Wanderers Vice Captain Elliot Armstrong was called up to the bench with Steve Carruthers starting at hooker and Richard Jackson joining the back row. Local boy Graeme Paterson also made his debut with the 1st XV squad covering the back 3.

Wigton kicked off into a strong breeze expecting a challenging forty minutes against the League leaders. They immediately took the game to Park and within minutes were close to their line, unfortunately a ruck penalty allowed Park to clear their lines well and push up field to a lineout. There followed three or four minutes of constant pressure and although defending well Wigton finally ran out of numbers as Joe Spencer crossed in the right hand corner. Danny Rich converted well to make it 7-0 on 8 minutes. On the restart Wigton gained possession and with Dowes, Brown and Moffat prominent in phases they established good territory for 5/6 minutes. Park, not for the first time were penalised for slowing down ruck ball and Jonny Charters made no mistake from 30 metres. 7-3 on 18 minutes.

A Wigton fumble at the restart gifted possession to Park and they ramped up pressure into the Wigton red zone, however an excellent ruck turnover by Andy Brown saw Wigton clear their lines and progress to halfway, an unfortunate rebound on a tactical kick saw Park move swifty on the counter and with the Wigton defence scrambling Park were able to score again through Lawrence Cowen on 26 minutes. Rich was off target leaving the score at 12-3.

Wigton again pushed on from the restart and enjoyed territory in the Park half, a great turnover by Andrew Bell frustrated the Park forwards resulting in a penalty to the Greens, Smith pushed the ball into the corner and from the resulting lineout the Wigton pack mauled well to the line. Referee Paul Stokes, however, judged an incorrect grounding and a significant opportunity was lost on 37 minutes – half time 12-3.

Second half started with a poor kickoff receipt and Park taking possession well into Wigton territory . Some effective defending frustrated them leading to a relieving penalty for crossing. Wigton cleared their lines upto halfway and after some good midfield play a Hanabury kick in behind saw Moffat run clear only to be ajudged off side. On 55 minutes more effective handling saw Jordan Wood on an overlap heading for the corner: he was denied by a great cover tackle but offloaded to the supporting Gregg Smith who slid over but referee Stokes ruled the pass forward and another scoring chance had been lost. Park once again responded well and on 62 minutes following pressure on the Wigton line the impressive scrumhalf Sam Chidley went over from close range. Score 17-3 after a missed conversion.

On 65 minutes Elliot Armstrong replaced Steve Carruthers and from the restart Wigton took possession close to the Park line. 2 penalties were awarded before Park winger Gavin Scott received a yellow card for killing the ball. Try as Wigton might they were unable to break the Park defence and when possession was turned over Park again showed a killer instinct to score on their next visit to the Wigton half. On 71 minutes replacement flanker Lewis Williams rounded off some good offloading play. 22-3.

Spurred on by impressive captain Andy Brown Wigton again took possession from the restart and went looking for the elusive first try and a smart handling move involving Brown and Leadingham put Jordan Wood into space. He was pulled down 2 yards from the line by a double tackle which resulted in an injury, unable to continue he was replaced by Graeme Paterson. This was to be Wigton's final throw of the dice as yet again Park countered the length of the field and Chidley took the final pass to score 27-3.

So the elusive away win still remains a target for the Greens this season. The score line did not reflect the effort and teamwork of the Wigton lads, there are no points for effort however, and the main focus this week is likely to be on more effective finishing to reward some impressive build up play. Supporters Man of the Match was a close run affair between Fergus Ledingham, Dave Hanabury and improving forward Richard Jackson, with Hanabury taking the 'Sherry' bottle after another impressive display at 10.

Next week sees the first visit to Lowmoor Road for the Warrington club. Kickoff is 2.15.