Sat 1 Feb 2025
Bowdon v WPRFC
1st February 2025 – Park lose away at Bowdon
Bowdon 45 – 24 WPRFC
This week Park travelled to 2nd place Bowdon on a dry February afternoon. With Bowdon on twelve wins from fifteen in the league so far this season, it was going to be a very tough and physical encounter following the narrow loss we had back in October.
Park kicked off the game and Bowdon secured the ball and kicked down field into the Park 22 with Park clearing the ball to the 22 for a Bowdon line out. Bowdon secured the ball and set up a driving maul and took Park back to a couple of metres out, Bowdon then spread the ball wide quickly, but Alex De Keyzer was there to make the tackle, but Bowdon recycled quickly and went over from short range on 2 minutes (5-0). Park restarted the game, but Bowdon used the box kick which Park fielded then knocked on first phase ball, from the scrum Bowdon ran wide and Alex De Keyzer made another good defensive tackle and Bowdon spilled the ball. Bowdon attacked Park again and went down the right hand side but Will Du Randt made a great tackle a metre out forcing the Bowdon player into touch, Park secured the line out but the clearing kick did not go to touch and Bowdon attacked again and scored their second try on 8 minutes following a penalty 5 metres in centre field (10-0). Park had their opportunity on 14 minutes following a penalty which we kicked to touch, the line out and set up a maul and went wide with 5 phases of attack but lost the ball in contact a few metres out from the Bowdon line and Bowdon cleared their lines into the Park half. Park did have possession, but a few unforced errors stunted their attack and gave Bowdon the opportunity to attack, and they used their kicking game to full advantage. Bowdon were in again on 21 minutes with another attack down the right-hand side and although tackled 5 metres out they recycled and used their forwards to power over and score under the sticks (17-0). A few minutes later, Tom King made a great break through the defensive line from the half way to the Bowdon 22 and the ball went wide through the hands from Dan Williams to Will Du Randt but again we spilled the ball a few metres out and allowed Bowdon to clear their lines. It was frustrating that Park could not quite make the ball stick in the first half and coughed up the ball too easy even though they had good field position. Bowdon continued to attack Park and were rewarded again on 36 and 39 minutes with tries to round off the half with 5 tries and nothing for Park (31-0). The second half was going to be a tough up hill task if park were going to get anything out of the game.
Half time score 31 - 0
Bowdon kicked off the second half and if Park were going to get back into this game, then they had to strike early. Park got off to a good start and Bowdon indiscipline gave Park the opportunity with a couple of penalties which Park kicked to touch, the second got them 5 metres out and the line out was won but penalised for holding on and Bowdon cleared their lines. Park were looking a different team and used their forward strength to get over the gain line and attack Bowdon. On 50 minutes a neat kick through from Alex Burrage forced Bowdon to take the ball into touch giving Park a line out 5 metres out. The line out was won and they set up a driving maul which went to ground but Park recycled and set up 4 phases of attack before a nice off load from Dan Williams to Tom King who powered over for try number one with Cameron Flanagan adding the extras (31-7). Park again regrouped and were rewarded on 68 minutes with a penalty which they kicked to touch and again the lineout was won and Elyjah Sa’u scored from the back of the maul for his first try for the club on his second appearance (31-12). This was a much better performance from Park in the second half. Bowdon were not giving up the fight and increased their lead on 70 minutes with their 6th try of the day following a scrum 30 metres out and their centre stepped through the Park line and rode the last tackle to score (38-12). A few minutes later from the restart a knock on by Bowdon gave park a platform for attack and the scrum worked well again with Dan Williams picking up running through the defence and earning a penalty for a high tackle which Dan Williams took quickly and passed to Tom King who recycled the ball and we took in another 5 phases into contact earning another penalty a couple of metres out which Jack Williams took quickly and off loaded to Tom King who powered over to score his second try with Cameron Flanagan adding the extras (38-19). Bowdon did not give up and Park gave them an opportunity on 76 minutes with an error in our own 22 and Bowdon capitalised with a try (45-19). With only minutes on the clock left, Bowdon made a similar error in their own 22 which gave Park the scrum, Dan Williams picked up from the base of the scrum and passed to brother Jack Williams who stepped one defender and bumped the second and passed out to Will Du Randt to score an important 4th try to earn a bonus point (45-24).
This was a hard-fought game with a much-improved performance from the whole Park squad in the second half to earn a point away from home.
Final score Bowdon 45 – 24 WPRFC
Team: Will Du Randt, Alex De Keyzer, Alex Burrage, Genesis Iuli, Sanale Mtetwa, Cameron Flanagan, Jack Williams, Joel Gaiden, Tom King, Ross Morrin, Elyjah Sa’u, Matthew Treacy, Phil Lynch, Dan Williams, Matty Davenport, Hanre Coetzee, Anthony Hopley and Jack Fenner
