West Park 31

Netherhall 11

PARK moved nearer to the top spot in league North West One with this dominant display against luckless Netherhall currently bottom of the league after losing more than half of their senior squad to more prosperous clubs in Cumbria this season.

West Park too have suffered, having to rebuild after a nine-player exodus but showing signs that their limited recruitment drive is bearing fruit.

Seeking as many points as possible in this match to improve their points difference column Park had to rely on the trusty boot of full-back Glen Fletcher, who weighed in with three early penalties in difficult, wet conditions. Netherhal's kicker, centre Paul Atkinson, reduced the arrears with a penalty on one of the rare occasions the Park line was threatened before the interval as the home pack secured the lion's share of possession from some high class play in the loose and line-outs with Gary Rowe and Mark Potter outstanding.

However ,handling mistakes and frequent penalty awards against them limited Park to one try by skipper Brendan O'Keefe once again profitting from Adrian Shelford's slick pass from a tap penalty move.

Leading 16-3 at the interval Park found the craggy Cumbrians a tougher nut to crack after half-time, Fletcher hadn't put a foot wrong in the first half and kept his 100 per cent record intact with another penalty from 40 yards out.

Atkinson kicked his second penalty as Park tactically brought Graham Ratcliffe on from the bench for Shelford. The centre soon made his presence felt with a strong drive from a set scrum and James Hill scooted through for a try, Fletcher making it six out of six with the conversion.

Plucky Netherhall were determined to open their try-scoring account and as Park conceded an extra 10 metres at a tapped free-kick winger Dave Parker scored right at the corner flag.

Similar circumstances presented Park hooker Paul Stokes with a chance which he took well, Fletcher's only miss from the touchline completing the action as the match ended in a hailstorm.

Vagabonds' big win over Chester on Saturday takes West Park to the Isle of Man next Saturday to face the current league leaders for the third time in four league games.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.