Sat 21 Jan 2023
Bowdon v WPRFC
21st January 2023 – Park fight back but narrowly miss out
Bowdon 38 – 31 WPRFC
This week Park travelled to third place Bowdon on the return fixture in the league following a defeat at home in October. The conditions were very frosty on a bright but cold Saturday afternoon and after much discussion and inspection the game went ahead.
With the game underway, Park was looking a bit clunky with a few errors which gave Bowdon opportunities to attack and they used quick ball to launch their back line. On 7 minutes a Park knock on just on the 22 gave Bowdon advantage but they ran the ball in through their back line and scored the first converted try of the match (7-0). Bowdon kept the pressure on but Park worked hard in defence but were giving away field position with errors, Bowdon also suffered in the early exchanges with poor execution. There was a couple of glimpses of what Park were capable of with Chris Twigg and Charlie Hyde linking up to attack the Bowdon line but errors halting the attack. The Park pack were making some ground in a hard fought battle and on 24 minutes a storming 30 metre run by Shaun Underdown shrugging of numerous defenders earned Park a penalty on the 22 which Benny Elliot converted with his trusty boot (7-3).
Another penalty against Park gave Bowdon the opportunity to kick for the corner which they cleanly won the lineout and with one pass and a missed tackle by Park, Bowdon walked in under the sticks for an easy 7 points (14-3). Bowdon certainly had the edge on Park now in the second quarter of the first half and were pressurising Park with both field position and possession and on 35 minutes the Bowdon winger broke through the midfield but offloaded in the tackle and they recycled quickly with an overlap on the left side and again walked in for another easy try which could not be converted (19-3). These were the last points of the first half and Park really needed to step up their game in the second half.
Half time score 19 - 3
The second half was definitely a different story but Bowdon started off with attacking rugby but Park worked hard in defence to turn them over at the ruck in the early exchanges. Park started to find their rhythm and were now competing in all areas of the game which was forcing some errors from the home side. An offside penalty gave Park some field position but our line out was misfiring and we lost the momentum but Bowdon indiscipline gave Park another chance and this time we won the lineout and got some territory and from a free kick from a scrum, Dan Williams took a quick tap and powered over the line for our first try on 55 minutes which was converted by Benny Elliot (19-10). Bowdon didn’t have to work too hard as indiscipline at the ruck gave them field position and after a few phases they scored in the corner for their bonus point try which was unconverted (24-10). Again on 65 minutes, Park suffered again from indiscipline at the breakdown and Bowdon capitalised with another converted try under the sticks (31-10). At this point with 15 minutes to go Bowdon had their tails up and looked like they were going to win this game convincingly and a Bowdon break from their own 22 they scored their sixth try with a great back line move and great support play to increase their lead (38-10).
From the restart Park challenged Bowdon and Dave Cross pounced on a lose ball to secure possession and with quick phase play and strong carries by the forwards got us field position and Charlie Hyde took the ball in and off loaded in the tackle to Alex Burrage who broke through the line to score a converted try on 69 minutes (38-17). Cue the Park fight back! Park were now in the driving and seat and Bowdon were very much on the back foot and were suffering from indiscipline which was forced by park starting to dominate the collision and breakdown. The referee had enough and sent the first of two Bowdon players to the bin in the last 10 minutes. With a scrum 15 metres out Park chipped over and Bowdon knocked the ball on which gave us a scrum 5 metres out which Park won and Dan Williams picked up and took into contact and off loaded to Evan Boucher who powered over for a converted try with only 4 minutes on the clock (38-24). From the restart Park looked a different team with some strong carries from both forwards and backs to work down the field to get us into a scoring position but unfortunately a knock on halted this attack with minutes left. Park drove back the Bowdon scrum and put them under severe pressure and indiscipline off the ball gave the referee no option but send the Bowdon player to the bin. With a penalty 10 metres out Park packed down and Dan Williams took the ball into contact, it was quickly recycled as there was an overlap the left side but Bowdon covered Liam Geary well and Park reset again and Evan Boucher picked up at close quarters to score our bonus point try which was converted by the faithful boot of Benny Elliot (38-31), unfortunately that was time up but earned us a losing bonus point as well.
It was a tough game and Park left it late but put in a great finish to narrowly miss out on a win.
Final score Bowdon 38 – 31 WPRFC
Team: Chris Twigg, Liam Geary, Alex Burrage, Will Morrillo, Charlie Hyde, Benny Elliot, Cameron Flanagan, Dan Williams, James Johnson (Captain), Matt Treacy, Gary Dykes, Evan Boucher, Jake Cornwell, Shaun Underdown, Justin Oles, Ross Morrin, Dave Cross and Tom King
