Lions Reports 22/23

Lions cross the bridge to defeat Reivers

: Keith Atkinson; Category: Lions Reports 22/23; 03 April 2023; Hits: 548

Northumberland County Plate Competition

Morpeth RFC Reivers 12 v Percy Park RFC Lions 32

Lions cross the bridge to defeat Reivers

The Lions travelled to Morpeth with a cobbled together side and big thanks to Ray Hill and Mark Jackson for stepping in at the last minute to provide front row cover. They welcomed the impressive Jay Bartoli who stepped up from Colts for his senior debut and impressed from start to finish.

A trudge over the bridge to the sloping pitch in the drizzle does not always enthuse the spirit but the Lions set about their task faced with an older bigger set of opponents who were committed to route one rugby. Morpeth's pick and go and hard line crash balls pinned Park down in their own 22 for the first 15 minutes. Whilst the defence was solid the pressure had to tell and Morpeth went over for a converted try 7-0 . It was obvious if Park got the ball wide they would make ground and they responded with some slick handling in the backs which saw Sam Mcdonald dive over in the corner. Kick missed 7-5 . Back came Morpeth more of the same , small gains in yards but relentless phases brought their second\d try with the kick missed 12-5.

Park responded with some probing kicks and some disruptive running from the back row combination of Vik, Liam and Joey. Morpeth infringed in front of the posts , we chose to tap and go(much to the author's frustration) but it paid off with Jay crossing for his debut try. kick missed again 12-10. We always felt if we were in touch at half time the opposition would tire . So the next try was a real bonus, a sweeping move from the three quarters and great interplay between Ben Anderson and Drew Walker saw the latter cross under the posts , kick good 17-12 at half time.

The dye was cast Morpeth were tired and Park started to throw the ball around stretching the hosts from one wing to the other . Both wings Oli Ellis and Sam Macdonald crossed in the second half. one converted,taking us to 29-12 ahead. The last 15 minutes was a bruising encounter . Morpeth were very physical but our defence stood firm. We won a series of penalties and opted to go for goal on three occasions. The last successfully converted by Ben Anderson , final score 32-12. Too many good performances to mention everyone , but a big win for us. Ashington first team in the next round on 15 April.

Starters

Barry Basara Pemberton Harrison Bartoli Cassidy Nadkami Walker Houghton Towell Kornau Walker Anderson Macdonald Jackson

Finishers

Hill Jackson(snr) Ellis

Lions triumphant as Breathless Karl gives rousing victory speech

: Keith Atkinson; Category: Lions Reports 22/23; 20 March 2023; Hits: 724

Candy Shield Final (also Candy League fixture}

Percy Park RFC Lions 55 v Northern RFC Wanderers 3

Lions triumphant as Breathless Karl gives rousing victory speech

Many thanks to Northern RFC for hosting the Candy Shield Final and the Lions final home league game of the season. The presence of the Newcastle Ravens Hadrian Cup tournament at Preston Avenue meant that Percy Park had to give up home advantage and travel the short distance to McCracken Park. Conditions weren’t great. As the players took to the pitch you could hear the ‘slap slap’ of boots as they crossed a very wet and muddy surface. If we looked to our right you good see and hear the wheel spins of cars as they attempted to park on Northerns overspill car park. The game was not for the faint hearted. One tackle or tumble was guaranteed to leave you looking like a ‘hog wallowing in a mud bath’. A thought that was not lost on hooker Pete Basara as he gleefully planted a Northern face in the mud.

We arrived with good numbers Northern did not. Three cry offs and a first team call up had the Newcastle side taking the field with only 15 players to choose from. Despite a shortage of numbers they had a strong 15 on the field of play, The travelling support were expecting a close fought encounter. Northerns cause wasn’t helped when they lost a player to injury when, former Percy Park Lions, prop Steve Dryden sat on his colleagues’ arm. Something the Northern player was very vocal about as he trudged off the field seeking the attentions of a physio. A head collision saw the home side further reduced to 13. The injured player returning sometime later with his head wrapped. Percy Park took advantage and scored some very good overload tries. The result was never in doubt, all that remained to be decided was the final score.

