Category: Lions Reports 21/22
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Percy Park RFC Lions 85 Northern RFC Wanderers 15

Tank rolls over Northern

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Northern featuring Park ‘old boy’ Callum Garrick (great to see you Callum wrong colour shirt though!) came up against a formidable Lions team in the sun at Preston Avenue on Saturday. To be fair the visitors were much weakened from their usual outfit but that should take nothing away from this dazzling performance.

The early encounters were ‘nip and tuck’ but after 5 minutes Northern hacked clear , Andrew Walker retrieved the ball on the ten metre line and then danced through four tackles to finish under the posts , converting his score 7-0  . But Northern bounced back, for the second time Park let the kick off bounce and the visitors capitalised on the territory 7-5.

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Northern then applied some considerable pressure but were undone when Alex Midgeley broke from his own half to score; the conversion was good. On 20 minutes 14-5 to Park. Northern were not out of this though, they continued to attack and following a series of penalties they took the conservative option in front of the posts  14-8 

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Seven minutes later Percy Park had a scrum on the 22. Eddie Saint picked up and a deft shimmy sent the defender the wrong way. Converted again 21-8.

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Then in a 5 minute onslaught Northern Wanderers imploded helped considerably by Chris ‘Tank’ Reekie having a real purple moment and rolling all from under his feet. On 29 minutes Jamie Wrigley took the ball on the half way line, stepped the last man and went in under the posts, converted again 28-8. Two minutes later following a quick kick-off return Josh Hedley ran in from 25 metres, kick converted again from wide on the right 35-5.

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Next to get in on the action was Chris Reekie followed quickly by Ben Anderson who went half the length of the field, to turn round 49-8 at half time.

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Northern were down to the bare bones having picked up injuries too. Remarkably they were the first to respond in the second half and went over for a well-deserved try 47-13. 

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Further tries were soon to come though, Mark Sanderson smashed his way through to dog in from 25 metres, converted again 54-13. Then another great move down the blind side, Cam Young threw Andrew Walker a pass, a neat inside ball to Josh Hedley who gave the most precise offload to Ross Young to cross. Kick well-made again 61-13.  Northern were falling in numbers and Sam Hutley did the decent thing and bolstered the visitors ranks.

Then Jamie Wrigley popped up again with a brace of tries. The last one gifted to him by Ben Anderson who elected against buying a hat trick jug

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and lastly from Nathan Coxon to round off a welcome return to rugby.  Final score 85-15  

Category: Lions Reports 21/22
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Candy League 2 North

Percy Park RFC Lions 40 v Berwick RFC 28

Wrigley manages to fill Walkers boots

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In the absence of Team Manager Tim Walker, club stalwart Chris Wrigley took to the sidelines and barked instructions to a Lions team that named two younger Wrigley’s in its lineup. A proper Wrigley outing.

The game proved to be a hard fought encounter. Berwick lost a player to injury early on but the setback didn’t deter them, the visitors taking a deserved lead. Percy Park Lions responded well to hit back and go in front with a couple of well taken tries.

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Berwick then came back into the game with some good handling and offloading and at 21 all the game could have gone either way. The Lions looked to have secured the win with two quick scores to make it 33 – 21.No to be deterred Berwick scored another converted try. It was close.

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A yellow card meant the Lions had to play the last 10 minutes a man down but after some good defence made their way back into Berwick territory where a score, off the last play of the game, gave the Lions a hard fought victory at 40 points to 28

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Try scorers Dan Jackson, Dan Wrigley, Jamie Wrigley, Ollie Ellis and Steve Turner x 2.

I am told by the intrepid reporter that Stevens’s tries were rather special

Many thanks to John Turner for reporting and Sue Walker for the photography. 

Representing Percy Park RFC:

From 15: Jamie Wrigley, Robin Haughton, Joe Cassidy, Ben Anderson, Dan Jackson, Phil Morse and Steven Turner.

From 8: Connor Rogerson, Liam Walker, Dan Wrigley, Andrew Clyde, Josh Hedley, Steven Dryden, Mark Sanderson and Ben Morris

Finishers: Jason Hinds, Alex Midgely, Ollie Ellis and Danny Simpson.

Category: Lions Reports 21/22
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Candy Division 2 North 

Whitley Bay Rockcliff RFC Rangers 19 v Percy Park RFC 50

Cassidy goes solo to add gloss to the win

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Don't let the score fool you , for long periods our neighbours Rockcliff were very much in this game but ultimately succumbed to the pace and skill of Percy Park's back line.The Lions pack had been cobbled together this week with several players unavailable for selection which gave a great opportunity to some lads to step up . We welcomed Alex Purvis for his Lions debut and Sam Hutley returning from injury. Good to see Eddie Saint back too and Thomas Turnbull rolling back the years(although I think his pulled calf muscle will be regretting it ).

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Percy Park started well, some good powerful running saw the impressive Liam Walker go over after ten minutes 5-0 Lions .
It took another five minutes for the next score, the phases brought the ball out wide to Steve Dryden who barged his way over, kick missed again so 10-0.  Some shambolic tackling in the Lions ranks let Rock score under the posts  , the kick was converted 10-7 on twenty minutes.Park came straight back and Nathan Henderson bagged a brace of tries wide on the right following some great passing from the three quarters. 
Then Rock struck back to bring the score to 24-12 they were very much still in it .
 

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Thomas Turnbull entered the fray and following a good back row pick up from Edie Saint he popped left and 'TT' went in under the posts. The conversion was made 31-12 at half time.
 
