as Durham ‘attacked and attacked again’, the only thing we had on our side was time and Durham were running out of it….restored to 14 with 2 minutes to go Park still could not hold out and the score went to 45-50….and in the doing gave the extra bonus point to Durham…..happily (for me anyway) the referee called time and we all took a collective sigh of relief. The Park players were jubilant…and to keep with that ‘Rourke’s Drift analogy…..one or two medals were very well earned…five wanted points in the bag for Park….yet the Durham crowd and players were also exultant… from nothing they had gained 2 bonus points and as the ‘dust settled’, after what was a breathtaking game, Percy Park and Durham had exchanged league places with each other; only now Durham City were in the drop zone. With five games to go and only one relegation spot left to contest there is only one point in it…exciting times or heart attack city?....next week’s game at home to Driffield is ‘a must’ as Durham travel to bottom placed club Huddersfield YMCA…so how did Park do so well for 68 minutes and then end up shorthanded for 12?
It took only 6 minutes for Percy Park to get onto the scoresheet…and the score had ‘class’ dripped all over it. Michael Langlands took a well-aimed arrow at the line out ‘on or about’ our 22 allowing the ball to be moved quickly. A ‘dummy runner’ allowed a ‘pass behind’ giving full back Mattie Boustead ‘room to play in’…fast passes found a ‘gliding’ Michael Grove in space and over the half…in that area Grove is lethal…under the posts 7 nil to the ‘black and whites’.
We were at it again 2 minutes later…this time Mattie Boustead was the recipient of some brutal work by player coach Ash Smith. Five hand offs and a sublime off load to Seb Rees on his outside had Park ‘motoring’…the drawn pass was given to Boustead…under the posts and goodnight…14 nil…conversion Smith and certainly no talk of ‘Rourke’s Drift’.
Durham have a number of outstanding players…one of whom is centre Craig Dominick. The ex Mowden player was obviously miffed at ‘Mr. Smith’s’ demonstration of prowess and sought out ‘our Ash’ with a direct run. Keeping the ball low he went through our player before coming back on the angle to score under the posts. I guess it was along the lines of ‘what you can do I can do better’. 7 to 14 and the score line was rattling along.
And that ‘rattling along’ continued like a runaway steam train as Howard Stock decided to have a go. The try owed much to the forwards who drove hard into the Durham defence…Josh Hedley taking a number of players with him before the ball was moved wide finding a ‘roving’ Howard Stock aggressively attacking the Durham line. Initially taken to the floor, without being held, the Park wing was able to roll and stretch to ‘land’ the ball home. 7 points to 21.
Durham’s next score was manufactured in Tyneside and had a touch of comedy about its creation. With Park in an attacking position and players on the overlap to scrum half Ruairi Meharg’s left. A hard won ball was there for the ‘pick and spin’ which should have resulted in a try scoring opportunity. Alas Marc Cook bundled into the ruck placing two hands on the rear of Meharg before depositing the player into the turf. The resulting ‘turn over’ ball had Park defending their line before a swift pass was placed in the hands of flanker Peter Dent who ‘hit and spun’ before going over for the score. After the score ‘much’ light hearted conversation was had about ‘bungalows’. 14 to 21.
Park were placing the Durham side under so much pressure that Craig Dominick was creeping up in an attempt to stifle the ‘quick ball’. He was eventually seen with the referee awarding Percy Park the offside decision. A well taken kick by Ash Smith saw the 3 points gathered …14 to 24.
Again Percy Park seemed to conspire to give Durham points, this time Austin Phillips stayed in the contact area slowing ball down as the home side nibbled away on the 22. The referee had seen enough and gave Phillips the yellow for ‘failing to roll away’. Down to 14 Park were forced to the scrum. The pick at 8 had Park defending their line. Durham worked hard to keep procession even when held. Eventually the extra player told and wing Ellis Hook wriggled his way over. The referee had several looks eventually deciding to give the advantage to the attacking side. If it had been Park in possession I would have claimed the try all day however being the defending side the effort had a suspicion of being held up…anyway try given 21 to 24 and Durham were catching up.
At 14 players Park defended and kept the ball resolutely working down ‘the clock’…then a little ‘shimmy’ had Captain Seb Reece into a little space…leaving two on the ground the player fixated on the opposition full back before ‘defting’ a pass into the arms of a rampaging, bollocking charging run from Jonny Dubois. Dubois took a great supporting line and with some work to do he sped on, like a ‘Hypersonic Missile’, before touching down under the posts. The try brought an almighty roar from the Percy Park faithful and a great impression of an Italian ultra from Barry Smith…all that was missing was a couple of flares!..21-31.
