Saturday 10 February 2024
Aspatria 25 Percy Park 30
Regional 2 North
(HT: 11-22)
For 70 minutes at Bower Park, Percy Park were in control of what was a very hard, very physical game, leading by 30 points to 11 having secured the try bonus point early in the second half, when Aspatria burst into life scoring two late tries to secure a bonus point of their own but it was too late to deny Park a hard fought victory. It was no more than the visitors deserved and, with Northern not playing, Park have now opened up a nine point lead at the top of Regional 2 North with five games left to play for both clubs. With only one defeat at home all season, and the perceived injustice of their late defeat at Morpeth last time out, Aspatria were certainly up for this game which their programme noted ‘has been anticipated for sometime by Black Reds supporters’.
Jamie Wrigley made a welcome return to the side at fullback after injury, the speedy debutant Josh Sho-Perring replaced Max Bailey on the right wing with skipper Howard Stock still out and Toby Davison continued on the left wing in place of the injured Ross Young. In the forwards, Aaron Smith and Tristan Grant returned to the front row with Jake Smith returning to the back row after missing last week's trip to West Hartlepool. Jonny Dubois dropped to the bench with Sam Digman and Will Ponton. Leo Caulfield captained the side.
After two postponements and some very inclement weather earlier in the week, this game finally got under way on a dry, sunny afternoon with very little breeze. Park kicked off, playing towards the Clubhouse, and it was Aspatria who had the better of the early exchanges forcing two early penalties. The second, for offside, on the Park 10 metre line was punished by Aspatria centre Matt Irving who kicked the penalty on 3 minutes (3-0).
It took Park a minute to respond; the home side knocked on from the kick off and from the scrum, deep in the Aspatria 22, Toby Davison running a fantastic line took an inside pass from Ash Smith to score a sublime try behind the posts which centre Paul Spowart converted (3-7). From the kick off, Park, as they often do, attempted to play out of their 22 but Josh Hedley knocked on and from the resulting scrum inside the visitors 22, Aspatria turned the screw. A series of drives by the home forwards were stopped by an excellent defensive effort including a great tackle by Davison on Aspatria flanker Phil Dixon which stopped what would certainly have been a scoring pass to the right wing. An Aspatria infringement on the 22 relieved the pressure and from the lineout, Park moved the ball through the hands but the home side infringed again when a tackle on Davison was deemed by referee Martin Denvir to have been high.The penalty, which was just outside of the home 22, was kicked into the right corner. From the lineout, swift hands had second row Chris Reekie making ground before a great offload in the tackle to Fergus Simpson had the standoff score under the posts for another excellent try on 12 minutes. Paul Spowart converted (3-14).
Back came Aspatria, clearly stung by the two early Park tries, and they had two opportunities to score, neither of which were taken. Firstly, from a scrum on the Park try line after a long Aspatria kick was knocked on, the ball moved quickly right but what might have been a scoring pass was put behind the right wing directly into touch. Shortly afterwards, fullback Grant Bethwaite moving into midfield seemed to glide through several attempted tackles only to spill the ball when the space behind the Park defence opened up in front of him and the chance was lost. The home side were to pay dearly as Park quickly scored again. Aspatria were penalised on their own 10 metre line for not rolling away after the tackle and the ball was kicked to the left hand touchline midway inside the 22. From the lineout, flanker James Black found himself in space and charged forward and his pass to Leo Caulfield had the skipper crash over 5 metres infield from the touchline on 19 minutes. The conversion was missed (3-19).
As the first quarter ended, Apatria were getting a little frustrated finding themselves three tries down without converting any of their own opportunities, and from the kick off, yet another high tackle earned home captain Jack Gaskell a stern warning from referee Denvir. It was not heeded as, on 23 minutes, shortly after Park had nearly scored again, Aspatria centre Irving was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on his opposite number, Park centre Paul Spowart. The next 10 minutes were littered with errors and infringements from both sides and the game was becoming a little bit feisty but Aspatria were controlling territory, the game being played in the Park 22. An excellent defensive effort was then undone when a defensive lineout was not secured, the throw to the back missing the jumper, and Aspatria seized the moment, second row Tom Gardner eventually crashing over 10 metres infield from the right touchline on 35 minutes. Irving, just back on the field, was unable to convert (8-19).
Both sides then traded penalties as the clock wound down on the opening half. Firstly, Aspatria were penalised on their own 22 in front of the posts for Spowart to kick the points on 38 minutes (8-22) but their was still time for the home side to mount one more attack, Park being penalised for offside in front of their posts with Irving successfully scoring with the last kick of the half (11-22).