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Percy Park had the better of the second half ,which seemed a bit short. Two fantastic solo efforts from Joe Cassidy from distance did the damage before former Park player Jonny Birkett came on for a ten minute cameo and bagged a try for the hosts . Mark Sanderson smashed his way over for the final score of the day . The conversion good. Final score and 50-19. Maximiunm bonus points. Next league game Gateshead home.
 
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Representing Percy Park RFC:
From 8: Eddie Saint, Liam Walker, Alex Purves, Mark Sanderson, Sam Hutley, Ben Morris, James Finn and Srteven Dryden
From 15: Joe Cassidy, Ollie Hutt, Natan Henderson, Paddy Hargreaves, Ollie Ellis, Steven Turner and Cam Young
Finishers: Thomas Turnbull, Mark Winfield and Danny Simpson

Category: Lions Reports 21/22
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Candy Division 2 North

Percy Park RFC Lions 29 v Medicals RFc 2nd XV 7

BMW return to drive Park forward

Steiners

 Percy Park Lions faced their toughest test this season from a spirited  young Medicals side who really stretched them at times. Bolstered by several senior heads with the return of Ali Blair (B), Phil Morse (M) and Ethan Wilson (W) they fielded their best team of the season and it was just as well. Park dominated the set piece but consistently failed to protect their own ball and the Medicals jackaling cost them dearly in terms of penalties. The wind favoured neither side but the touch kicking of Phil Morse far exceeded that of his opposite number.

It took Park 20 minutes to break down Medicals when some good interplay saw Ethan Wilson score under the posts, converted by Phil Morse. 7-0 to the Lions. Then a period of relative stalemate saw Park defending their lines well but failing to take advantage of their considerable dominance in the scrum . On 30 minutes Ali Blair skipped through the defence to finish a good move 12-0   and that's how it went to the break.
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 The second half kicked off and Medicals swung the ball out to their left wing following broken play and the winger scorched our defence and finished under the posts.12-7 on 41 minutes. 
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 Park rallied and started to play much better rugby, harsh words from skipper Morsey did the business , Park kept their ball and were prepared to attack in both narrow and wide channels. Dominance in the red zone saw   Connor Rogerson power over, kick missed 17-7 so breathing space at last. 
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 Park were getting the rub of the green and having got nothing off the ref first half now seemed to be getting everything as the Medics discipline faltered. 
 
 

Line out

Next to cross was skipper Morse 22-7 Park.   The game won,Park started to really throw the ball about and it was one way traffic. The icing on the cake was Steve Turner crossing under the posts. The kick was good and maximum points to the Lions. Job done. WBR next week
 
Dryden at the front
 
Representing Percy Park RFC:
From 15: Dan Jackson,Cameron Young,Ali Blair,Paddy Hargreaves, Sam McDonald, Phil Morse and Stephen Turner
From 8: Connor Rogerson, Ethan Wilson, Liam Walker,Jamie Guthrie, Ben Butler, Andrew Steinberg, Mark Sanderson and Steven Dryden
Finishers: Ben Morris, Ollie Hutt and Danny Simpson

Category: Lions Reports 21/22
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Candy League 2 North

Novocastrians RFC 2ndXV 17 v Percy Park RFC Lions 19

11 wins out of 11 so far in Candy League 2 North

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The Lions got out of jail against a spirited Novos team at Sutherland Park on Saturday. Many enforced changes brought plenty of talented individuals together for Park but our team play was missing. A failure to go through the phases and protect our own ball meant that we allowed Novos to thrive who had some strong runners on the field. 

Novos moved the ball well and picked out their flying right winger, who what he was missing in rugby skills he made up for with sheer pace. He scorched past Sam McDonald and finished from the halfway line for a great individual effort 5-0 to the home side.

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It wasn't until 25 minutes that the forwards did some real damage with a driving maul which saw Mark Sanderson touch down, a great conversion from Sam McDonald put us 7 - 5 up.

Then more of the same nothing between the two sides. On the stroke of half time we had a penalty 6 m out in the left hand corner. Whilst the defence napped, skipper Steve Turner took the quick tap and crashed over 12-5 Park at the break.

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The second half really turned into more of the same, the unlucky Andy McGrath just returning from a cracked rib was off with a broken knuckle. The front row was rejigged with Mark Barry moving up and Jamie Guthrie slotting into the back row.

We played some decent stuff but failed to go wide when we had suckered the defence in and the Novos defence were adept at soaking up the close quarter’s pressure.

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Novos were in this game and guess what? The ball went wide to the right wing who got the better of Sam for the second time and crossed. Thankfully Novos did not have a kicker. 12-10 to Park. 

Park then played some of their best stuff , camped in the Novos 22 they took pick and go after pick and go and eventually Jacob Dunsdon crossed , a great kick from Sam put us 19-10 up  , 14 minutes to go. 

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But Novos were far from done, a series of missed tackles put them into the red zone and eventually their pressure told and they were over again, the kick was good this time 19-17 to Park 8 minutes to go.

We then played some smart rugby stayed on our feet, retained the ball and ran down the clock as Novos started to infringe, the final penalty awarded. The clock was done and Steve Turner got the ball off the park for the away win. Phew!!!!   Well done Sam for getting two kicks under pressure.  Not one for the faint hearted, next fixture is Medicals on 5th March as the team has a week off to rest and recuperate.  11 wins out of 11 so far in Candy League 2 North.

  1. Lions rally around and secure league points
  2. Lion attack at Brinkburn
  3. Nearly a Cracker at McCracker Park
  4. Rockcliff defeated in dominant Lions display