Saturday 21 December 2024
Ilkley 31 Percy Park 10
Regional 1 North East
(HT: 14-7)
Park travelled to West Yorkshire on Saturday for their last league fixture of 2024 to take on Ilkley and in a hard fought encounter, played in challenging conditions, suffered a fifth consecutive loss 31-10. And yet, with just nine minutes of the match to go, just four points adrift of their hosts and with their forwards winning so much possession, Ash Smith sliced through a gap into open space with support on either side but referee Higgins signalled an offence of crossing and from that point, the visitors imploded, conceding two late tries to give Ilkley a convincing victory. In truth, Ilkley deserved the win. The Park forwards were excellent and provided the platform, particularly in the second half, that the backline were just not able to exploit due in part to superb Ilkley defence and in part to the conditions but, sadly, across the board mistakes and indiscipline again blighted the Park effort
There were several changes to the side defeated by Heath last weekend with Sam Digman returning to the front row in place of Louis Adamson, Josh Hedley returning to the second row to partner Chris Reekie and Keith Laughlin moving to the flank to replace Harry Paul. In the backline, there were positional changes, Andrew Walker moving from scrumhalf to fullback, Jordan Carey fullback to standoff, Ash Smith from standoff to outside centre, Seb Reece centre to left wing and Tom Robinson left wing to scrumhalf. The replacements were Sean Nairn, Jonny Dubois and Harry Paul.
On a sunny but extremely blustery day with rain clouds gathering, Ilkley kicked off with the visitors gaining an early penalty. From a lineout on halfway on the right, the Park forwards probed the Ilkley defence with the ball coming out right to captain Howard Stock at speed on the right touchline. Two sublime sidesteps later he was scoring to the right of the posts, centre Paul Spowart kicking the difficult conversion. As in last weeks game against Heath, an excellent start, five minutes played (0-7).
It did not take Ilkley long to respond. From the restart, Ilkley attacked and an excellent 50/22 kick gave them a lineout in the Park 22 on their left touchline. As the lineout was won, a Park high tackle gave the home side a penalty on the 22 directly in front of the posts but Ilkley elected the scrum. It was an astute decision given the swirling wind and as the ball was moved right the Park defence came up quickly only for standoff Matty Sheard to put an excellent kick in behind the defence for centre Freddie Clark to chase and score on ten minutes, fellow centre Charles Morgan converting to tie the score (7-7).
The rain began to fall after a quarter of an hour with Park securing the lion’s share of possession. A scrum penalty was won on the Ilkley 22 which was kicked into the right corner. It looked as if the catch and drive was executed perfectly but when almost at the line the ball was spilled, and Ilkley were able to clear their lines. Park were to rue the mistake as shortly after Ilkley scored their second try to take a lead they were never to relinquish. From a home scrum in the Ilkley half, the ball was kicked to touch but a valiant effort to keep the ball in play only diverted the ball into the hands of Ilkley wing Ben Walker who raced in unopposed to score under the posts on twenty-three minutes, Morgan converting (14-7).
Park almost responded immediately from the restart. A penalty for a high tackle on their own 22 gave Park the opportunity to put the ball in the right corner. From the lineout, both second row Chris Reekie and replacement flanker Jonny Dubois were held up on the line and the home side were able to clear. As the clock ticked down on the first half Ilkley should have scored again when, after a fantastic hand off by Clark, a forward pass prevented wing Harry Harrison from scoring. Park were pushed off the ball at the resultant scrum and only a knock-on prevented another certain Ilkley score. The last few minutes of the half saw Park defending well and there was no further score.
HT: Ilkley 14 Percy Park 7
Park kicked off the second half and quickly earned a penalty almost in front of the posts. Perhaps because of the conditions, the visitors elected to kick the ball to the corner, but the wind carried the ball over the dead ball line and the chance was lost. However, shortly after Ilkley again infringed in midfield (offside) and some stupid back chat gave Park another ten yards and a chance to kick for goal. Spowart made no mistake on forty-three minutes (14-10).
