Panthers Claim Victory:

Percy Park Panthers 49 - 17 Alnwick Ladies 
Sunday 22nd September 2024

This Sunday, the Panthers hosted Alnwick RFC Women at Preston Avenue, eager to rebound after a hard loss the previous week. The squad was determined to showcase their abilities, and they certainly did not disappoint.

Right from the whistle, the Panthers asserted their control with a powerful scrum, applying constant pressure that left Alnwick struggling against their strong pack. Just six minutes into the match, Livia Shanks opened the scoring with her first try, quickly followed by her second, putting the Panthers ahead 10-0.

The team's momentum continued when Captain Steph Gicquel executed a brilliant line break, outpacing the Alnwick defence. Despite being tackled just before reaching the try line, Gicquel made a precise offload to our number 10, Caitlin Ward, who scored under the posts and converted her own try, extending the lead to 17-0. The Panthers were clearly finding their rhythm.

With strong offensive plays, the Panthers continued to pressure Alnwick, keeping them pinned in their 22-meter area. Winger Sarah-Jane Laybourne made an impressive run along the sideline, passing to Ward, who was making ground until an unfortunate knock-on interrupted the play. Not to be deterred Clari Beaumont secured the next points on the board scoring a spectacular try for the Panthers.
The closing moments of the first half saw the Panthers dominate, culminating in a line break by Emily Mather, who breached Alnwick's defence to secure another try. Ward converted, bringing the halftime score to 27-0.

In the second half, the Panthers maintained their aggressive approach, leading to Beaumont adding her second try. However, Alnwick fought back, scoring and converting their first try, followed by a second, narrowing the score to 27-12.

Refusing to back down, the Panthers responded swiftly with a try from winger Alice Goodwin, marking a stellar debut for her. Flanker Nesha Wood also contributed with another try, but Alnwick kept up the pressure and managed to score again. The Panthers quickly countered with a try from Sheona McIntyre, finishing the match with a decisive score of 49-17 in Favor of the Panthers.

Acknowledging standout performances, the Players of the Match awards were given to Forward Clari Beaumont, Back Amber Hyde, and Caitlin Ward, who received recognition from the opposition for her significant contributions.

As the Panthers look forward, they are excited to take on Novo’s 2nds in the Papa Johns Junior Cup, with kickoff set for 2 PM at home. The team is eager to build on this victory and maintain their positive momentum as the season unfolds!

Penrith v Panthers
15-09-24
Final score - 41-5

On Sunday, the Panthers made the journey to Penrith for their first league clash of the season, eager to showcase their hard work and determination. From the whistle, it was evident that the match would be a physically demanding game, with both teams applying significant pressure on one another.

The first half saw Penrith strike early, scoring their first try within 20 minutes, quickly followed by a second try. As the half-time whistle blew, the score stood at 12-0 in favour of Penrith. Despite the score, the Panthers remained focused and committed, gearing up for a stronger performance in the second half.

As the second half commenced, the Panthers were fired up and ready to make their mark. However, Penrith managed to break through the Panthers' defence a few more times, extending their lead. With the Panthers fighting back our flanker Nesha Wood made a decisive move, breaking through the defence with our new winger, Joanne Clayton, in support. Wood's effort paid off, resulting in a try for the Panthers and bringing the score to 31-5.

Penrith continued to add more tries to their tally before the final whistle blew, concluding the match with a score of 41-5 in favour of the home team.  While the final score may not reflect the effort put in by the Panthers, the team's determination and focus remained unwavering until the very end. The players displayed great resilience and a strong team spirit, which will undoubtedly serve them well in future matches.

Recognizing individual performances, the Forward of the Match award went to Sheona McIntyre for her outstanding contributions in the pack, while the Back of the Match was awarded to Joanne Clayton for her crucial support play on the wing. The Captain, Steph Gicquel, also received recognition as the opposition's player of the match, highlighting her leadership and tenacity on the field.