Northern competed throughout. The scoreline running away from them deep into the second half. Percy Park ‘ran their’ bench ensuring all received game time. As Northerns frustration grew a no arms tackle brought a minor scuffle. An event that threatened to spill over as the game drew to a close. James Towell had his kicking boots on. His conversions flying high and true over the cross bar and into the Northern tree line. An occurrence that had Mark Sanderson forlornly throwing, and losing, water bottles in an attempt to dislodge said balls.

Percy Park scored 8 tries with the pick being a Kieran Sutherland step, with pace, that had his opposite number ‘dead, static and buried’. It was a terrific score and one enjoyed by the travelling and home support. Yet it was our captain’s rousing speech that provided the moment of the day. With Shield aloft breathless words dripped off the tongue. Inspiring words that brought a genuine tear to the eye and a speech that we can ask Karl to repeat on our end of season awards night. Truly brilliant!

Congratulations to all our players. The game was very entertaining to watch and we have some very good young players gracing the black and white shirt. And many thanks to the travelling support who braved the rain, mud and more mud to support their side. Your support is and always will be valuable. Apologies for the poor quality of photos yet, when seen, they tell a tale or two!

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Close encounter of the Blaydon kind

: Keith Atkinson; Category: Lions Reports 22/23; 18 October 2022; Hits: 541

League

Blaydon RFC 31 v Percy Park Lions RFC 34

Close Encounter of the Blaydon kind

Team photo

A gutsy performance saw the Lions get over the line at Blaydon in, what was, a close encounter.

Playing with the wind first half , on several occasions,we failed to exit well putting ourselves under pressure . We allowed the opposition 10 to run the show and utilise his hard running centres to make gains in our territory. No Suprise when the hosts went 7-0 up.

We were undoubtedly under the cosh but the pack worked hard and Bobin Houghton at 9 always looked a threat. Somewhat against the run of play Sam McDonald broke down the left . took contact with his winger and popped inside to Dan Jackson who crossed under the posts. 7-7. But we failed to deal with the restart and were immediately put under pressure and Blaydon crossed and converted 14-7.

Defending too deep caused us problems but the lads persevered and Ben Anderson notched a long range penalty 14-10.

Then more good work by Anderson down the left saw him make ground and pass inside to Robin Houghton to cross, 14-15 to the Lions. Annoyingly we then we failed to deal with another kick off, Blaydon scored and at the half we were 19-15 down.

Half time was put to good use we said we would concentrate on line speed and dealing with kicks effectively, and the second half was a transformation.

We put Blaydon under so much pressure they started to make mistakes and we forced numerous errors. The returning Connor Rogerson came on for a hero's cameo. Sniping from the 22 he fought off two defenders and somehow got over the line but unfortunately injured himself in the process .19-22 to Lions. We were starting to turn the screw. Whilst the hosts had lots of ball we pressed so high they regularly lost ground.

We camped in their half and were rewarded from a ruck when Karl Thompson executed an 'Exeter' 19-27 Park. Then ten minutes to go Blaydon had the ball on their ten metre line, the backs flew up again and Sam McDonald snatched an interception and scorched in from 40 metres 19-34 Lions, we dared to dream.

We were down to our last 15 walking men and the work rate was taking its toll.Blaydon won a series of penalties and in a rolling maul the ref missed a clear knock on and they crossed for 24-34. Out on our feet Blaydon had the bit between their teeth and with five to go crossed again 31-34.The last minute was tense. The Blaydon flanker avoided several tackles until we infringed ten metres off our line. Led by Kark Thompson the pack did not contest the line out (against the coaches judgement) but dug in and held the maul for what seemed like forever, Blaydon unable to move forward or get knees down the ref blew (seems as if the players know best) and that was it.

