Sat 14 Sep 2024, 15:00
Firwood Waterloo v WPRFC
14th September 2024 – Park suffer defeat away from home
Firwood Waterloo 42 – 13 WPRFC
This week Park travelled to Firwood Waterloo (FW) for the second game of the season. The conditions were perfect and looking forward to a very physical encounter with a strong FW team.
Park got the game underway and an unforced error by FW gave Park a scrum just outside the opponents 22. Park secured the scrum and attacked FW, but FW were off the line quickly in defence and Park knocked on in contact which gave FW the chance to clear their lines. FW decided to run the ball from the scrum for a few phases and then broke through the Park defence on the left edge into the Park half but Park closed them down and forced an error from FW with a loose pass in contact. Park reset but spilled the ball in contact and FW attacked Park with a few phases and scored their first try with straight run under the posts with our defence not able to hold them up (7-0). Park restarted and Matt Treacy and Phil Lynch got to the ball first and knocked the ball back to Freddie Kenyon who took the ball into contact but FW indiscipline at the ruck gave Park a penalty on 6 minutes and Cameron Flanagan slotted over the penalty from 35 metres (7-3). The next 20 minutes were a tough physical battle with both teams having good possession and territory but no points. Park worked hard in both defence and attack with some great carries from our forwards but neither team were able to find the gaps. On 25 minutes FW had a lineout on the Park 22 and secured the ball and took Park on upfront with quick ball which court Park offside and gave away a penalty but Park defended well on FW second phase ball and held them up over the line. With a drop out from under the posts, FW had another chance but Park worked hard and when FW chipped over Chris Twigg cleaned up the ball and cleared our lines but the ball went to FW who attacked again and scored their second try on right edge with some quick hands through the backs (14-3). Park continued to work hard in attack but could not quite break the FW defence and few unforced errors stunted our attacking opportunities. On 38 minutes that last points of the first half were scored by FW when a chip over by Chris Twigg was easily fielded by FW and with three passes out to the wing, they scored an easy third try to round off the first half (21-3).
Half time score 21 - 3
With the second half underway Park really needed to find the gaps and Cameron Flanagan tried to open up a gap early with a neat chip over which collected but an attempted tackle was not held and he kicked through again in the 22 for Alex De Keyzer to chase and Alex secured the ball on the ground and Park attacked the FW line. Park had 10 phases attacking the line but just could not break the FW defence, but FW indiscipline gave Park another opportunity with a penalty, Park had another 8 phases but the FW defence with held the attack but again FW indiscipline gave Park another chance but we unfortunately knocked on in contact and chance went begging. Park were having a strong spell of possession and territory, but a few minor errors were stunting our attack. On 52 minutes FW were in again with their fourth bonus point try following a line break from their own 22 but we tracked back and made the tackle but a quick recycle from FW and they scored under the posts (28-3). On 57 minutes Park had a lineout on the FW 5 metre line but an over throw was cleaned up by FW and they tried to clear the ball but the ball was taken by Dan Williams who passed to Josh Gledhill who took it into contact and then quick ball through the backs gave Alex De Keyzer a try in the corner with a great finish (28-8). Park kept up the work rate and were rewarded again on 65 minutes with a penalty which Cameron Flanagan kicked to touch and with a lineout on the FW 5 metre line, the ball was won cleanly by Matt Treacy and recycled quickly and Dan Williams powered through the defence to score our second well worked try (28-13). Park continued to attack with some strong carries from our forwards who really did work hard in the game, but we could not quite break a strong defensive performance from FW, and they closed out the game with a couple of tries on 70 minutes and 79 minutes to close out the game (42-13).
It was a very tough and physical day with Park showing some good rugby and the final score did not fully reflect our performance in parts but credit to FW who were a tough opposition.
Final score Firwood Waterloo 42 – 13 WPRFC
Team: Chris Twigg, Alex De Keyzer, Alex Burrage, Will Du Randt, Dan Daley, Cameron Flanagan, Richard Hart, Dan Williams, Matt Treacy, Phil Lynch, Josh Gledhill, Anthony Hopley, Hanre Coetzee, Freddie Kenyon, Tom King, Bruce McGrogan, Lewis Pickering and Josh Gibbins
