3rds well and truly Baked!

41 – 0 doesn’t reflect the game at all.. Percy Park were the better side admittedly but the scoreline was harsh on a young Novos side that were decimated by cry offs and senior side call ups.

A decent first half defensive effort that restricted Park to a slender 10 – 0 advantage at the break, despite a very, very heavy penalty count in favour of the visitors.

Indeed Novos were penalised under a minute after the first whistle went and immediately marched back a further ten metres when Pitchy asked why. It set the tone for the afternoon and frustrations ran high when Jamie Diggle got involved in an altercation which the ref didn’t see but warned him anyway (How can you warn someone for something you didn’t see? – by the way all Jamie did was push him onto his backside!)

Further penalties continued and Park to be fair showed plenty of skills when pushing the ball wide and ex Novo Baker was soon rewarded with his opening try out wide.

Novos held on admirably and Park could only get one more score before half time – again it was Baker returning to haunt his old mates.

Novos did manage to get some attacking play going but were unable to get through a stoic defence.

The 2nd half was one to forget, the opening 10 minutes of the half saw Novos make a decent fist of it before the floodgates opened, Diggle nearly got his head taken off with a high tackle and then with players from both sides pulling each other out of a melee, the referee issued a warning to both captains and awarded Novos….. A scrum!!

With the game slipping away Novos looked for a way through but again couldn’t get it and when the Park centre who had targeted Diggle all day punched him in full view of the referee.. Jamie reacted by laughing at him but was then amazingly yellow carded for ‘persistent infringements’ – Surely if Jamie got a yellow the punishment for the punch would be more severe….. It wasn’t – it was the same with a yellow card flourished. Was Jamie being a pain in the bum all afternoon? Yes he was! Would he have been carded for pushing his opposite number to the ground earlier.. Probably, but the ref didn’t see it so the persistent infringement seemed very harsh.

Novos suffered the greater from losing a player in midfield and Baker’s hat trick was complete moments later… Park then went on the rampage scoring seemingly at will as Novos heads went down.

The last ten minutes and reintroduction of the yellow carded players saw Novos rally and put a little pressure on Parks line – young Jack Callaghan was making breaks and there was some good running from new players Tom Cruz and Phil Stead, indeed a try scoring pass for Stead on his debut was adjudged to be forward – which just about summed up our afternoon.

Were Park the better side? Yes they were. Were Park 41 points better than Novos? Only on the scoreboard which I guess is what counts.

Man of the match, Jack Callaghan looks a cracking young player at stand off and also in the forwards Richard Seed combined admirably having to fill in on the wing and also the back row.

Onwards and upwards with tough games to come starting with a friendly next week at home to Horden where hopefully the side can bounce back.