Sat 11 Nov 2023
Crewe & Nantwich v WPRFC
11th November 2023 – Park lose out away from home
Crewe & Nantwich 33 – 24 WPRFC
This week Park were away at new comers to the North West league Crewe & Nantwich (C&N) for the first encounter of the season, with C&N currently sitting fourth in the table and Park four places below in eighth. The conditions were very soft underfoot but fine and dry and promised to be a tough game with Park needing a good win.
With the game underway, both sides were looking for a quick start and Park worked hard in both the forwards and backs attacking the defensive line with strong running and looking to find a break through. The first scrum following a knock on by Park in the first couple of minutes was a bit of a worry as C&N put a drive on and looked very strong. C&N were also putting the hard yards with strong carries put Park met with good defence in the early exchanges but errors by C&N thwarted early attacks. On 8 minutes Park indiscipline with the referee gave C&N the chance to open up their scoreboard with a penalty just inside the Park 22 which was not converted. The game was very much in the balance and C&N had a chance on 12 minutes, but Chris Twigg made the tackle to deny a possible try but on 20 minutes after a period of pressure by C&N in the Park 22, C&N scored their first unconverted try from close range in the left corner (5-0). Park continued to work through the phases, but a few errors were stunting our ability to create opportunities but C&N indiscipline with a high tackle on 24 minutes gave Park the opportunity to kick for goal and Benny Elliot converted (5-3). C&N continued their indiscipline with high tackles and gave Park the opportunity to clear the lines, but we just could not convert any pressure into points, but we were certainly making ground with strong carries from both our forwards and backs and was going to be a tough day. C&N continued to pressure Park in the scrums and forced a few penalties to stunt the Park attack but on 38 minutes Park had field position and pinned C&N down in their own 22 and launched attack only to lose the ball forward metres from the line. C&N won the scrum and initially when on the blindside but recycled the and cleared their lines but the ball did not find touch and Chris Twigg made a great through the C&N midfield and was tackled just inside the 22, the ball was recycled quickly and a long pass to Charlie Hyde who showed his strength by powering through three defenders and scoring our first converted try to take the lead just before half time (5-10).
Half time score 5 - 10
Park restarted the second half and following an injury stoppage immediately won a penalty at the restart scrum, but C&N did not find touch and Park were able to return the ball and let C&N run the ball out of their own half but Park indiscipline with a high tackle gave C&N the opportunity to clear their lines. Both sides were making simple errors, but C&N were on the score sheet on 45 minutes with a converted try to take the lead from a few Park missed tackles with run straight through our defence from inside their own half (12-10). 3 minutes later C&N were in again from their own 22 with a clearance kick which was not picked up by Park and C&N ran in their third converted try (19-10) with support runner scoring. Park put the pressure on from the restart and came close to scoring but were awarded a penalty a few metres out, but C&N held Park up over the line, but Park kept the pressure on and battered at the C&N line and this time Ross Morrin with quick thinking dived over the ruck to score our second try which was converted by Benny Elliot (19-17). Unfortunately, our indiscipline got the better of us and Jarred Lange was shown the yellow card on 55 minutes for a high tackle which put Park under pressure, C&N took the scrum advantage to Park and drove Park back and were awarded a penalty try to extend their lead (26-17). With the one-man advantage C&N put the pressure on Park and scored again on 64 minutes to extend their lead with another converted try (33-17). This was going to be a tough last quarter and Park really needed to dig deep if we were going to get anything out of this game and on 75 minutes Park got some field position and a lineout in the C&N 22, Park formed a maul and Cameron Flanagan took the ball from the maul and passed to Benny Elliot who offloaded to Dan Williams and Dan Williams passed back to Benny Elliot who offloaded in the tackle to Bradley Marshall who strolled in for our third converted try to close the gap (33-24). Unfortunately, this was the last points of the game and Park could not find that last try to get some points from the game, this was definitely one that got away.
Final score Crewe & Nantwich 33 – 24 WPRFC
Team: Chris Twigg, Charlie Hyde, Bradley Marshall, James Weeks, Dan Davenport, Benny Elliot, Cameron Flanagan, Ben Lilley, Matt Treacy, Evan Boucher, Alex Grogan, Jarred Lange, Mike Eaves, Jake Cornwell, Ross Morrin, Dan Williams, Joe Hickey and Sam Blears