Despite the challenging result, the Panthers are ready to regroup and build on the positives from this match as they prepare for the upcoming fixtures in the league. The season is just beginning, and the Panthers are determined to rise to the challenge ahead!

Saturday 21 March 2026

Percy Park 19 Morpeth 36

Regional 2 North

(HT: 14-17)

For the second successive match, Park suffered a comprehensive defeat, this time to play-off chasing Morpeth and, although Park led early in the second half, the remainder of the game was a catastrophe for the home side with three last quarter tries giving the visitors the bonus point victory. It was a difficult day at the office with defensive lapses contributing to a lacklustre performance and although injury and unavailability are problematic, they cannot be used as an excuse.

There were wholesale changes to the side heavily defeated at Keswick two weeks ago. In the backline, only Dan Jackson and Freddie Hara survived, Ross Stewart, Oli Bartles-Smith and Matt Dunn replaced by Tom Bird, Howard Stock and Paul Spowart respectively while at half back, George Chapman moved from scrum half to standoff in place of Fergus Simpson with Jacob German coming in to the number nine slot. In the forwards, Mark Barry replaced the very versatile Spowart in the back row, Josh Hedley returned to partner Chris Reekie in the second row with Dan Shuttleworth replacing Jonny Dubois at Hooker and Tristan Grant coming in for Nick Macklin-Copeland in the front row, Macklin-Copeland joined Josh Cox and Tom Robinson on the replacements bench.

On a bright sunny, albeit chilly, day Morpeth kicked off but it was Park, moving the ball wide, who had much the better of the early , with prop Sam Digman prominent, and they quickly opened the scoring after four minutes. A lineout in the visiting 22 gave the Park forwards the momentum to almost reach the Morpeth line before quick hands right had captain Howard Stock scoring under the posts, standoff George Chapman converting (7-0).

It did not take long for Morpeth to respond. Park gained possession from the restart but were pinned back in their own 22 eventually conceding a defensive lineout. A poor clearance kick was fielded easily on the home 10 metre line and a mazy run by visiting fullback Jake Stevenson who sidestepped three defenders gave wing Harry Hoggan the space to score just to the right of the posts on twelve minutes, standoff Harvey Gillie converting (7-7).

The Morpeth backline were proving elusive, their strong running causing defensive problems for the home side. On twenty-two minutes, Morpeth took the lead with a penalty from the halfway line converted with an excellent kick from Gillie, the visitors unable to use the referee’s advantage after a high tackle in midfield (7-10). Park began to build pressure, keeping possession and a good break from Chapman eventually allowed the Park forwards to batter the visiting line and after Tristan Grant was stopped inches from the line the ball was recycled for second row Chris Reekie to crash over under the posts, Chapman converting on twenty-eight minutes (14-10).

The remainder of the half was full blooded, both captains warned by referee Ross for the number of high tackles, with Morpeth now gaining the upper hand in terms of possession and territory. From a ruck on halfway, visiting standoff Harvey Gillie chipped the ball over the onrushing defence, and although he could not regather he hacked on past the last two defenders for wing Harry Hoggan to score his second try on thirty-four minutes, Gillie converting (14-17). There was no further scoring before the break.

HT: Percy Park 14 Morpeth 17

It was the home side who dominated the opening minutes of the second half in terms of both possession and territory and on forty-four minutes they were rewarded when second row Josh Hedley crashed over in the left corner. From a lineout on the visiting 22, the ball was moved right to the touchline before being moved back left. Chris Reekie provided the dent in the defensive line and when the ball was moved left again a long pass from skipper Howard Stock found Hedley who was unstoppable from a few metres out. The difficult conversion was missed (19-17). With the home lead restored and Park dominating the opening few minutes of the half, few people in the ground would have guessed the implosion to come in the last twenty minutes.

