What's happening at Old Yards?
Good news, 1st XV reporter Richard Withey has found his keyboard and given us another match report:
Newcastle 15 - Old Yardleians 1st XV 27
An impressive display from the Old Yards backs gave them another victory and continued the momentum up the table and into fourth place, 4 points behind 2nd place. A man of the match display from Dean Brain on the wing gave Yards the platform to ease past a strong Newcastle team. Yards started well in the freezing conditions and the front row of Batters, Bucknall and Butler put the Newcastle scrum under immense pressure. The second row combination of Langley and Andy Killarney ensured that the front five took the game to Newcastle from the first whistle, with a new back row combination of Brennen, Cunningham and Honey. The first try came from a solid scrum for Purdy to pass along the line to Walton, then Walker, Rimmer and the final pass to Brain left him with half the pitch in front of him. Three side steps later and two missed tackles, saw Brain dance through the Newcastle defence to score in the corner. Brain then had a gay moment and stayed down for ten minutes to receive treatment for a contact lens issue. Walker missed the difficult conversion. The next ten minutes saw Newcastle come into the match and great tackling from forever young Hansen, Rimmer and Adam Walker prevented Newcastle from gaining any advantage. The second Yards' try came from another forward display, with Honey, Cunningham and Langley driving forward, quick ball from Purdy to Brain, who again used his dancing feet to ease past the Newcastle defence to score, Walton then added the conversion. Yards continued to drive Newcastle off their scrum, however, Butler was penalised for boring into the Newcastle loose head. The penalty was missed. Yards continued to make big hits in the centre channels through Rimmer and Ian Walker, a first partnership for them both this season and both complemented each other. Walton added a penalty for Newcastle killing the ball in front of the posts with around 10 minutes to play. The third Yards' try came from individual brilliance from Adam Walker, who kicked a loose ball from the half way and the dribbled with his left and then right foot to score with ease over the line. Walker missed the conversion. The half time whistle came with Yards 20-0 in the lead. The second half started with an explosive comeback from Newcastle and only last ditch tackles from Hansen, Brain and Cunningham prevented Newcastle running in a few tries. The Yards defence was finally breached when Newcastle went into the corner after some good interplay from their backs. The game then erupted into physical challenges, with Killarney showing his experience in avoiding a flying fist from a Newcastle 2nd row, Langley also involved. As a ruck was finishing, a Newcastle player kicked out at a few Yards players, which resulted in Billy Bucknall losing control and stamping on the Newcastle player and receiving his first red card of his career. Ben Honey went into the hooker position as Bucknall left the field. With Yards down to 14 players, Newcastle started to win some of the tight game and managed to score from a driving maul, bringing the score to 20-10. Then a wonderful worked try, finished off by Hansen killed the Newcastle team off. Again the forwards drove forwarded, Honey picking up and driving deep into the 22, quick ball from Purdy, passing through the hands of Walton, Walker, Rimmer, Brain and then for Hansen to score in the corner, Walton added the conversion. Late in the game Powrie and Withey were added to the Yards team after an injury to Walton and a job well done from Batters. Into the last minute saw a debut for Greg Allen who came on, missed a tackle, for Newcastle to drive over the line. Then the final whistle went.
Games played in our league:
Midlands 4 West (North) : Bishops Castle & Onny Valley 14, Veseyans 27; Cleobury Mortimer 7, Willenhall 43; Handsworth 3, Tamworth 3; Moseley Oak 10, Leek 8; Newcastle (Staffs) 15, Old Yardleians 27; Shrewsbury P, Burntwood P.
The league table - up to fourth:
Midlands 4 West (North) P W D L PF PA Pts
Willenhall 11 11 0 0 357 66 22
Shrewsbury 10 9 0 1 238 82 18
Burntwood 10 8 0 2 227 62 16
Old Yardleians 11 7 0 4 272 120 14
Tamworth 11 6 1 4 251 104 13
Newcastle (Staffs) 11 5 1 5 159 178 11
Veseyans 10 5 0 5 247 135 10
Leek 10 4 0 6 197 236 8
Moseley Oak 11 3 0 8 98 364 6
Handsworth 11 2 1 8 108 265 5
Bishops Castle & Onny Valley 11 2 1 8 90 295 5
Cleobury Mortimer 11 0 0 11 93 430 -2*
Old Yardleians 2nds 7 - Birmingham Mechanical Engineers 33
Not as one sided as the score suggests. A slow starting Yards let in four tries in the first 15 minutes against youthful opponents. Then Yards woke up and the remainder of the match was a tight affair with one try each. Guy Smith skipped away to score Old Yard's only effort.
FUTURE EVENTS:
Saturday 13th December
- 1st XV vs. Kidderminster at home in the North Midlands Shield
- 2nd XV vs. Kings Norton away (good news is their 1st XV have a league match)
- SKY: Heineken Cup rugby all day including at 5.30pm - Harlequins vs. Stade Francais - The Rematch
Sunday 14th December
Sponsored by Major Brian Hope there is the Kids Christmas Party. Starting at 3pm there will be fun and games for all the kids including magic, puppets, balloon modelling and games. This will be followed by an appearance from Father Christmas. Can Mums and Dads make sure Santa has a present to give out to their child/children to avoid any disappointment? Contact Santa via phone or letter in Lapland.
Saturday 20th December
- 1st XV vs. Bishops Castle home in the league - The return of Grainger
- 2nd XV vs. Bishops Castle at home
- 3rd XV vs. Coventrians away
- SKY: 12.45pm - Birmingham City vs. Reading
Saturday 27th December
- Inter club game with the appearance of Joey Smith
New Years Eve Bash
Band and disco music, curry and snacks, fireworks. Cost per adult £10, children under 16 free. Numbers are limited so make sure you get your tickets early, see Pat & Shannon or Email Pat at p.mcdaid@quadrantsolutions.com or speak to a committee member
Saturday 24th January
- VPs Lunch at the 1st XV home league game vs. Tamworth.
Club Stuff:
New 1st XV Kit
The 1st XV got off to a winning start on Saturday in their new kit. Thank you to the sponsors who each donated £100 each to enable the club to purchase the kit. Your replica shirts are being sorted for you. A picture of the team was sent out yesterday and I had a great comment back from one of the VPs - The shirts look very smart but the team is just as ugly as when I played!!!!!
Players Subscriptions
Thank you to the 58 players who have already paid their 2008/2009 Players Annual Subs in full. The Committee have asked me to write to any players who have not paid to advise them we are now going to introduce no pay then no play. It's not fair on your team mates for you to get a free ride when they have paid.
Anything to say
Please email me details of any Old Yards information, trivia or jokes so I can add them to the next update.
Mark Baldwin, Hon. Secretary, 10th December 2008
mark.xc@blueyonder.co.uk