WELCOME I am pleased to welcome Keighley back to Acklam Park this afternoon before we travel to them next week for our Yorkshire Shield tie. We last met two years ago when we entertained Keighley in a real ding-dong of a much-delayed Yorkshire Shield' match that ended in a 31-all draw but which we had already forfeited because we had no front row replacement (Josh Lynas was delayed at work) when Craig Chapman received an early yellow card. Incidentally, and bear with me as I repeat a tale on the basis that a few of you may not have heard, on 25 April 1981 we entertained Keighley after our Easter tour to Torquay Athletic and Birmingham; Keighley had to battle their way through snow drifts and blizzards to get here, only to find Acklam Park bathed in sunshine!
Returning to this season our visitors lie ninth in the table, having won three (Bradford Salem, Selby and N Ribblesdale) and drawn one (Wheatley Hills) of their nine matches. They've lost to Scarboro, O Brods, Heath, Beverley and, on Saturday, at home York. York, of course sit at the top of the table, still undefeated, but Keighley gave a very good account of themselves. They drew first blood and took a 14-0 lead before York made it 14-14 at half time. The score moved on to 21-24 before York wrapped it up to win 21-34. Interestingly, today's league game is the tenth for both teams; whilst it will be our sixth home game, it will be our visitors' sixth away match.

LEAGUE RUGBY What nail-biting drama we've experienced these past two weeks. Against Hullensians we battled away until we earned a try-scoring bonus point with the very last move of the game, and then at Moortown, ahead 25-26 as the game was drawing to a close and another five-point win, we 'lost' three points when our hosts kicked a last-minute penalty to win 28-26. However as a result we have now amassed eight bonus points, a total no one else in the league has bettered and only the top two sides have equalled. And we are the only club to prevent leaders York scoring a bonus point.
We were delighted to welcome Mike Smith, President of Yorkshire RU, to our match with Hullensians, and even more pleased to win 30-15. However it took a Herculean defensive effort to keep our very lively opponents at bay. We took a 13-0 first half lead, courtesy of a Sean Moloney try which stated deep in our own half and three kicks from Andy, but at 10-0 we really did have to dig deep. Technical infringements saw us lose Josh and Myles to the sin bin only minutes apart but a heroic performance by the valiant 13 prevented our visitors from taking advantage of their numerical advantage. I had high expectations of the second half. Although not quite what I expected it was a fascinating 40 minutes of rugby. Our visitors scored first when they missed a penalty plumb in front of the posts – it rebounded from the upright and caught by a Hullensians player who flopped over the line; the conversion attempt also rebounded from the upright. Two tries each (ours from Pete Homan and Richie Lonsdale) saw the score poised at 25-15 and both teams pressing for a bonus point with just over five minutes on the clock. Ion the event it was the ever-reliable Matty John who burrowed over on the stroke of full-time.

Moortown were one of the pre-season favourites for promotion, but last week we were a gnat's whisker away from securing five league points – we scored four tries to Moortown's three but were undone by penalties. We were 8-0 down before we drew breath and 18-12 down at half time, with Andy Micklewright and Josh our try-scorers. However we took a one point lead when Pete crashed over and Andy Baggett added the conversion, only to slip behind again to a converted try. It was an even contest which looked as though we would win when Richie barged over and Andy added the conversion to make it 25-26 with less than five minutes remaining. But it was not to be. You should read Andy's match report on our website.

CUP RUGBY Another gentle reminder that next week we are on Cup duty – well, Yorkshire Shield duty really. Having beaten Moortown back in August we qualified to play away at Keighley, who were presented with a walk-over by Redcar in the last round. Next week's winners will then travel to either O Rishworthians or Hullensians. The other semi-final features Selby or Scarborough v Beverley or Heath.

OTHER GAMES The Wasps have won one and lost one since we last met. They scored ten tries at Northern, winning 17-56, before going to Billingham for a fixture brought forward from 23 December, where they lost 38-15. Billingham included two Fijians from Catterick, and, to quote Jonno, the team fielded by Billingham could win North 1! His match reports are elsewhere in the programme. These past two weeks the 'A' team have enjoyed two home wins, firstly beating Guisborough 24-5 in the Tees Valley League before playing Northallerton in a friendly when original opponents Horden were cup-tied. In a close and exciting match they won 29-22 to maintain their impressive record of one defeat in ten games. The Colts were also victorious last week when Ripon were the visitors on Guy Fawkes day; the score was 38-5. And so the results board showed two 'W's and two 'L's, following two weeks of 'W's across the board, not bad going for a season which is definitely looking up. And don't forget the game against Stockton on Saturday 30 December for the Alan Todd Memorial Trophy.

CLUB NEWS Very many congratulations to Sam Seymour and Brendan Hill. Following their starring roles in the 1st team this season they both played for Yorkshire U19s last Sunday against Leeds Beckett University, after which they were both presented with their County ties, as seen in the photograph elsewhere in the programme. Sam also played for the County against Leeds University a couple of weeks earlier. We wish them continued success.

What a pleasure it is to welcome to our lunch this afternoon the class of 2002/3. Fifteen of our Colts squad that season, coached by John Haddon and the late Stu Blair, and captained jointly by Marty Featherstone and Ben Azari, are with us today, hopefully to cheer us on to victory!
Someone not with us today is Iain Bradford. He has taken a 50-strong group of his U13s and parents to Twickenham for the Argentinian match. I'm sure the experience will live long in the memories of the youngsters.

Our Fireworks Display was another great evening. Blessed with good weather and big crowds, our Acklam Park Army of willing helpers – as stewards, gate keepers, bonfire stokers, rocket launchers and refreshment suppliers – worked tirelessly to ensure everything went with a bang! We had an opportunity to thank them – and others – at our second 'Value the Volunteer' evening last night (the first such evening was for the Junior/Mini coaches and managers).

You will remember that in our game with York we offered you a terrific half-time display by Stainsby School of Gymnastics, courtesy of Sarah Baggett. They were awarded a grant by TFM's Cash for Kids scheme provided they raised £5,000 themselves. In fact they raised a staggering £7,000, which C4K topped up to a very impressive £12,000. It is an amazing total deserving of many congratulations to their fund-raisers for such impressive work; to all of you who contributed some cash after their performance, a huge 'thank you' from Sarah and the kids.
Search the programme for details of our exciting FESTIVE-FEST!

OTHER NEWS To say I was disappointed with the RFU's response to Samoa’s request for a measly £150,000 share of the £10m gate when they play England at Twickenham in two weeks is a huge understatement, as I think you'll have gathered from my rant in our last programme. I see that Maro Vinipola and Manu Tuilagi have since suggested that the England lads set an example to the governing body by donating five per cent of their match fee, amounting to about £1,000, to the Pacific Islanders. Samoan Rugby has now been declared bankrupt by their Prime Minister.

REFEREE'S CORNER This afternoon I am delighted to welcome Mark Smith for his first ever visit to Acklam Park, Mark has been a referee for 10 years having previously played his rugby for Preston Grasshoppers on the wing. He is a maths teacher in Leeds. I hope he enjoys his time with us this afternoon.

FINALLY It is with much regret and sadness that I have to report that Janet Orchard died earlier this week. Janet worked here at Acklam Park for many years (as daughter Tracy does today), latterly as relief steward, and our sympathy and condolences go to husband Kevin, to Tracy and son David.