A great win which saw the senior players employ much of the defensive tenacity that has been instilled by Coach Laughlin. A good day at the office but no time to rest, Tynedale next week hopefully with numbered shirts!

An nus horribilis of a second half

: Keith Atkinson; Category: Lions Reports 22/23; 27 September 2022; Hits: 700

Sunderland RFC 44 v Percy Park Lions 12.

An nus horribilis of a second half

Don’t let the score fool you there were loads of positives to come out of this game. For another match day the Lions were a new mix of players. Availability is becoming a problem this year although we still managed to travel with 18 willing souls. Percy Park welcomed back Pete Basara and Joey Clark and new signings Fin Ruddock and Teddie Summers both put in shifts.

There really was nothing between the two sides in the first half. Sunderland crossed first on 3 mins but failed to convert. 5-0. What followed was a dogged battle with no further score until the 20th minute when Andrew ‘Steiners’ Steinburg crashed over to make it 5-5.

On the 30 Sunderland moved the ball wide and crossed again but the kick was missed 10-5 to the hosts.

Several minutes of ‘keep ball’ from Park led to a push over opportunity with Captain and fill in back row Joe Cassidy darting over to put the away team ahead.12-10 to Percy Park.

Then on the stroke of halftime Percy Park inexplicably eased off and Sunderland went over 17-12 at the interval,

I can’t bring myself to type much more. 3 yellow cards and two penalty tries coupled with one or two injuries put paid to us taking anything from this game. To say we lost the ref would be an understatement.

Final score 44-12

Lots of positives although we should have been more disciplined within the contest. The first half gave hop the second made it a difficult afternoon.

Our thanks to the hosts who played the game in good spirit.

Lions run out of bellow

: Keith Atkinson; Category: Lions Reports 22/23; 20 September 2022; Hits: 561

Friendly

Keswick 2nds 46 v Percy Park Lions 31

Lions run out of bellow

Action from Lions 2

The score doesn’t really reflect the game which was within 3 points with 8 minutes to go when Park finally ran out of steam.

The game started with Park retaining possession for a dozen phases before cam young went over in the corner to open the score. 0 5 Park. Keswick bounced back and made good ground every time their back row got on the ball .To be fair we had a pack who had never trained or played as a unit and despite good individual performances there was little connection in defence causing us to constantly play on the back foot .

Double up

Going forward was a different matter. Andrew Walker, Ben King and Ben Anderson connected well all day providing many scoring opportunities at first phase. The scoring came from a 'ping pong' moments with the gap between attack and defence evident.The Keswick left wing was dangerous and soon went over 7-5 to the hosts ,quickly followed by another 12-5 down. But Park bounced, sweeping passing from left to right and saw Oli Ellis cross the line 12-12 with the kick . Back came Keswick making ground down the left wing again 19-12 hosts. Then another following a back row pick up as we failed to defend fringes. All of a sudden we were 24-12 down and in a scrap,

Nathan Coxon 2

A penalty to Park and we opted for the corner, great set piece led to a driving maul with Joey Wilkinson crossing the whitewash . At 17-24 we were still in it . But were then punished by two breakaway tries which were the result of poor midfield tackling, 36-17 down and things looked grim. But this Lions squad do not give up , more flowing play from the backs saw Nathan Coxon go in under the posts , Ben King converted , then following a breakdown in progress King launched a speculative up and under , Walker followed up and tackled the full back who had elected to run from his own line , he got to his feet then jackled the ball and went over. all of a sudden 36 -33, we dared to dream .But we were gassed and two more tries from the hosts put paid to our hopes. final score 46-31.

I have already mentioned the negatives but on a positive this group never gave up , the backs played some great rugby and individuality the forwards did well and the lack of unit structure is just down to lack of familiarity with our shapes and each other ,

Big thanks to the backs who helped out in the pack and thanks to Knoxy as Aqua man . Lastly congratulations to Connor Rogerson on his engagement and thanks for running the line.

Many thanks to Keswick RFC for providing some of the photos