CANDY LEAGUE 1

Northern Wanderers 12 - 50 Percy Park Lions

Pre match craic...
8 changes to last week's victorious starting team: lock, back row x2, fly half, both centres, wing and full back meant introductions were again required.
A young squad, 12 under 19s including 5 colts ( Andrew, Steven, Josh, Harry and Travis) bolstered by vets Paul and Wes.
Thomas T was sponsoring the 1xv game meaning management duties fell to Tom G.
On the pitch...
The game started at pace with Park initially struggling to retain possession and Northern struggling to use the possession they had. The Park pack had the better of the early exchanges against a heavy Northern pack in the tight, but struggled to retain possession at the breakdown.

The first 30 minutes resulted in stalemate. Park fluffed a number of scoring opportunities - a forward pass denying Harry on the wing and Ben's toe in touch keeping Northern in the game; however Northern also came close - Aaron's steal at a 5m lineout keeping Northern at bay.

The breakthrough came when Park introduced Colts Harry and Travis to the wings Josh to lock and 18 yr old James P to the centres; young Aaron stole a lineout, quick ball released Harry who rounded the defence and offloaded to fellow Colt Andrew Walker who scampered in for the first try.

A sloppy ruck at the restart saw Park penalised for holding on, Northern kicked to the corner and after some stiff resistance rumbled over 5-7.

Having realised that they had the gas out wide to pose problems Park looked to exploit the space, strong carries by Mark S, Dan W and Wes created space and Harry went from provider to scorer, a well timed break leaving the Northern defence in tatters.

HT 5 -12

CANDY LEAGUE DIVISION 1

PERCY PARK LIONS 45 - 14 GATESHEAD II

Pre- Match Craic
• New team management structure of Thomas T and Tom G took charge of a youthful looking Lions Team (10 under the age of 19)
• New Captain – the team is led this season by 18yr old Jake Smith.
• Proud Dad and ex Park skipper John Turner looked on like a proud little bantam hen as son Steven took the 9 shirt.
• A strong 1xv meant minimal disruption to the selected squad
• Once introductions were made and acquaintances renewed a squad of 20 took to the paddock.…

On the Field
The game started at a frenetic pace with both sides keen to use the space out wide; however it was good old fashioned “grunt “that set the tone of the game. At the first scrum Park put in a mighty shove before releasing the backs, quick offloads and several phases later Gateshead simply ran out of defenders and Turnbull fell over the line for the 1st try of the season.

For the remainder of the half the pattern remained the same; Park dominated the scrum and had the better backs while Gateshead had the edge in the lineout.
Gateshead were then unlucky to lose their 2nd row which gave Park parity in the lineout and resultantly the vast majority of possession. Park scored two further tries out wide, 17 yr old Steven Turner successful from the tee with one difficult conversion.
HT Percy Park 17 – 0 Gateshead

Percy Park Pumas v Winlaton Saxons

Pre-Match craic:

• West Hartlepool 2s late cry off ensures there are a few bodies for the bench.
• Colts continue their integration in to the senor sides ensuring there is no shortage of pace.
• Skipper Jake Smith continues his good form in the 1xv Team so team led by Mark Sanderson. 
• Winlaton disrupted by our near cry off!
• Father and son duo Steve “that’s my boy” and Harry “that’s my dad” Harrison made a welcome return to Park albeit locking the Winlaton scrum and Justin rolled back the years taking up residence on the Winlaton wing …
  Read more …Pumas and Cubs too Slick and Quick for Solid Saxons