KIERAN POWER praised Rosslyn Park’s character as they held off Cambridge in a battling 37-28 win at The Rock.

Dan Laventure and Joe Munro’s late tries secured victory as Joe Green’s hat-trick and Ben Penfold’s kicking kept up the pressure.

But tries from a brace from Mike McFarlane and one from Karl Gibson gave Park the bonus point.


Park’s Greg Gillanders in action

“I was quite pleased with how we finished. We were the stronger side,” Power said.“You have to tip your hat to Cambridge. They came to play a good game, on form from a great home win.

“We made numerous changes, which disrupted our flow and momentum a bit. It shows the character of the side to come back and take control of the game in the last 20 minutes. We sat down during the week, saying we wanted out target to be 12 to 15 points. But the boys turned around and said ‘no, we want 15’, so we’re going for as many points as we can to go on top of the work we’ve done this year.”

It was Cambridge that scored first, Penfold finding a gap to feed Green after 10 minutes.

Jack Gash’s offside brought a penalty for the visitors on 14 minutes, which the fly half easily kicked. Park got on the board after 17 minutes through Lound’s penalty - but Penfold responded with a second penalty eight minutes later.

Power’s side then changed gear, McFarlane driving over on the half-hour after pick-and-go play and gained a half-time lead through Gibson’s tricky grounding.

Park continued their momentum into the second half, McFarlane finding the gap on 44 minutes. But Cambridge responded twice, Green finishing a line-out attack four minutes later before scoring a counter on 56 minutes for the lead.

The home side were given an advantage when Oli Petrides was sin-binned for stopping a quick penalty, which Leonard dispatched on the hour.


Tough going for Park’s Henry Robinson

Pressure came from the visitors, though, as Penfold scored his third penalty on 64 minutes.
A nervy 15 minutes ended with relief for Park as Laventure and Munro scored in the last three minutes.

Park’s last away match of the season sees the boys head to Merseyside for a clash against Caldy. The relegation battlers increased their survival hopes with a 22-14 win against Darlington Mowden Park at the Northern Echo Arena. Spectators will certainly hope for a more comfortable game in terms of weather than the rain-soaked 26-10 win at The Rock last December.

Rosslyn Park

Tries: McFarlane 31, 44, Gibson 39, Laventure 77, Munro 79

Conversions: Lound 32, 45, Leonard 80

Penalties: Lound 17, Leonard 60

Team (15-9/1-8): Harry Leonard ©; Charlie Amesbury, Henry Robinson (Oli Grove 69), Joe Munro, Benji Marfo; Greg Lound (Connor Hayhow 56), Jack Gash; Paul Doran-Jones, Karl Gibson, Nick Lovell (Stewart Maguire 55); Adam Frampton (Jamie Gray 73), Gregor Gillanders; Mike McFarlane, Jack Barnard (Arthur Ellis 59), Dan Laventure


Attendance: 680

Referee: Jon Cook


Warren Muggleton @WMuggleton

images: C Addiman

April 8, 2019