Sat 21 Sep 2024
WPRFC v Burnage
21st September 2024 – Park lose out at home with improved performance
WPRFC 15 – 43 Burnage
This week Park welcomed Burnage to Stade de Burrows Hills on a dry and bright September afternoon for the third fixture of the season. With Burnage on two wins from two in the league and having a massive win against Altrincham Kersal last week it was going to be a tough encounter.
Park kicked off and an error on the kick not going 10 metres gave Burnage a scrum on the halfway line. Burnage attacked Park and indiscipline from Park gave away a penalty just inside the 10-metre line which Burnage kicked for touch, but the ball did not reach touch and Park cleared the ball. The game was being played at a quick pace and Park showed some good early signs with Cameron Flanagan linking with Will Du Rant and Dan Williams to make a great break into the Burnage 22 but an unforced error in the midfield stunted the early attack and Burnage cleared the ball from the scrum. Park continued to attack and were making good progress against a solid defence and Chris Twigg made a good break from our 10-metre line into the Burnage 22 and offloaded to Tom King who was tackled but on the next phase the ball was turned over by Burnage and they cleared their lines with a massive kick from 22 to 22 which was field by Park and kicked into touch. Burnage got a break through on 13 minutes with a cross-field kick which their winger picked up and scored an unconverted try (0-5). Park settled back down and went through the phases and got some good territory and possession and set up a good driving maul from a lineout to get 10 metres out from the Burnage try line but Burnage indiscipline gave away a penalty and Park opted for the lineout which they won and took a couple of phases in and Burnage again were penalised and Richard Hart took a quick tap and went over in the corner for a try which was converted by Cameron Flanagan (7-5). Both sides were working hard in defence and attack, and it was a tough battle for the next 10 minutes with Park creeping ahead with a penalty from the boot of Cameron Flanagan on 27 minutes (10-3). On 34 minutes Park were under pressure in their own 22 and Burnage kept the pressure on and were awarded a penalty which they opted from the scrum and powered over for a converted try to take the lead (10-12). Park restarted the game and made an error on the kick not going 10 metres gave Burnage a scrum on the halfway line. Burnage won the scrum and took two phases in and on the third phase the ball went out to the centre who ran through our defence and into the 22 and off loaded to a supporting runner for a converted try just before half time (10-19).
Half time score 10 - 19
Burnage kicked off the second half with the game still very much in the balance but showed their intent with quick ball and attacked Park on every phase. Burnage got themselves into a good position in our 22 but Park defended well and held them up over the line to force a goal line drop out but Burnage kept the pressure on and forced Park into making a error when taking a loose pass, Burnage kicked for the corner and won the lineout cleanly and took one phase in direct and then went wide quickly and ran a great line to score their bonus point try on 47 minutes (10-26). Burnage certainly had their tales up at this point and were pressurising Park and forcing us to make errors which they capitalised on a few minutes later when they caught Park napping at a lineout 5 metres out and scored an easy try between the prop and the hooker (10-31). The next 15 minutes were very nip and tuck with both sides defended well and not being able to find the try line but Park got a break through on 65 minutes with a lineout on the half way line which was won cleanly off the top and Tom King taking the ball in to the Burnage defensive line and making good ground. The ball was quickly recycled to Bruce McGrogan who took the ball in and again quick ball out to Will Du Rant who was wrapped up, but Park kept the pressure on and switched direction out through quick hands to Chris Twigg who cut inside and got into the Burnage 22. The ball was quickly recycled and out to Dan Williams on the right-hand side who powered over to score a well worked unconverted try (15-31). Unfortunately, this was to be our last points of the game with Burnage finishing the stronger team with tries on 73 minutes and 79 minutes to wrap up the game.
This was a hard-fought game with a much-improved performance from the whole Park squad against a strong and well drilled Burnage team and on reflection the score line did not totally reflect the Park performance.
Final score WPRFC 15 – 43 Burnage
Team: Chris Twigg, Alex De Keyzer, Dan Daley, Will Du Rant, Jacob Halstein, Cameron Flanagan, Richard Hart, Tom King, Frankie Davenport, Hanre Coetzee, Josh Gledhill, Gary Dykes, Anthony Hopley, Matthew Treacy, Dan Williams, Frank Gibbons, Gareth Owen and Bruce McGrogan