Indeed, for the remainder of the third quarter, Park keeping the visitors pinned back in their own half and looking the more likely to score but when, after fifty-five minutes, Chris Reekie received a yellow card for a high tackle, the dynamic of the game began to shift, Morpeth gaining a measure of control with the extra man advantage. The home side began to lose their discipline and when they were penalised again, seven or eight metres out on the right touchline, a quick tap and go had Park scrambling in defence which was finally breached when hooker Ryan Shaw was able to exploit a gap and crash over on sixty-two minutes, the conversion missed (19-22).

Morpeth struck ten minutes later to put the match beyond Park. From a ruck on halfway, replacement Joe Prescott scythed through the Park defence as if it did not exist to score under the posts, Gillie converting (19-29). The coup de gras came in the seventy-seventh minute when a kick ahead was not dealt with, the ball went loose for wing Harry Hoggan to score his third try of the day. Gillie converted to complete a comprehensive victory (19-36).

FT: Percy Park 19 Morpeth 36

The body language of the home players said it all as they left the field of play, the disappointment evident. Standoff George Chapman offered his thoughts post-match: “Hard to put a finger on it. Things changed after the yellow card but in truth, we were struggling before that. Our backs didn’t seem to connect, more individuals than a team, and I think it showed. That said, Morpeth were the better team and we have to accept that. We have to play better in our last two games if we want to make it to the play-offs”.

Park remain in third place on fifty-nine points despite heavy defeats in the past two games, though that is on points difference, as Keswick and Sunderland are also on fifty-nine points. Morpeth close the gap with this victory, just three points behind with all teams having just two games left to play.

Our thanks to Morpeth for a hard-fought game and we congratulate them on the victory and wish them well for the rest of the season. Our thanks also to our match referee. Elsewhere, the Lions defeated Morpeth 41-24 and the Panthers lost to league leaders Rockcliff 45-12 at Hillheads on Sunday.

Next Saturday, the 1^st XV visit Consett, KO 2pm in their penultimate game of the league season with the teams meeting at 2^nd XV level at Preston Avenue, KO 2pm. On Sunday, our unbeaten Colts travel to Barnard Castle, KO 1pm.

Percy Park: 15 Dan Jackson; 14 Tom Bird; 13 Howard Stock ©; 12 Paul Spowart; 11 Freddie Hara; 10 George Chapman; 9 Jacob German; 8 Matthew French; 7 Leo Caulfield; 6 Mark Barry; 5 Chris Reekie; 4 Josh Hedley; 3 Sam Digman; 2 Dan Shuttleworth; 1 Tristan Grant

Replacements: Nick Macklin-Copeland; Josh Cox; Tom Robinson

Saturday 7 March 2026

Keswick 51 Percy Park 20

Regonal 2 North

(HT: 27-6)

Apologies for the short match report, the usual scribe was in Rome watching another awful England performance and the substitute, our esteemed former President Keith Atkinson, forgot his pen!

And talking of awful, Park produced one of their worst performances of the season, conceding eight tries at Keswick in a heavy defeat that allowed the hosts to narrow the gap to the third placed visitors to just one point in the Regional 2 North Table.

Things appeared to be going well in the early minutes of the match, Park kicking two penalties courtesy of George Chapman to build a six point lead. but the rest of the half belonged exclusively to Keswick who ran in four tries to establish a commanding 27-6 lead at the break.

They scored again early in the second half before Chapman went over for the visitors for their first try, which he converted (32-13). Park conceded two tries before a late consolation score from Fergus Simpson, converted by Chapman. Keswick still had time to score one final try to cap an excellent win 51-20.

Park were outclassed on the day, too many missed tackles and some inexperience in the side not helping.

Percy Park: 15 Nick Maclin-Cooper; 14 Ross Stewart; 13 Oli Bartles-Smith; 12 Matt Dunn; 11 Freddie Harra; 10 Fergus Simpson; 9 George Chapman; 8 Matthew French;  7 Leo Caulfield; 6 Paul Spowart; 5 Fraser MacGlashan; 4 Chris Reekie; 3 Sam Digman (c); 2 Jonny Dubois; 1 Nick Macklin-Cooper

Replacements: Tristan Grant; Jake Bell; George Bogg