NORTH DIVISION 1 - 15th September 2007

BIRKENHEAD PARK 15

HUDDERSFIELD 16

A much improved display by Birkenhead Park ended in despair when Huddersfield snatched the points with a superb drop goal by stand off Chris Johnson deep in injury time at the Upper Park. It was a cruel blow for a Park side who outscored the visitors by three tries to one but Park will rue a number of missed kicks and opportunities which proved to be extremely costly.

A bright start brought an opening try for second row Dave Blyth after only five minutes but Huddersfield responded with a penalty by Johnson mid way through the first half. Good work by Tony Handley and Gareth Davies created space for Jon Sewell to burst through for a second home try ten minutes later. Huddersfield managed to level the scores in first half injury time with a breakaway try by flanker Mark Whitehead and conversion by Johnson.

Park generally held the upper hand in the second half and were rewarded with a third try by hooker Chris Jones following a powerful driving maul but crucially the conversion was again missed. Huddersfield managed another penalty by Johnson who then delivered the final late killer blow.

For Park there was an excellent debut from flanker Njike Tchakoute and the return of stand off Tony Handley brought a much needed boost in the backs. Park travel to Hull this coming Saturday for what will be another tough test.