Park’s dominance of the first half brought them a welcome win in the Local Derby at Esher. An early try from prop Stuart Maguire, who galloped over from close range on 10 minutes was converted by fly half Harry Leonard for 7-0.

Esher got one back against the run of play through number 8 Hugo Seccombe on 26 minutes, but the conversion was missed.

The visitors dominated the rest of the first half. Some good play by scrum half Will Crow put prop Ali Wade through on 33 minutes. Moments before the interval Andrew Henderson made excellent use of a shrewd inside pass from Leonard to go over. Both were converted by Leonard for a 21-5 lead at the break.


High catch by Park

However Park were unable to kick on for the 4-try bonus, possibly a result of tiredness from the hero effort against Hartpury the previous week.

Two penalty awards converted by Sam Stanley on 51 and 56 minutes allowed Esher to creep back to 21-11 before Harry Leonard restored order with a kick of his own for 24-11 with 20 minutes remaining.

Esher were now forcing Park to defend well, which they did admirably.

The home side eventually cracked it with Park’s defence under pressure Tom Vaughan-Edwards was sent to the bin on 74 minutes, and a minute later Esher went over for a try by the posts by Cameron Zeiss, converted by Stanley for 24-18. But Park held out for a deserved win.

Park Attack and Defence Coach, Scott Sneddon said, “It was always going to be a tough game with a six day turnaround since Hartpury. It wasn't one of our best performances and credit to Esher they made it difficult at scrum time so we had limited ball to play from.

“We got the four points but weren't as accurate as normal in a lot of our play and I think that was due to a physical and emotional hangover from the Hartpury game. We looked tired but battled well to get the win.

“The boys will have Tuesday off and we'll then start looking at Fylde coming to the rock. There's a lot to work on from Friday night and we'll need to put those things right in order to ensure we get the win we need to climb the table”.

Park: Grove; Crane, Henderson, Barnes, Kohler; Leonard; Crow; Wade, Piper, Maguire; Frampton, Milne; Ovens, Hudson, Ellis
Bench: Vaughan-Edwards, Nwakor, Harries, Weir, Watkins
Park scorers: Maguire (T), Wade (T), Henderson (T) Leonard (3C, P)

Charlie Addiman

Images: David Whittam

March 14, 2017