Category: Lions Reports 22/23
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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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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Category: Lions Reports 22/23
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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!
 

Category: Lions Reports 22/23
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Sunderland RFC 44 v Percy Park Lions 12.

An nus horribilis of a second half

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Category: Lions Reports 22/23
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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 .  

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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, 

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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.   
 
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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

Category: Panthers Reports 22/23
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Woman’s National 3 North

Percy Park RFC Panthers 12 v Blaydon RFC Red Kites 7

Blaydon see yellow as Gullian excels in the mud

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A hard-fought physical game dominated by the panthers racked up another win for the ever-improving ladies’ team from Preston Avenue. 

Looking sharp in their new kits sponsored by PGS Law, Emerald Legal Services and Health and Safety Training Ltd.  The panthers set up to face local rivals Blaydon for the second time this season. With the last game finishing in panthers favour this was a pivotal game for the ladies at home wanting to assert their dominance in the league. 

With the pitch bearing the scars of a busy weekends Rugby the girls won the toss and chose to receive the ball. 

A strong start with powerful Runs from Lauren Calvert and Steph Giquel charging through the defensive line of Blaydon. Smart, swift rucking by the panthers enabled clean ball for scrum

Half Chloe Bland to get the ball away. 

With the Panthers dominating the scrum Blaydon were charged back on both scrums though some early pushes penalised the overzealous black and whites. 

Replacement line out jumper Vicky Moxom shifted between the line outs and full back, her jumping clinical and effective, to the delight of the balcony. 

Though the team does boast some senior players there are plenty more new players developing through and for some this was only their second game. Charlotte Gullian our winger played a full game and was sensational - definitely one to watch for the future. 

The girls played with maturity and great structure, taking their well worked drills from training onto the pitch. Supporting play was vastly improved from their recent game against Stockton and this enabled them to penetrate the gain line on several occasions. 

Clever kicking by Blaydon’s backs putting a great deal of pressure on the panthers. 

The return of Nesha Wood was welcomed with her snaking Runs and powerful rucking taking Blaydon by surprise 

A lack of discipline saw Blaydon receiving the only yellow card of the day, followed swiftly by a second for their coach. 

The girls held their resolve until the final whistle and totally deserved the win. Forward of the match went to Alex for her hard work in the rucks and great hands under the high balls, our back of the match Caitlin who made some amazing try saving tackles and was all over the pitch. 

With plenty to work on in the next 3 weeks before heading down to Houghton the girls will re charge and go again but the future is looking bright.

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  2. A first as Panthers tame the Tigers
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  4. Percy Park Panthers start well with two wins on the road