PETER ATHEY I am sorry to start with the sad news that Peter has died, aged 82. He was involved with the cricket club for many, many years, first as a player, then as Secretary and then as President, but when he rolled up his sleeves to help Tony Bell with the grounds – supposedly on a part time basis but he always seemed to be around the place – he could not have been more diligent in his efforts on our behalf. He certainly enjoyed this role and it showed. On match days, come rain or shine, his attention to our needs was exemplary. More recently he could be found in the members’ lounge on most nights where his wry sense of humour will be sorely missed. Our sympathy goes to his wife Marie and their family.

WELCOME And now let me turn the attention on the Yorkshire Cup, and to offer a warm welcome our opponents from Otley. Originally scheduled for 25 February, it fell victim to our instruction to play our postponed league match at Percy Park that day. The last time our two sides met was in the quarter final of the Yorkshire Cup ten years ago. We’d made good progress by beating Bridlington 43-15 and then thrashing Sandal 58-3. We were really ‘up for the Cup’ but, sadly, we got no further. Despite Wes Henry and Tilley scoring tries we lost 18-26. We also lost our encounter previous to that, also in the Yorkshire Cup six years earlier, by 3-36.

But back to the present, I think it’s fair to say that Otley have struggled a little of late. Having been relegated into National Two North at the end of last season they are currently 12th – or fifth bottom – with 45 points. Their position was eased on Saturday by beating local rivals and fellow strugglers Harrogate by 25-11, although they ahead of Harrogate, Leicester Lions and Nuneaton by only one, two and three points respectively, whilst being four points shy of 11th placed Hull Ionians. Kendal seem to be adrift at the bottom with only 31 points. Many of the problems facing our visitors can be traced back to nine-game losing sequence from the beginning of November until early January.

LEAGUE NEWS Our last home game was against the basement Team Northumbria, who had been beaten 95-0 and 75-7 in their previous two outings. I don’t like being overwhelming favourites. However, with the forwards in dominant form, and in the midst of a short but fierce howling storm of hail stones, we duly notched our try-scoring bonus point before half time, with two tries each from Brad and Richie H. Jack B converted a penalty and three of the tries for a half time score of 29-0; the other conversion attempt hit the cross bar and fell on the wrong side. The forwards added two more tries through Richie’s hat trick and No 8 Jack A, before the backs got in on the act with Peter, Josh and Andy taking the total tries scored to nine.

And then, last week we suffered an agonising last minute defeat at Malton & Norton. We played well to lead 24-3 at half time, with tries from Bellers finishing a well-worked move, Richie H powering over from 15m and Josh scoring in the corner. Jack B popped over a drop goal and added all three conversions. But ten minutes into the second half the speedy home backs enjoyed a purple patch with three converted tries in eight minutes to draw level. We got back on top, had a perfectly good try disallowed (‘held up’ said the unsighted referee) before 20 minutes of pressure was finally rewarded with another penalty from Jack which put us back in front with two minutes left. But when we executed what would have been the last kick of the game it was charged down and Malton’s flanker raced 55m to score. Final whistle, game over.

OUR OTHER TEAMS Baildon were unable to send a team to Middlesbrough to meet our Colts last Sunday; they conceded the game, which makes us undisputed Yorkshire North Division Conference champions! It's a shame that we won it without playing the final game, but the lads would probably have won anyway, and it is a great reward for a hard season's work. With only one defeat and one draw the team gathered 99 points, eight more than second placed Yarnbury – and to think that this time last season we were worried that the team could struggle for numbers. Well done to the players and also to the coaches for a lot of selfless work this season. The Colts now meet Scunthorpe, winners of the South Division Conference, on 6 May, to decide overall champions. Tomorrow they are in action in the Yorkshire Cup – away to Scunthorpe! Good luck lads. Two weeks ago they met Derby in the National Plate, their fourth consecutive away game. Hopes were high but it proved to be a sobering experience and they were well beaten. However, this Boro side showed a lot of pride and perseverance, continuing to attack until the final whistle. A match report by Terry Fitzpatrick appears in this issue.

The Wasps put in a tremendous display against West Hartlepool, with the score of 8-19 not doing the team justice. They took a 5-0 lead but were pegged back to 5-7 at the break. They fell further behind at 5-12 but added a penalty to get within four points of West only to concede a goal at the death. They followed this up with a fine 27-0 victory at Darlington last week. Meanwhile the ‘A’ team continue to add to their impressive record this term by travelling to, and beating, first a strong Houghton side 26-13 (see Jonno’s match report in this edition) and then Horden 25-17. Not to be outdone the Lions have an even better record, on Saturday beating Bishop Auckland 64-0 to win their 15th game from 19 played, having previously won a much tighter game at Seaton Carew 18-17; what a pity the 1st XV prevented a clean sweep of ‘wins’ on the board, including Junior results – see below.

JUNIORS In the last programme I reported the fantastic news that three of our U16s, Lewis Boyce, Tom Burridge and Jack McPhillips, have all been selected by England. The U16s continue to make the news, and it just gets better – they are now in the final of the Yorkshire Cup, a competition they have won in each of the last three years. A fortnight ago they won their semi final, coincidentally at Otley, and despite missing four backs and in appalling conditions won a thoroughly enthralling and exciting game of rugby by 24-5. The match was a great advert for U16 rugby with both sides putting on a superb display. There is a match report in the programme which I urge you to read. The final of the competition will be held at West Park Leeds on 1 April when our opponents will be York – a repeat of the past two finals. Good luck to the boys in their quest to make it a record-breaking four from four. Why not make the short trip and add your vocal support for what we hope will be an historical occasion.

Our other Yorkshire semi finalists didn’t fare so well. The U15s lost 5-19 at Pocklington, whist the U13s entertained Moortown and lost by the agonisingly close score of 13-15. At the same time, away from the Cup both of our teams at U14 maintained their fine form, beating Percy Park and Darlington Mowden Park, both away from home, by 37-0 and 21-16 respectively. Last Sunday they were at Northern, the self-proclaimed best U14 team in the area; we won 51-0. The U15s and U13s played Billingham, winning 41-0 and 22-20 respectively – magic!

SPONSORS I am delighted that today’s match is sponsored by two of the oldest companies in Middlesbrough and two of our regular sponsors – Charles Clinkard and Barker & Stonehouse. We are grateful for their continued support.

REFEREE’S CORNER I am also delighted to welcome to Acklam Park today’s referee David Hickson, a doctor who has been a referee for six years. David played in the second row for London Scottish but is now a member of the East Riding Society. I hope he enjoys his afternoon.
MEMBERS’ REUNION LUNCH NEXT SATURDAY…
…SEE MIKE WRIGHT FOR YOUR TICKET