The Park forwards were winning possession but credit to Ilkley, they were able on several occasions to halt Park momentum by either turning the ball over or winning scrum penalties. Ilkley were unable to escape the territorial pressure being exerted by the visitors and one great run from wing Seb Reece had Park knocking on the door but as the third quarter ended, Park were in the home 22 but after losing possession, an Ilkley kick ahead had Park in trouble, standoff Jordan Carey rescuing the situation to allow the visitors to reclaim the ball.
The pendulum began to swing in Ilkley’s favour on the sixty minute mark when two quick Ilkley penalties gave the home side an attacking scrum under the posts but a huge effort from the Park eight gained a scrum penalty to relieve the pressure. As Park regained the initiative up front, the possession and territory gained could not be turned into points; dropped passes and penalties littered their play. With under ten minutes of the match remaining, centre Ash Smith (now playing at standoff due to injury) saw a gap on his own 22 to slice through the Ilkley defence. With options right and left, a score was possible but the referee had seen an offence of crossing and play was called back. Morgan made no mistake with the kick on seventy-one minutes (17-10).
The penalty seemed to invigorate the home side and from the restart they quickly won a lineout on the Park 10 metre line. As the ball came left infield Ilkley centre Morgan seemed to have nowhere to go as the Park defence came up but two brilliant sidesteps had him through to give the scoring pass to fellow centre Freddie Clark who cantered over on seventy-four minutes. Morgan kicked an excellent conversion to all but seal the game (24-10).
Ilkley were immediately on the attack from the restart, the bonus point try the aim. They gained a penalty immediately (holding on after the tackle) and, when a succession of penalties had the home forwards on the visitors try line, scrumhalf Ed Brown was able to wriggle over to score their fourth try on seventy-seven minutes. Morgan converted to give Ilkley a well-deserved, if slightly flattering, victory (31-10).
As the clock counted down there was no further scoring.
FT: Ilkley 31 Percy Park 10
A very disappointing result after so much effort but we were just unable to convert possession and territory into points on the board, particularly in that third quarter. Post match, player coach Ash Smith had this to say: “Our forwards were simply fantastic. I cannot fault their effort and commitment. They deserved better but everything we tried in the backs just didn’t work; we tried changing the backline around after Tom Robinson was injured but still nothing worked. It is so frustrating. I take nothing away from Ilkley, they are a good side, but honestly this is a game we could easily have won with the amount of ball we had. We just couldn’t use it”.
I certainly concur with what Ash had to say in respect of the Park forwards. They were excellent with, particularly, Sam Digman and Matthew French tackling themselves to a standstill. Ilkley’s defence was good throughout, and their backline was always dangerous especially Freddie Clark and Ben Walker when they received the ball. We thank them for a great game and their wonderful hospitality and hope to meet them again next season. Our thanks also to referee Mr Higgins.
The lads could at least console themselves with a ‘Twelve Ales of Christmas’ sojourn around Ilkley, suitably attired as Santa’s or Elves, before the long trip back to Tyneside.
The Colts played a hastily rearranged game under the Preston Avenue lights on Friday against Durham City losing 26-73 in a high scoring game. On Boxing Day, we welcome Whitley Bay Rockcliff for the annual festive fixtures. The Colts take on their counterparts from Rockcliff for the Albi Durhin Cup, KO 11.30 am, followed by the senior game, KO 1.30 pm. If that feast of rugby was not enough, the NUFC vs Aston Villa Premier League game will be on the clubhouse TV’s from 3 pm. Rugby, footy, ale and convivial company, what more could you wish for on a Boxing Day?
A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
Percy Park: 15 Andrew Walker; 14 Howard Stock ©; 13 Ash Smith; 12 Paul Spowart; 11 Seb Reece; 10 Jordan Carey; 9 Tom Robinson; 8 Matthew French; 7 Leo Caulfield; 6 Keith Laughlin; 5 Chris Reekie; 4 Josh Hedley; 3 Sam Digman; 2 Dan Shuttleworth; 1 Tristan Grant
Replacements: Sean Nairn; Jonny Dubois; Harry Paul