Match Report – 18th January 2025

SCUNTHORPE 35 PERCY PARK 29

Goodness how Scunthorpe won this game, they certainly used up all their jokers and get out of jail cards in a cheeky win against a very competitive side in Percy Park, who it has to be said certainly played the more attractive rugby but were to be beaten in five minutes of extra time.

Scunthorpe started off brightly with some surging runs from Laurence Pearce making inroads into the visitors’ half. The Greens looked as though they picked up from where left off form the Driffield game by building the attack, a clever off load from Jordan Beresford typifying this. Unfortunately, silly errors crept in, starting with a knock on from Ethan Heath-Drury as he ran a superb line only to spill the ball. The second such occasion saw the home boys work their way to within 10m of the try line only to concede a penalty and let Percy Park off the hook. The Newcastle outfit began to play some attractive 15-man rugby with backs and forwards interplay putting the Greens under pressure. A try saving tackle 5m from his line saw Lewis Talbot save the day. Scunthorpe then missed a couple of line outs and gave away the impetus. Park came again this time a combination of poor tackling and good support play saw centre Ash Smith score a try that he then converted, Scunthorpe 0 Percy Park 7.

Scunthorpe came roaring back from the kickoff as the forwards snaffled the ball. Grant Elliot bullied his way forward and the ball was eventually passed to Ben Hyde who scored the try. Ethan Taylor converted, and it was level.

Two minutes later Scunthorpe tried to run the counterattack in their 22, a long pass from fly-half Taylor looked certain to put Laurence Pearce through but Percy Park centre Paul Spowart gambled, and it came off as he intercepted the pass to score under the posts, Smith converted, 7-14.

Tim Robinson’s men kept their patience and worked back up the field only to repeat their earlier error of conceding a penalty and yield the advantage. Another speculative pass from Ethan Taylor was intercepted this time Park punished the error by going down the field keeping possession to score a well taken try through winger Seb Reece, Smith converted and the shock score of 7-21 on the scoreboard was not expected.

On 33 minutes Scunthorpe came back once again as Ben Hyde burst down the short side from a scrum, good interplay between James Dyson and Ethan Heath-Drury put Josh Lugsden in the clear and his pace saw him finish an excellent move. As the conversion was successful Scunthorpe were back in contention.

Just as the Greens were getting back to top form, they messed up again as they grafted up the pitch only to concede another penalty and lose momentum. To be fair to the home side they never gave up and came back again to level the score at half time. A quick tap penalty took the initiative, the players kept their patience and, more importantly, kept their discipline man of the match Marcus Payne started and finished the move with Laurence Pearce always involved, the ball came back inside and like a good back rower Payne was there to finish the move, Taylor converted. Half time 21-21.

As Tim Robinson took the half time team talk, he would not have expected his team to be level. The second half did not go to plan either as Percy Park kicked a simple three-point penalty. The home side were looking for some inspiration and it came from Nick Dyson who scored one of his textbook pick and go through the ruck tries, stepping the full back on the way in. Ethan Taylor converted and for the first time in 53 minutes Scunthorpe were in the lead at 28-24.

Unfortunately, the lead only lasted five minutes as the Greens conceded further penalties and allowed Percy Park to use their metronomic line out to score an unconverted try though flanker Caulfield, 28-29.

The sting was taken out of the game with a long-term injury to a Percy Park player who had to receive treatment on the pitch. Scunthorpe however reacted well and from a penalty Ethan Taylor kicked the ball into a great position and for once the line out clicked as they drove over for Will Harrison to score the try which Taylor converted.

Scunthorpe had ten minutes to keep or increase the lead, but Percy Park had other ideas and they came back at Scunthorpe with gusto. The home side defended with interest and sustained some incredible pressure. Nick Dyson took a yellow card for the team and five metres out Park opted for a scrum. They were odds on to score but pressure from scrum half Will Harrison forced the No8 to fumble – first ‘get out jail card used’. The referee was now playing deep into extra time after the injuries. Scunthorpe exited the 22 and as the referee gave the line out, he indicated 30 seconds to play. Then a most bizarre passage of play took place. From the line out the referee was bowled over as an attacking player ran into him, he sustained a head injury and received treatment. He decided to allow play to continue with a Percy Park scrum. The away side kept possession and again battered the home try line. Will Harrison was sent to the bin, and 13 men were valiantly trying to keep out the rampaging forwards from the North East. Then the ball came back from a ruck to a Park player in space, he crossed the line and appeared to ground the ball cleanly, those around him thought so also and it looked as Scunthorpe were beaten. However, the match official decided that the Park player was held up and did not ground the ball. From the ensuing scrum Scunthorpe retained possession and finally as time was up the ball was hoofed off the field of play to give the boys a most unusual victory.

As the news came through that close rivals York and Huddersfield had both lost this victory was even sweeter as Scunthorpe sit at the top of the league ten points clear with a game in hand. However, the Greens cannot afford to play with such inconsistency against the better teams if they are to maintain their superiority. Next week is a rest week for Scunthorpe and then they hit a run of six games when the coaches will be looking for a consistent run of form.

Match Report written by Steve Williams

MOM – Marcus Payne

Photos from Paul McDonald