THIS WAS a stout effort by Birkenhead against a lively Tigers outfit before they went down to a first North One defeat.

Ex-England international Dave Scully was influential at stand-off for the winners and generally they denied the visitors good possession.

But Park never threw in the towel. They clawed back to 13-10 down at the interval and were still in with a shout in the last quarter until a Tom Outram penalty settled it for the Yorkshire outfit.

Park were on the back foot for much of the first period. Outram kicked two penalties and then converted a Tom Bray try when the visitors had skipper Chris Jones serving bin time.

Dave Hall landed a penalty for Park and then Anthony Molloy, playing out of position on the wing for his debut, burst 60 metres for a fine try converted by Hall.

The Tigers stretched to 23-10 with a touch down from hooker Dave Price from a line-out and the goal, plus a penalty, by Outram.

Park put themselves well in contention with Jones crossing from a driving maul and Hall adding the extras

It was a good overall performance by the visitors who felt that crucial decisions on the day went against them.