To say that we were enjoying ourselves is probably an understatement… there were comical moments to be seen and heard and no better than from the dulcet tones of Jake Smith. Positioning himself at an attacking scrum he was heard to tell his colleagues ’40 seconds to keep them out’…and from that attacking platform Seb Rees scored his best try of the game. Park going forward allowed Meharg to ‘whip out’ a pass to Ash Smith in the centre and dummy a move with Grove allowing Rees to break the line. With no one at home the race was on…Rees bolted for the line winning the race by yards before touching down under the posts. Conversion taken and into the half at 21 points to 38……so much for holding the Durham team at bay for 40 seconds!!
The Durham side went to the huddle and came out strong, immediately placing Park under pressure. Ash Smith ‘fell foul’ of the referee after being told to ‘come around again’…was this the time that their relationship began to unravel a time that had such significant impact later on in the game?
Not surprisingly Durham were first on the scoresheet with a try that was very similar to their previous scores. Possession on the line before hitting the player on the angle. This time Ruairi Meharg was targeted by Kyle Wilson who bundled our player over before scoring. The pass looked flat but the player was over and the conversion taken.28-38
The hits became brutal…Michael Langlands was cleared out late and Ruairi Meharg caused consternation in the home camp with a nasty bang on the knee. Fortunately he was able to continue and gave a quick pass at the back of the ruck deep in Durham territory to Michael Grove. Grove was having an inspiring game at ‘10’ and with quick hands whipped the ball along the line to Josh Hedley. Hedley broke through and with the full back to beat unselfishly launched ‘his ball’ allowing Park to out pass the Durham defence. An act that enabled Seb Rees to score. The conversion was missed 28-43.
The Percy Park bench ‘rang the changes’ and Lions favourite Sam Digman was given his 1st XV debut. As the game ‘wore on’ the impressive Durham centre pairing of Dominick and David Elliott started to dominate. Michael Langlands was having a great game making tackle after tackle. Digman followed the ex captains example and put in some good hits and it was from one awesome ’smash’ that Percy Park regained possession enabling Seb Rees to claim a hat trick try. The efforts of Langlands and Digman frustrated clean ball and an eventual pass went to the floor. Rees was on like a flash using the bouncing ball and his foot to flick the ball into grateful hands…then he was off and nobody could catch him. Try converted 28 to 50.
Park were cruising at 12 to go …..We were in command…when under pressure we exited really well….there seemed little to be concerned about….then it all seemed to ‘go to pot’. Jamie Diamond took the ball in and Ash Smith cleared out. The referee blew against Percy Park…’from the side’, ‘off their feet’….. I am not too sure but the result was an appeal from Ash Smith whilst lying on the floor. The referee went straight to his pocket and Smith went to the bin for 10. And Durham did not need a second invitation. They came at Park with gusto and it was frantic stuff…not helped when Josh Hedley came out the line and was adjudged to have hit the opposition fly half late…with the advantage Craig Dominick scored and the Tynesiders were down to 13 players. 35 to 50 the score.
And the Durham hordes kept on coming directed by a Bishop on a hill pointing a golden staff. This was ‘kitchen territory’ where medals are won. Michael Langlands tackled and directed. Meharg was vocal and used the boot. The forwards went to the ‘pick and go’ killing time but the hordes kept on coming. Two missed tackles in the middle undid all the good work and Durham’s ‘9’ Paul Armstrong went over in the corner. Fortunately Meharg had worked really hard and pushed the player wide, resulting in a missed conversion. 40 points to 50 and 4 minutes left.
Smith returned to the fray but Durham kept on coming. The referee kept checking the clock…the faithful were kicking every ball and making every tackle with the players on the pitch, shouting encouragement trying to be that extra man, but that pressure paid off and Thomas Elliott went over for another try. The referee checked the clock again and with the conversion went the final kick. It missed and all, players and faithful alike, took a very long deep breath. After a calming moment exuberance abounded as twenty pound notes were waved in the direction of the bar. Final score Durham 45 to Percy Park’s 50.
Representing Percy Park v Durham City
From 8: Michael Langlands Jake Smith, Jonny Dubois, Josh Hedley, Austin Phillips, Marc Cook, Adam Hay and Aaron Smith.
From 15: Mattie Boustead, Howard Stock, Seb Reece, Ash Smith, Ali Blair, Michael Grove and Ruairi Meharg.
Off the pine (now called finishers!) Andrew Steinburg, Sam Digman and Jamie Diamond
Under the lights on Friday night our Lions came unstuck. After taking a very impressive lead the ‘boys’ fell away in the second half eventually losing by 10 points to 27