SSE NATIONAL 3 NORTH

PERCY PARK 26 – 28 SALE

Percy Park went with the side that did so well against Penrith last week, with the only changing to the starting line up being the return of Austin Phillips for the injured Josh Hedley; Sale were missing influential centre Chris Mayor.

 Park kicked off and as seems to be the norm these days conceded a try inside 2 minutes when Sale’s wing, John O’Donnell crossed the line in the corner and Liam McGovern kicked the tricky conversion.

 6 minutes later and some sloppy kicking allowed a counter attack by the direct running Sale three-quarters and skipper Matt Simpson scored and again McGovern kicked the conversion.

SSE NATIONAL 3 NORTH

PERCY PARK 41 – 17 PENRITH

Just prior to kick off the heavens opened, but as if by divine intervention the rain eased as the players took to the field. Park welcomed back Joe Wafer and Jack Davidson to the pack, their first run out for the 1^st XV this season, and with Ali Blair injured, Phil Morse came back in at 10 and the midfield shuffled across one place. George Lewis started on the wing which meant Todd Harrison started at scrum half, and Stu Findlay came in on the right wing for the injured Liam Blackburn.

 Young Ben Wilkinson came in at hooker with Andy Dunn having to work in the morning; a taxi ride from Sunderland saw him arrive just before kick off to take his place on the bench.

 Games between Park and Penrith are generally high scoring affairs and so it proved today. Although Park had won the 2 previous outings it was the visitors who notched first with a try by full back Ben Littleton, but he could not convert his own try. The try came when Park lost possession and the Penrith openside broke through the defence. The ball was shipped wide right to find Littleton in space .Park then cut the gap with a Toby Davison penalty on 16 minutes.

SSE NATIONAL 3 NORTH

PERCY PARK 11 – 18 HUDDERSFIELD

Park hosted second placed Huddersfield, and were looking for a return to form after last week’s loss at Burnage. A couple of changes to the side saw George Lewis move back to scrum half and centre Alex Tilley also moved in one place to fly-half. Jimmy Ponton returned to the back row and Alan Blakey came in to the front row after being unavailable last week.

 The home side started well enough with George Lewis coming close to scoring after a trade mark break through the mid field, only to be judged held up on the try line. 2 penalties from the boot of “man of the match” Toby Davison gave Park a 6 – 0 after 22 minutes. Park had more of the first half territory and possession and when Huddersfield’s skipper Nick Sharpe was sin-binned for back chat to the referee on 23 minutes should have taken advantage of the numerical superiority, but the Yorkshiremen’s gritty defence held firm and they were the ones to score next when fly half Tom Hodson kicked a penalty as Park were penalised for coming into the side of a ruck.

UBS Candy League 1

Percy Park 46 – 10 Morpeth Reivers

With the 1^st XV on their travels to Burnage, the Lions took to the main stage at Preston Avenue, hoping for a return to form following their disappointing defeat at West Hartlepool last week. There were again a number of changes to the side with a couple of late cry off’s and players moving up to the 1^st XV which meant that a couple of players from the Pumas had to step up, and step up they did especially in the case of Ian Bradley, who had a storming game at number 8 scoring 4 of the side’s 7 tries in a bonus point win that takes the Lions up to third in the league.

 Gone was the summer sun, and in its place a biting north-easterly wind that kept supporter numbers down, or they chose to support from the warmth of the club house. Park showed their intentions early on with pressure on Morpeth in their 22, which led to a clearance kick being charged down by Michael Grove, who chased up and scored a try on 2 minutes, kicking the conversion to put the side 7 – 0 up.