Sat 8 Nov 2025
WPRFC v North Ribblesdale
8th November 2025 – Park deliver bonus point win at home
WPRFC 24 – 18 North Ribblesdale
This week Park welcomed newly promoted and second place in the league North Ribblesdale to Stade de Burrows Hill for the first time on game eight of the season. This was going to be a good test for Park with North Ribblesdale winning five of their first seven games in this league on a bright November afternoon.
Park kicked off the game and put in a good defensive set and kept North Ribblesdale in their own half and forcing them to clear their lines and allowing Park to counter through Will Du Randt who passed to Riewoldt Teabuge who was tackled high and North Ribblesdale was shown the yellow card. Park went for the corner and secured the ball but were held up over the line. North Ribblesdale had a break on the short side off a scrum in their own half, but the Park defensive cover was there, and Park continued to defend and when North Ribblesdale went wide, we forced their winger into touch. On 9 minutes Park got their breakthrough from a great jackal by captain Dan Williams to steal the ball in the North Ribblesdale 22 and Park went through two phase through the forwards and then went out wide to Teddie McCaffery who outrun the North Ribblesdale defence to score a great try with Cameron Flanagan adding the conversion (7-0). It was a cagey next ten minutes with both sides working hard in defence and attack but small errors stunted their progress and both sides having field position but not able to reap the rewards, North Ribblesdale came close on 15 minutes but Park stole the ball a few metres from their own try line and passed the ball through the back line releasing Teddie McCaffery to run the ball to the halfway line only to be judged to be in touch. On 20 minutes North Ribblesdale had a scrum on the Park 22 for a knock on and they got the ball out wide quickly and showed their pace to score in the corner (7-5). Park had opportunities on a few occasions but could not quite break the North Ribblesdale defence but somehow North Ribblesdale kept Park out even when Eli Fakailoatonga made a great break from our own 22 into the North Ribblesdale half and offloading to Phil Lynch who got tackled by the retreating defence. North Ribblesdale took the lead on 32 minutes following a penalty on our 10-metre line which was taken quickly, and they scored under the sticks (7-12). Park worked hard and got themselves back into the game and indiscipline from North Ribblesdale gave Park the opportunity to kick for the corner for a lineout on the 5 metre line, Eli Fakailoatonga threw a short ball to Conor Lapniewski at the front who passed back to Eli Fakailoatonga and he powered over to score just before half time to level the score.
Half time score 12 - 12
North Ribblesdale got the second half underway, and Park needed to grab hold of this game and turn possession and territory into points. A mistake by North Ribblesdale at the restart gave Park an opportunity and with the scrum going very well Dan Williams picked up at the back of the scrum and with slick passing from Dan Williams to brother Jack Williams and Will Du Randt to Teddie McCaffery but the defence from North Ribblesdale was there to tackle Teddie McCaffery into touch. The first points of the second half came from the boot of North Ribblesdale following a penalty on the Park 22 which put them ahead on the scoreboard on 44 minutes (12-15). From the restart, North Ribblesdale knocked on, and Park had the scrum which was won and the backs attacked and this was further aided by North Ribblesdale giving away a penalty at the ruck on their own 22. Park kicked for the corner and with the lineout set piece working really well, Park won the ball and set up a maul and Conor Lapniewski scored our third try on 48 minutes to take the lead again (17-15). North Ribblesdale came back at Park and had a spell of possession and territory in the Park 22 but the Park defence held firm and denied the attacking side any points by forcing them to make errors. This was a very tense part of the game, but Park kept their cool and continued to work through the phases and with their set piece working well they knew there would be opportunities during the remainder of the game. Park continued to push North Ribblesdale with strong carries through the forwards and darting runs in the back line but the North Ribblesdale defence stayed strong and Park could not get over that line but kept them within their own half, Park did have a few chances but small errors stunted our attack. On 71 minutes North Ribblesdale had a period of possession and territory in the Park half and indiscipline at the breakdown by Park on their 22 gave North Ribblesdale an opportunity to take a one-point lead which they took (17-18). Park came close on 74 minutes through another barraging run from Eli Fakailoatonga but the cover tackle was there from North Ribblesdale, we recycled the ball and went through five phases of play with strong carries and stretched the North Ribblesdale defence and the opportunity was there, Jack Williams picked up at the base of the ruck and passed to Dan Williams who fixed one defender and passed to Cameron Flanagan who fixed the second defender and he passed to Joe Rowland who scored a well worked bonus point try to take the lead with three minutes to go and ultimately win the game, Cameron Flanagan added the conversion (24-18). The game restarted but Park secured the ball and went through a few phases to close the game out and win.
This was a great result for the team showing what they can achieve when they work together as a unit with every player putting in a great performance to win a hard-fought game.
Final score WPRFC 24 – 18 North Ribblesdale
Team: Will Du Randt, Alex De Keyzer, Riewoldt Teabuge, Joseph Rowlans, Teddie McCaffery, Cameron Flanagan, Jack Williams, Dan Williams (Captain), Matthew Treacy, Robin Lowndes, Phil Lynch, Johdell Akua, Conor Lapniewski, Eli Fakailoatonga, Joel Gaidan, Christian Avis, Lewis Pickering and Anthony Hopley
