Sat 26 Oct 2019
Park travelled to Southport knowing the pressure was on with four defeats in a row and were hopeful of getting a win.
Again with a number of changes through injuries it was an opportunity to play some of the young talent coming through the club.
Within the first fifteen minutes Park put themselves under pressure trying to clear the ball with a kick which was charged down. Southport passed the ball down the backs to score and converted going 7 points ahead.
Within ten minutes Park were on the score sheet with a great run by back row Alex Glendinning who was tackled high. He did a quick tap penalty and passed out to Joe Cook to go over the try line. The kick was converted.
Ryan Williams was replaced by Lewis Pickering with an injury.
Park were awarded a penalty for another high tackle and the offending player number 5 was shown the yellow card, Cameron Flanagan duly converted the points.
The lead was short lived with Park kicking for touch into Southport's half 10 metres from the try line line. With some agile jumping the Southport player jumped high in the air and prevented the ball going out to touch. They then passed the ball along the backs to score their second try.
Park raised the game and came back with a try with an interception from Alex Glendinning the conversion was kicked.
Southport were not phased by this and grabbed the last points of the first half with another try with some sloppy tacking by Park the kicked was missed leaving the score 19 to 17 at the half time whistle.
Park put themselves further behind with the first kick of the second half by Southport Park backs collected and passed out in their own 22 for a Southport back to intercept the pass and score an easy try under the posts. The kick was converted.
Five minutes into the second half Alex Glendinning was tackled high again a penalty was awarded but reversed as Captain Dave Cross also came into the maul with a high tackle and getting a yellow card. Southport opted for a scrum won possession and drove over to score try number five and kicked the points.
Joe Cook was replaced by Jake Cornwell with a further loss to an injury.
Park began to dominate the game and try number three came with a quick tap penalty by Jimmy Moran passed out to Lewis Pickering to score, Cameron Flanagan converted the kick.
Park began to get their confidence and some hard wok by the pack set up a number of phases towards the Southport line for Matt Treacy to go over the line for try number four and kick the points to go within two points of Southport.
With minutes left to play they could not get possession and Southport came away with the win 33 to 31.
Coach Farr later said," I am clearly disappointed with the result we again have lost by a couple of points and left it to late to play how we want to. We made to many mistakes and these cost you the game. The positive I take away is we again played with 4 young lads all aged 18 years old. They are bound to make mistakes at this level but it is all game time for them to gain experience. The pack worked hard and the unsung workers in the front row worked hard against a strong Southport front row.
The back row forwards worked to recycle ball and both Alex Glendinning and Matt Treacy deserves recognition on the effort they put in which reflected in a try each for them."
Park play in the Cheshire Bowl Cup on Friday night at home under floodlights against Dukinfield KO at 7:30pm.
Squad:
Mike Eaves, Andrew Evans , Dan Snowden, Dave Cross, Joe Cook, Alex Glendinning, Matt Treacy, Dan Will aims, Dan Berg, Cameron Flanagan, Luke Cannings, Sam Brookes, Alex Burrage, Ryan Williams, Jimmy Moran.
Replacements:
Josh Gibbons, Lewis Pickering and Jake Cornwell.
