Sat 14 Feb 2026
WPRFC v Northwich
14th February 2026 – Park suffer a close defeat at home in derby
WPRFC 12 – 20 Northwich
This week Park welcomed Northwich to Stade de Burrows Hill for the much-anticipated return derby clash in front of a big crowd. This was going to be a very physical and passion fuelled game on a bright February afternoon following our away win back in October.
Northwich kicked off the game playing towards the clubhouse and Park were put under pressure with strong defence forcing Park to box kick to clear their lines, but Park were caught offside and Northwich kicked for the corner. Northwich won the lineout and set up a driving maul, but Park turned over the ball and cleared their lines. Park worked hard running the ball out of their half and on 4 minutes got penalised for holding on and Northwich kicked for goal but were unsuccessful. Park got some field position and territory through Alex De Keyzer and then a break through the backs gave Dan Davenport a chance to run at his opposite number put was tackled 5 metres out. Park attacked through Johdell Akua and he was tackled high and Park were awarded a penalty on 9 minutes which Cameron Flanagan took quickly and scored the first points of the game (5-0). Park worked hard going through the phases with strong carries but Northwich defended well and Park could not quite get over the try line but on 15 minutes we got a penalty 7 metres out and kicked for the corner, we won the lineout and drove over the line but unfortunately lost control of the ball in the act of scoring. 3 minutes later Northwich were on the attack and went wide quickly went they broke the line and with supporting runners scored in the corner to level the score (5-5). The next 20 minutes was an arm wrestle with both sides having possession and field position but not able to take the advantage and with both sides defending well it was a battle of attrition. On 39 minutes Northwich had a scrum on the half way line and won the scrum and went wide through the hands and the full back came into the line and stepped through our defence and scored in the corner to take the lead on half time (5-10).
Half time score 5 - 10
Park restarted the second half and Northwich started strongly catching Park offside and kicking the penalty for territory, Park were under pressure and on 46 minutes Northwich scored their third try to extend their lead following a break from their own 22 but were tackled 5 metres out but they recycled quickly and before our defence could reset they picked up a scored including the conversion (5-17). On 52 minutes Park came close with some good attacking play, but Northwich defended well and earned a penalty at the breakdown for holding on. A few minutes later we had another opportunity off the back of a scrum in the Northwich 22 with an overlap, but we did not make the last pass and took it into contact and the opportunity was lost. We continued the pressure close to the Northwich line and got a penalty and opted for the scrum and took in a couple of phases and Ross Morrin was held up over the line, but we had the penalty advantage from the scrum so reset. We won the scrum and Dan Williams picked up off the back of the scrum and threw a missed pass to Alex De Keyzer who scored in the corner with Cameron Flanagan adding the extras (12-17). The next 15 minutes was again an arm wrestle with both sides looking to close out the game but unfortunately for Park we could not quite finish off any chances we had and on 77 minutes Northwich got a penalty which they kicked to win the game (12-20).
This was a tough game for Park and disappointing not to take any points from the game.
Final score WPRFC 12 – 20 Northwich
Team: Will Du Randt, Lewis Owens, Joseph Rowland, Cameron Flanagan, Alex De Keyzer, Jack Williams, Harry Sheard, Eli Fakailoatonga, Dan Williams (Captain), Matthew Treacy, Johdell Akua, Harry Dodd, Conor Lapniewski, Tom King, Joel Gaidan, Ross Morrin, Teddie McCaffery and Dan Davenport
