Sat 4 Nov 2023
WPRFC v Vale of Lune
4th November 2023 – Park grind out a bonus point win at home
WPRFC 23 – 21 Vale of Lune
This week Park welcomed Vale of Lune (VoL) to Stade de Burrows Hill for the first encounter of the season, with Vale of Lune currently bottom of the table but with a game in hand and Park two places ahead in tenth. The conditions were very soft underfoot after a deluge of rain in the latter part of the week and this promised to be a tough game with Park needing a good home win. We also welcomed a new player in second rower Alex Grogan and the return of Shaun Underdown in the front row.
With the game underway, it was obvious that the wet conditions were going to have an effect on the game but both sides were keen to play flowing rugby, but handling errors stunted both sides attack. VoL had the early territory, but the Park defence stood strong and denied any points by turning over the ball and getting an early penalty to clear our lines. The early exchanges were very physical and both sides knew this was going to be a tough and close match. Our forwards were definitely making good ground in attack and when we had quick ball from the ruck we looked like the better side. On 15 minutes Ben Lilley broke through a couple of tackles and off loaded to Charlie Hyde who unfortunately was tackled into touch 5 metres from the try line. The next 15 minutes was a battle of attrition with both sides suffering from unforced handling errors but VoL kept us at bay with their kicking game and on 30 minutes VoL had field position and were close to the Park try line but Park turned the ball over and attempted to clear their lines but the ball didn’t find touch and VoL broke the deadlock with a great cross field kick to the winger to score an easy unconverted try (0-5). Park worked hard for field position and got the reward of a penalty 5 metres out and Ben Lilley powered over to score an unconverted try on 38 minutes to level the game (5-5). This was going to be a very close game and Park needed to dig deep in the second half to win this game.
Half time score 5 - 5
Park restarted the second half and Jarred Lange charged down a box kick which landed in the hands of Matt Treacy who tackled 8 metres out, but Park kept the pressure on and a nice kick through by James Weeks gave Charlie Hyde the opportunity to chase but VoL got their first. VoL took the lead on 44 minutes from a penalty for Park holding on after Park let the ball bounce and got themselves isolated (5-8). A couple of minutes later Park got a penalty 30 metres out for VoL holding on and Charlie Hyde took it quickly but was tackled but Park recycled quickly and took the ball on the open side and then recycled quickly again with a lovely missed pass from Cameron Flanagan to Chris Twigg on the short side and he passed to Nathan Taylor on the wing who scored a lovely try in the corner to take the lead (10-8). Park were working hard in all areas of the game, but a few errors were creeping in and giving VoL opportunities to pin us into our half. On 50 minutes Park had a lineout near the half way line and Bradley Marshall broke through the VoL defence with a great line and stepped through the line but was tackled 30 metres out but earned a penalty which Cameron Flanagan kicked to extend the lead (13-8). Park were looking the better team but simple errors were hampering our attack and giving VoL the chance of field position and territory and on 55 minutes Park indiscipline at the breakdown gave VoL a penalty and the chance to close the gap, which they did from the tee (13-11).
The game was very much in the balance now and Park had to cut out the errors, but we worked tirelessly in defence to turnover the ball and earn a foot hold in the game and forwards were making good ground in every phase. On 64 minutes Park got field position in the VoL 22 and were playing good attacking rugby but a handling error stunted our attack and gave VoL the opportunity to clear their lines but VoL had other ideas and ran the ball out of their 22 and the winger chipped through for their fly half to chase and the ball was not fielded by Park and VoL kicked through and scored an unconverted try to take the lead (13-16). VoL were certainly taking every chance that we gave them and 6 minutes later they were in again from a scrum on the 10-metre line when VoL ran straight through to score their third try and extend their lead (13-21). Park now needed a massive last 10 minutes if they wanted to win this game. On 35 minutes Park attacked VoL with great phase play from our forwards and earned a penalty which we kicked to the corner and won the lineout and set up a driving maul and powered over the line with Ross Morrin touching down with an unconverted try to close the gap (18-21). This was going to be a nail-biting end to the game! Park only had 5 minutes to win this game and the whole team dug deep and worked hard to gain territory into the VoL 22, but we kicked the ball away and gave VoL the opportunity to close this game out. VoL won the lineout with less than a minute on the clock and took the ball into contact only for Park to steal the ball and with some great hands the ever present try scorer Charlie Hyde was there to dive over and score the winning bonus point try (23-21).
This was definitely a tough gritty win with some great tries and again an improved performance throughout the team from Park to move up to 8th place in the league.
Final score WPRFC 23 – 21 Vale of Lune
Team: Chris Twigg, Dan Davenport, Charlie Hyde, Bradley Marshall, Nathan Taylor, James Weeks, Cameron Flanagan, Ben Lilley, Matt Treacy, Evan Boucher, Alex Grogan, Jarred Lange, Shaun Underdown, Mike Gough, Ross Morrin, Jake Cornwell, Joe Hickey and Luke Westgate
