29th September  2007 - West Park  24   Hull Ionians  26   - National 3 North     pictures

Hull Ionians came back in injury time to level the scores with a bonus point try and then James Ferguson added the conversion from wide out to give them victory. Coach Mick Watson admitted the team had given their worst performance of the season and had made so many errors that they had almost given the game away. Their strength of character and self belief shone through to bring them the victory that takes them to fourth place in the league.

Hull Ionians opened with a string of errors that put them back on their own line and then missed tackles allowed centre Andrew Soutar to run in a try and add the conversion after only two minutes. Five minutes later more errors put them back again and Rob Hitchmough landed a drop goal. The play then came together and after 24 minutes a strong run out of defence by Ryan Girking forced a penalty kicked to the corner. The first catch and drive was held, but then a 5 metre scrum was driven over for Rob Kench to score the try, Ferguson converting. Four minutes later a strong run by Ryan Girking saw him break two tackles before being just held at the line and the pressure brought a 5 metre scrum. This time Rob Kench peeled off to dive over for the try to take the lead, Ferguson converting. Just before the break Hull Ionians again dropped the ball and this time left wing Kalan Warburton stole it to run in a try against the flow of the game, Soutar converting to lead 17-14.

Straight after the break a penalty brought an attacking line-out with Hull Ionians forwards driving 10 metres for Neil Lyon to claim the try and take the lead, much to man of the match Carl Mortimer’s annoyance as he had carried the ball to the line before releasing it! Three minutes later Park were back in front when Hitchmough danced through, Soutar converting. Park then repeatedly kicked to the corner to control the game and looked certain to score when Hitchmough had space again, but big lock Richard Hill dragged him down with a try saving tackle and gained a penalty that cleared the line.

As injury time approached one big effort saw Ryan Girking once again take play to the line where Park went offside. The penalty was kicked for an attacking line-out and once again Hull Ionians pack drove over the line with Tom Rice claiming the winning score. The final play saw Park have one last nail biting chance to retake the match with a 40 metre penalty giving for diving into the tackle, but Soutar pushed it wide.