WELCOME Let me offer a very warm welcome to our visitors from North Ribblesdale (Settle) for what I believe is their visit to us, an experience I hope they all enjoy. Established over 90 years ago, our visitors were promoted as champions five years ago and finished in a very commendable sixth place in their first season in Yorkshire 1; last season they ended in 9th place with 12 wins, a draw and 11 bonus points. However things haven't gone too well this season – they lie in bottom place nine points adrift of O Brods. Their playing record suggests that the gap should be four points, but has been exacerbated by the deduction of five points.

Our visitors have actually won four matches, as many as Hullensians and Pontefract, although they can show only one bonus point against Hullensians' eight and Pontefract's 12. Three of their victories came in the first six games (that third one being a 17-3 win against us!) and the fourth just three games later against Pontefract on 1 November. Since then a draw at Wath upon Dearne on 29 November is the only beam of light in a run of seven defeats. Having said that their last reversal a fortnight ago was against Malton & Norton but only by 10-18, rather closer than our match against the same opponents! We have been warned...

MATCH NEWS Our last match, here against Heath, was a bit scrappy at times, although there were periods when we showed plenty of individual flair. We managed to do the double with a score line of 21-6, scoring three tries whilst also managing to drop the ball over their try line in the act of scoring. Nevertheless on a Saturday of close encounters we scored more points than anyone else on the day and our winning margin of 15 points was also the highest. It was great to welcome back former Juniors Sam and Jack Mc; and just for good measure our first two tries were scored by – Sam and Jack Mc.

Heath opened and closed the scoring in the first half with well-struck penalties but sandwiched between the penalties were those well-worked tries, both converted by Toddy. The second half was a disjointed affair, with more stops than starts, coupled with which we played half of the half with 14 men, James W and Brad both being awarded yellow cards. However we did manage to get the only score of the half when Euan displayed yet more of his all round skill and ability by finishing off a lovely break by Nolly, converted by Jack B. For a more detailed match report by Terry Fitz go to our web site,

It was a day to celebrate. Although disappointed that West Hartlepool was frost-bound (!) thus depriving the Wasps of a CANDY Cup match, we had four games at home, all of which ended victorious. The Colts enjoyed themselves on the second pitch, against Wigton – and here let me offer plaudits galore for travelling with 11 players. They confirmed our coaches views that “they are a good set of lads,” after much mixing and matching of players we won 35-5. Tollesby saw the 'A' team and the Lions play Billingham and Bishop Auckland respectively, returning with 27-19 and 29-12 wins. The 'A' team match report by Paul Wrathmall is on p16. Last week the 'A' Team made the long and arduous trek to Wharfedale and were beaten 31-15 in the North Yorkshire Trophy, a cup won by the Lions last season. We arrived to discover that Wharfedale's pitches were frozen, resulting in both teams travelling from the club to a pitch a few miles down the road on the back of truck. The team, in high spirits following this unconventional form of travel, started with an instant try from the kick off by Andy Philp. Further tries from Damon Finken-Hayes and Chris Snaith showed what might have been, but our hosts profited from our unusually high number of mistakes. The error count certainly cost us on the day. Today they expect to be at Darlington, whilst the Lions are hosts to Whitby. The Colts have the rare occurrence of consecutive matches, having gone over to Billingham last week, where they lost, and today welcome Blaydon. The Wasps travel in the opposite direction, up to Blaydon, to meet their Development side.

JUNIORS You will recall Tom Seymour's report when our U14s beat Aireborough in the Yorkshire Cup at the beginning of December. I am pleased to report that on Sunday they beat Durham City 49-12, extending their winning streak to six games; their last reversal was 23 November against Ripon. Meanwhile our U15s travelled to Thirsk last weekend and added another 67 points to their tally – that's 198 in their last three matches, during which they have conceded only 24.
And if you missed it can I urge you to take the time to view the brilliant team try finished off by Alex Cotterill for our U16s against Darlington Mowden Park; just follow the link on our web page. It has been submitted for the Samsung Try of the Month.
CLUB NEWS First, I am absolutely delighted to report that we have a new piece of rugby memorabillia added to our display, for which, on your behalf, I give a great big 'thank you' to Tom Jones – that's he of the 'Yellow Cortina,' not the 'Green, green grass of home.' Tom, one of the most pleasant and gentle people OFF the pitch, played a record 440 times for the Club, as well as 13 appearences for Yorkshire in the days when the County Championship was a competition of national importance, often coupled with his Club second row 'twin' Dave White. In an act of genuine generosity Tom has presented his County Cap to the Club, an honour for which we are extremely proud.

And tonight remember there is a fandabadosee International Darts Chapionship starting at 7.30 in the Function Room, open to all-comers. Cash and alcoholic prizes will be on offer for the best score, the worst score and the loudest shirt. Traditional darts attire is to be worn by all and sundry.

REFEREE'S CORNER I am delighted to welcome Iain Hallam for his second visit to Acklam Park – he was in charge of our second home game of the season when we beat Malton & Norton 43-13. Moreover he also refereed the game in which the North East Baa Baas side, selected and managed by Shaun Cassidy and which included several of our players, beat the 'Hire a Hero Gorilla Rugby Team' at Newcastle before the Falcons v Saracens match in December. Iain is an Army officer who was a scrum half before becoming a referee five years ago. He started his playing career at Fylde, then as a student at Rosslyn Park, and subsequently in the Army Iain represented the Infantry; he has also played in Australia. You may recall that he has local links – at least temporarily; his daughter is a medical student at the Durham University Campus on Teasdale. I enjoyed his earlier visit – I hope he did and is looking forward to this afternoon.

FINALLY...following on from the last issue in which there was an article about numbers (you must remember Alex's Adventures in Numberland) I noticed that in football Liverpool received £97.5million from the Premier League's central fund for finishing second last season – more than title winners Manchester City, would you believe. But if you think that's big bucks, take a look at the Super Bowl; US TV grossed $262million from 32 minutes of adverts during the Seattle/Denver match in February. Adverts cost around $4m per 30 second-slot. That really is big bucks.