HT: Aspatria 11 Percy Park 22
Aspatria began the second half with real intent, immediately testing the Park defence deep in the visitors 22, but then came a moment of black and white magic. Prop Tristan Grant ripped the ball cleanly from an Aspatria forward and in the blink of an eye the ball had been transferred at speed to the returning Jamie Wrigley who set off at pace along the left touchline. In a magnificent length of the field sprint the fullback outpaced the home cover to score a fantastic try in the left hand corner. Paul Spowart was unable to convert the difficult conversion. The try bonus point in the bag, 42 minutes played (11-27).
Park almost added to the score a short while later when Wrigley burst through the home defence to put wing Josh Sho-Perring into space. The wing sped into the home 22 and when he was tackled Aspatria infringed at the breakdown, the resultant penalty was kicked into the right hand corner. The catch and drive was executed perfectly but as the try line beckoned the ball was knocked on and the chance was lost. Park almost paid dearly for the error when a stray pass was intercepted by Aspatria second row Riley Thwaites on halfway who galloped towards the Park try line. Somehow, standoff Fergus Simpson got back to tackle him just short and excellent support helped secure the ball and gain a penalty (not releasing) to relieve the pressure. It was end to end play, Jamie Wrigley having another storming run along the left touchline, before the game became a little disjointed due to errors, replacements and injuries.
On 67 minutes, Park were awarded a penalty (another high tackle) just outside of the Aspatria 22 but directly onto the posts which was kicked by Spowart (11-30). However, Park began to struggle a little up front due to enforced changes and the pressure began to build from the home side in the last 10 minutes. It was now that Aspatria produced their sting in the tail; Park were caught offside in midfield and the kick was launched into the left hand corner. The catch and drive faltered and a stop/start series of drives eventually succeeded with replacement Luke Jackson going over for the score on 73 minutes. Matt Irving converted (18-30).
For the remaining 7 minutes of the game, Park were on the defensive, Aspatria sensing a losing bonus point or better if they could score quickly but it took until the clock went into the red when fullback Grant Bethwaite broke through a tiring Park defence to score wide on the right which was converted by Irving with the last kick of the match (25-30).
FT: Aspatria 25 Percy Park 30
Captain for the day Leo Caulfield had this to say post game: “We talked all week about what Aspatria would bring to the game, that they would be a physical team and that we would have to match that. All of the lads stood up and put a massive defensive effort into the game. We know it’s not the best we have played but to come here to a team that has only lost once at home all season and get five points, I think we have shown why we deserve to be sitting on top of the league”. It is hard to disagree with the skipper’s assessment. Aspatria were very physical and Park defended extremely well but what was most impressive was how well, when the opportunities to score came, they were taken and it is probably fair to say that some points were left out on the field of play. Unforced errors are problematic, perhaps, but the ability to score tries, resolutely defend when the pressure is on, and the character of this team cannot be disputed.
In the backline, both Jamie Wrigley and Toby Davison (before injury) excelled, Paul Spowart, Ash Smith and Fergus Simpson were rock solid in midfield and debutant Josh Sho-Perring is definitely one for the future. Up front, all of the forwards played well, particularly as the pack were disrupted by injury and necessary replacements, and Caulfield led by example as captain. Will Ponton also did well on his debut from the replacements bench. For Aspatria, the second row pairing of Tom Gardner and Riley Thwaites carried well and Matt Irving played well in the centre. The hosts are currently fifth in Regional 2 North and look set for a mid table finish which will continue their recent trend of year upon year improvement and we look forward to the return at Preston Avenue next month and thank them for their hospitality. Our grateful thanks too to referee Martin Denvir.
The Lions also won on Saturday, beating a very good Sunderland side scoring 12 tries to 2 and the Pumas, joining with Whitley Bay Rockcliff in a Barbarians side, lost to Morpeth at Hillheads but it was excellent to see some third team rugby. Sadly, the Panthers were denied the chance to further cement their place at the top of NC3 North (North) by the weather with their game at Blaydon being called off on Sunday.
Next Saturday, Park entertain Durham City RFC, KO 2 pm. Durham, who sit in third place in the league table, have won seven of their last eight fixtures and so come to Preston Avenue in excellent form and presumably full of confidence so it should be a great game. The Lions are also hopeful of entertaining Durham City at home next Saturday, KO also at 2 pm. All support for our teams would be most welcome.
Percy Park: 15 Jamie Wrigley; 14 Josh Sho-Perring; 13 Ash Smith; 12 Paul Spowart; 11 Toby Davison; 10 Fergus Simpson; 9 Andrew Walker; 8 Leo Caulfield ©; 7Jake Smith; 6 James Black; 5 Chris Reekie; 4 Josh Hedley; 3 Tristan Grant; 2 Dan Shuttleworth; 1 Aaron Smith
Replacements: Sam Digman; Jonny Dubois; Will Ponton