Medicals III 0 - 26 Percy Park Pumas

The Pumas were due to play Gateshead III at home, but due to a mix up, ended up without a game until Medicals III stepped in, looking for opposition as their league fixture against Ponteland had been cancelled. Meds III play in the Coquet League, so a mixed Pumas and Marauders side travelled to Heaton.

The 26-0 scoreline does not truly reflect the total dominance Park had in this game. Some old fashioned refereeing combined with a large number of unforced errors prevented Park from strolling to a comfortable half century score.

Exceptionally good kicking to touch from Stephen Baskerville meant any misdemeanour from Medicals was punished with interest.

It took 15 minutes for Park's dominance to shine and it took a Stephen Baskerville kick to touch to start the move which ended with George Carr breaking through to touch down with Baskerville  converting. 7-0

The rest of the first half was made up of Park pressure on the Medical line without any reward .

The second half started off much the same but the pressure never paid off and it took the yellow card for Andrew Steiner to galvanise the team to pick up their game.

Strong running with good hands resulted in Matthew Dale breaking through a number of tackles to score. Baskerville converted.14-0

Constant pressure in defence gave Michael Conn an interception opportunity deciding not to run the full pitch he offloaded to Kieran Sutherland who went in under the posts. Baskerville coverted 21-0.

The final score came from Park losing the line out only for Andy Preston stealing the ball back and going on a storming run, offloading to the backs who with slick handling put Jon Carlisle through to score. Unfortunately the conversion was not successful. 26-0.

Overall a very good performance.

The optimism after the Sheffield and Rochdale wins began to evaporate, as the Ist XV was rearranged, then rearranged some more following unavailabilities, illness and injuries. All in all there were 5 changes in the pack and 4 in the backs, but all credit to the lads who stepped in to breach the gaps.

George Albert Duhrin

Funeral Arrangements

Albis’s funeral will be held on Thursday 25th May 2023 at 9:45am,Tynemouth Crematorium, Walton Avenue, North Shields NE299NJ. Family flowers only. All are welcome to attend.

After the funeral the family would like to extend an invitation to gather at Percy Park RFC, Preston Avenue, North Shields NE30 2BE to celebrate his life. A buffet will be provided.

There will be a collection at Percy Park RFC where donations can be made to Percy Park and Whitley Bay Rockcliff (WBR) junior rugby charities. Rugby and rugby development was very close to Albi’s heart.

If you are attending as part of the extended rugby family a request has been made that you attend dressed with Club tie and or Club blazers or Northumberland Rugby Union tie and or blazer.

Rare Pluck

Remembering Private 2395 Arthur Ossie Chambers.

Percy Park RFC

As Remembrance Day approaches my thoughts drifted to a relative of mine whose partial remains were recently found by the Ministry of Defence, within an area known as Polygon Wood on the Ypres Salient of the Western front. An area that formed part of the First Battle of Passchendaele in 1917 and a section of the line allocated to Battalions from The Northumberland Fusiliers. William was 19 when he died on the 12^th of October when a German artillery barrage took his life. In my research and conversations, I became aware of a former Percy Park RFC member who also lost his life whilst serving the same regiment as William. His name is on our memorial board on top of the stairs, just to the right, before you enter the doors that take you to the ‘long bar’ in the Clubhouse. Ask yourself; when was the last time you looked at that memorial and gave the names written thereon a thought?

I hope that this note of remembrance will encourage you to drift over to that memorial and consider the sacrifice of Private 2395 Arthur Ossie Chambers 1^st Battalion of Northumberland Fusiliers. A truly brave man who lost his life on the 7^th May 1916 at Kemmel Chateau near Ypres, in one of the most brutal battles of World War 1.

Ossie Chambers was a married Cullercoats man, born on Dockwray Square North Shields, and a well-known athletic rugby player who played for both Percy Park and Rockcliff. He was described as a ‘half back’, a ‘very useful player and prolific try scorer’, ‘though not blessed with height or weight as most rugger men, he possessed rare pluck and gave many fine performances’. From those very kind words, he was obviously well thought of and had some talent.

Summer past a group of intrepid historical buffs travelled from Tyneside across to the fields of Flanders. Their aim to find members of Rockcliff Rugby Club who had lost their lives in the conflict, with a view of creating a honour board/monument similar to what we have at Percy Park. My thanks go Ritchie Bloomfield et al for providing the photographs and ‘Sir’ Knott for providing the research.

When the First World War broke out in August 1914, the Northumberland Fusiliers were an infantry regiment of the British Army consisting of 7 battalions. As the conflict progressed their numbers expanded to 52 battalions, although not all existed at the same time. It was the second largest infantry regiment of the British Army during World War I.

The Northumberland Fusiliers earned 67 battle honours and was awarded five Victoria Crosses, but at the cost of over 16,000 soldiers killed in action, and many thousands wounded. The Northumberland Fusiliers mostly saw action in the main theatre of war, engaged in static trench warfare on the Western Front in Belgium and France. Ossie Chambers and William Atkinson were two. Losing their lives at an age younger than the majority of our First Team. A sobering thought

May we never forget.

And on that note, I will (with others if interested) will research the names that accompany Ossie on our memorial board and bring their story of sacrifice back to life. They are and always will be part of who we are.