Carlisle Under 15s travelled to North Shields for their season opener against the reliant setup of Percy Park. Carlisle received the kick off and did not deal with the early exchange. The opening few minutes was scrappy with neither side being able to hang on to possession. Carlisle made a couple of good breaks and their set piece looked solid. PP tried to move the ball and utilise their quick back three. Carlisle eventually gained good field position and had a series of penalties on the PP line. Number 8 Chris Green found the gap and scored. Noutch added the conversion.

From the kick off new recruit Josh Watson used his boot to propel Carlisle down field. PP attacked back all game and threatened to break the visitor’s defensive line on several occasions. Inside centre Ross Barton was outstanding in the contact stealing possession on a number of occasions. Following a series of scrums and lineouts some loose passing from Park allowed Patrick Noutch to break through and kick the ball ahead. He won the race to the line and touched down to the right of the sticks. Noutch converted to put Carlisle 14-0 in the lead at the break.

Following the interval PP used the breeze well to relieve pressure. Carlisle were penalised on numerous occasions and following this openside Josh Park was sent to the bin. This was the spark Park needed and they responded by scoring two tries in quick succession. At 14-12 the game could have gone either way and with 10 minutes to go PP got their third score.

At 19-12 PP had an opportunity to wrap it up when the referee awarded a penalty in front of the Carlisle sticks. PP decided against the shot at goal and following some good defensive work from John Short Carlisle stole possession and the backs released Noutch down the left wing to run 80 metres and score in the corner. With the wind against him and a tight angle most of the supporters thought the game was heading for a draw. But again Noutch stepped up and slotted a wonder kick right between the posts! 21-19 the final score to what was a scrappy but exciting game between two evenly matched sides.