Many will be asking , 'how did the Lions go on Saturday ?' . Simple answer , they didn't !! Unfortunately the opposition cried off on Saturday morning , having decided on Friday to fulfill a 3rd xv game at Fell . Such a shame , as COR , Tommy T , had spent all week pulling a side together only to have to contact them all again on Saturday 2 hours before the meet !! Disappointing , as we had travelled to Hedley Lawson Park earlier in the season massively depleted of players , players playing out of position and even one lad who had never played before ! But this is how it is these days , on a positive , we get the points and I got to watch the colts beat Alnwick . 
Next week the Lions do have a game and travel to Boro in a league / cup double header . For those of you looking for some live rugby , why not travel down to Acklam Park and support the lads ? With coaches Jobson and Turnbull at HQ they could do with some support .

Saturday 21st January 2017 , Percy Park Lions travelled to Billingham in a top of the table clash . Frustratingly , the Lions only travelled with 15 players in a potentially season defining game . Similarly , in December , the Lions travelled to Alnwick , when sitting top of the Candy League , with only 15 players . Were they to fair better than they had then ? 
Despite being short in numbers , the assembled side was full of quality and experience and they departed Preston Avenue in good spirits despite the dropping temperature , hoping their opponents wouldn't do a Novos (let's see if the journalistic gestapo keep that dig at last weeks events in ?) !!
Wilkinson(Mighty Jo) , Kidd , Sssssssshhhhnairn , Hedley , Saint , Sanderson , Hennessy(hopefully related to the brandy maker as I could do with a wee drop to pop in my hip flask on cold days like this one ), Lake (not the member of the 70's rock band) , Kay(brother of Steve but not son of Danny), Thorpe (Freddie brother of Harry but no relation of Gary), Caulfield(sponsored by the Ahar !)Jobson(son of Gandalf), Wilson(son of one punch), Gilmore (him of poppy eyes and skinny calfs), Baldwin ( property of Beth).

Percy Park Lions 45 - 29 Morpeth Reivers

The Lions started 2017 with a win over Morpeth Reivers . The scoreline 45-29 suggests an entertaining spectacle , but the game was a strange affair littered with errors and penalties with sporadic phases of good play by both sides . 

With Park's colts playing over at Carlisle , the Lions had a very senior feel to their side . The good news was that Park had a full compliment of players unlike when they visited Mitford Road earlier in the season meaning one old fool could remain on the touchline where he is far more effective ! Ward , Kidd , Wilkinson , Phillips , Sshnairn , Tristan , Clarke , Lake , Kay , Turnbull , Mcdine , Hasnip , Jobson , Gilmore , Berne , Gurling , Whitfield , Casey . Good to see some of our injured returning to action . 

The Lion Cubs entertained Middlesborough Wasps in a Candy League Division 1 fixture . The heavy early morning frost had disappeared in the morning sunshine  , and with no wind , conditions were perfect for rugby . The only thing need was two teams . The Wasps had been stuck in traffic , so kick off was put back to 2.45 . In addition , the visitors had decided to leave their scrum half behind , but with Park having a healthy surplus of players and three scrum halves in the squad , two of them played a half each for the visitors . 

Park lined up as follows ; Gould , Josh , Berne , Zak , Thomas , Ben , James , Williamson (c) , Ross , Hennesey , Dryden , Aaron , Kidd , Pollock , Ward . Hence the Lion Cubs , with 9 seniors and 6 colts . 
Park kicked off , attacking towards the Square Field . Early exchanges were frenetic . Errors were high as was the penalty count . But both sides , to their credit , were trying to throw the ball around . Park looked the more dangerous side , but the Wasps were not without a sting ! With 30 minutes gone , neither side had managed to get Arthur on his feet to change the scoreboard . But he was about to have a busy 10 minutes . Park , having defended their line resolutely , advanced down the field to the visitors 10m . At the line out , Boro pounced on a loose ball , raced up the touch line all the way to the line and scored in the corner , 0-5 . Park struck straight back . Stung by being behind , Park attacked forcing the opposition to commit a penalty . A quick tap and two passes to veteran Gould , who hit the line at pace jinked inside the drift d and scored under the posts . 7-5 HT .