Saturday 20 September 2025
Guisborough 12 Percy Park 20
Regional 2 North
(HT: 12-10)
In atrocious conditions, with torrential rain falling throughout, the players from both teams deserve immense credit for their efforts, a hard fought game with Park, in particular, attempting to play an expansive game despite the awful weather. Trailing 12-3 late in the first half, the visitors rallied to shut the door on the hosts in the second and record their first victory on the road in this new season.
The Park forwards were unchanged from last weekends victory over Durham City with injury and unavailability necessitating several changes to the back line. The versatile Jacob German moved from the left wing to scrum half in place of the injured George Chapman with fit again Ross Young taking his place. In the centres, Oli Bartles-Smith moved from inside to outside centre to replace the unavailable Seb Reece with Paul Spowart coming in at No 12. There was an all new replacements bench comprising Tristan Grant, Karl Thompson and Andrew Walker.
Guisborough kicked off but it was Percy Park who had the better of the early exchanges with the home side having to work hard to hold up two visiting catch and drives in the first few minutes of the game. With Park enjoying possession and territory in the home 22, Guisborough were forced into desperate defending but after eight minutes they were caught offside and from the right of the posts Paul Spowart opened the scoring with a well struck penalty (0-3).
It was against the run of play that the home side scored their first points of the match. In their first meaningful visit to the Park 22, they gained a lineout on their right touchline. The ball came infield and a series of carries looked to have been contained but a missed tackle created some space for home prop Charlie Jones to crash over close to the left corner on twelve minutes. The difficult conversion was missed (5-3).
Park were attempting to play an expansive game, despite the conditions, but could not seem to create any real penetration. When a Guisborough scrum was splintered midway in home territory, a penalty to the left corner offered hope. The catch and drive was held up but the ball was moved infield for a scrum to be awarded to the visitors in front of the posts, only for Park to be penalised for a crooked feed! It was a costly mistake because within a minute, Guisborough scored their second try with their second visit to the visiting 22. A loose Guisborough kick into the visiting 22 saw standoff Ash Smith attempt the clearance, only for the kick to be charged down by home skipper and No 8 Charlie Mellor who gathered and ran in unopposed on twenty-four minutes, wing Isaac Fisher converting (12-3).
As the rain seemed to intensify, the visitors with the majority of both possession and territory were struggling to break down a stubborn Guisborough defence but just before halftime, Park got themselves firmly back in the match. When Guisborough were again caught offside in front of their posts, Smith kicked to the right corner. The catch and drive from the lineout was stopped but Park recycled the ball through several phases for prop Michael Birkett to score to the right of the posts. Spowart converted (12-10).
A thumping tackle by visiting No 8 Matthew French on halfway was the last play of the first half.
HT: Guisborough 12 Percy Park 10
The home side got the second half underway and within five minutes, Park regained the lead with their second try. A Guisborough infringement had Park kicking the penalty into the home 22 on the left touchline. The ball was quickly moved infield and determined carries by both Matthew French and Ash Smith gained ground with second row Chris Reekie unstoppable from two metres to score to the left of the posts. Spowart converted (12-17).
Guisborough did gain some momentum as the game entered the last quarter but some excellent maul defence nullified any threat with captain Leo Caulfield, French and Reekie outstanding. Although handling was at times a lottery given the conditions, Park continued to try to play out wide and although mistakes abounded, Guisborough never seriously threatened the Park line. As the clock entered the red, a poor tackle by home wing Isaac Fisher took out Park wing Ross Young in the air with referee Phil Gordge showing the home player a yellow card. Spowart kicked the resulting penalty with Mr Gordge sounding the final whistle immediately after (12-20). The penalty put paid to a losing bonus point for the home side.
FT: Guisborough 12 Percy Park 20
Post match, player/coach Ash Smith had this to say: “Awful conditions, a ball like a bar of soap, it was scrappy but in that rain the game was always going to be. We tried to play but the conditions were tough. That said, I thought that our defence was exceptional with both of their tries coming off our mistakes and in the second half they didn’t really threaten. A job well done all things considered”.
A job well done indeed and, as said before, credit to both sides in the way they dealt with the conditions. The Park forwards were excellent throughout, putting in a real shift denying Guisborough any meaningful possession and, in truth, the visitors dominated possession and territory, particularly in the second half. Guisborough defended doggedly and took their limited chances well and we wish them well for the season and thank them for a good, hard game. Our thanks also to referee Phil Gordge.
It was a good weekend all round for the Club as far as results go, with the Lions scoring five tries in a 27-14 home win over Sunderland, the Panthers opening their NC 3 North (North) account with a 10-0 home win over Berwick and, finally, the Colts continued their superb start to the season with a 43-17 win at Preston Avenue against Novocastrians.
Next weekend, both the 1st XV and the Panthers have a free weekend but on Saturday, the Lions travel to Tynedale KO 3pm and on Sunday the Colts travel to Redcar, KO 1pm. All support for our teams would be most welcome.
Percy Park: 15 Jordan Carey; 14 Thomas Bird; 13 Oli Bartles-Smith; 12 Paul Spowart; 11 Ross Young; 10 Ash Smith; 9 Jacob German; 8 Matthew French; 7 Leo Caulfield ©; 6 James Pennington; 5 Chris Reekie; 4 Sean Nairn; 3 Michael Birkett; 2 Dan Shuttleworth; 1 Sam Digman
Replacements: Tristan Grant; Karl Thompson; Andrew Walker