WELCOME Let me offer a very warm welcome to our visitors from Heath (Halifax) for what I believe is their visit to us, an experience I hope they all enjoy. Established about 86 years ago in recent years Heath have settled pretty comfortably into Yorkshire 1; with nine wins and a draw our visitors finished in 11th place last season; they are currently ninth with seven wins, only one of which has been earned away from home, at Bridlington. I hope they don't add to their away tally today!

Following a Yorkshire Shield defeat of 0-57 by those blighters from Malton, Heath kicked off this league campaign with a home win against Hullensians. Unfortunately they then lost their next five games, including a 15-22 defeat to us, dropping them to second bottom before winning four of their next five matches, a run which lifted them to eighth place. Their last five games have produced losses to Doncaster, Scarborough and Malton and wins over Selby and, on Saturday, Wath upon Dearne.

MATCH NEWS First of all let me give a huge welcome back to Sam and Jack. Following Lee over the Christmas period it's great to see players returning to the fold; coupled with the emergence and integration of several of our Colts into senior rugby the future is beginning to look a lot brighter.

However last week was not good. Malton and Norton is not the place you want to go to with an inexperienced team, but that was the case when injuries and absences meant places for four U18 players Jacob Richardson, Joe Grant and Aaron Lawson along with 1st team regular Ali Lang. A full strength Boro side would probably have struggled on the day but these young lads all acquitted themselves well. Malton are flying high in the division and probably play the most attractive, attacking rugby in the league. Our best period in the game came in the second half with a period of around 20 minutes when we dominated possession and territory, but the only reward for all of this possession and pressure was a try by Jacob who held onto a long pass to cross the line.

The week previous I think it's fair to say we were hoping for a win against Hullensians, especially after our rousing performance against Doncaster. Although we were missing captain Bellers who was on the piste Lee Richardson had rejoined Boro and took his place in the centre. We opened the scoring with a well taken try by Jack with Toddy adding the conversion from out near the touchline. But Hullensians refused to roll over and came straight back with a well worked try finished off by their No 8. From the restart we went back on the attack and Wrighty spotted a gap in behind the Hull defence and put in a lovely little chip for Simmo to collect and run over to score under the posts. Toddy had trouble getting the ball to sit on the tee and, running out of time, opted for a drop goal which missed. This left the half time score at 12-5.

We stretched our lead in the second half after a turn-over by Tarmac in our 22 saw Conner run the ball, supported by Toddy who carried the ball past half way and then by Lee who ran in for a fantastic score. Hullensians came back again when the scrum half spotted the hooker loitering on the blind-side touch-line and he drove over to score. There was a question as to whether his foot hit the whitewash (watch the highlights if you want to judge for yourself), but the try was awarded. Hullensians now had their tails up and with only around 5 minutes to go, they turned over ball in midfield and the open side flanker, score under the posts. The conversion levelled the score at 17 all.

Looking further back, I am pleased to confirm that between Christmas and New Year we retained the Alan Todd Memorial Trophy, beating Stockton 26-25 in an exciting and tense match. At one stage we were 15-0 down and although only seven of our team have played in our first team this season we managed to pull the game around with tries from Toby Tremlett, Tom Rhatighan and Sam Gaudie, plus a penalty try, and two conversions from Simmo and one from Toddy himself.

Our Wasps were looking forward to getting a match under their belt last Saturday when we welcomed Blaydon for a CANDY league match. Unfortunately the weather intervened to the extent that the rain and the sleet prevented the referee from following the game – he wore spectacles! Consequently the match was abandoned before either team bothered the score board. Today they face West Hartlepool in the CANDY Shield.

JUNIORS And now I urge you to please 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, so fingers crossed.
Meanwhile our U15s travelled to York last weekend and returned with huge grins – and a 12-51 win; that's 131 points scored in their last two victories. They entertain Sandal tomorrow. Yet more praise for our U14s, who beat Sunderland 45-12 on Sunday, taking their run of consecutive victories to five.

Please note that next Friday evening Bernie has called a meeting at 7.30 in the Function Room for everyone interested in or connected with the Junior and Mini Sections, with the purpose of reporting updates and proposals relating to the Sections.

CLUB NEWS Over the years much has been made of our pie baking competitions – and our previous issue included a report on our latest event in December. What the report did not include was the phenominal fact the a whopping £800 was handed to Sarah Hutchinson for kit for the minis by Jonesy the Jester. However this was not all raised on pie night and was the result of fantastic team work by several people, not least by Chris the Greyhound. Week-in week-out Chris uses his charm and tact to persuade members to part with their hard-earned cash on the Bonus Ball, blind cards and raffles. He spends a lot of time and effort on our behalf, all of which is very much appreciated.

Conduct at matches, and in particular Junior games, is giving cause for grave concern. It is becoming harder to get referees because of the increasing abuse they are getting.
Without referees we can't play our games. Referees are human and at our level they can't go to the video ref or have radio contact with linesmen so can only referee what they see. Supporters/coaches shouting at players is distracting and can be destructive to the extent they no longer want to play. Rugby has a history of pride and respect, but there is evidence of matters changing. In an effort to emphasise the importance of this issue YRU is encouraging all clubs in the County to follow the Silent Sundays initiative – see page 9 for details.

REFEREE'S CORNER At last we have an opportunity to welcome pharmacist Philip Gordge to Acklam Park. Originally appointed to take our game against Wath upon Dearne at the end of November unfortunately he was injured and had to withdraw. But now he is back to full fitness and it is a pleasure to see him in our midst. Phil played in the back row before taking up the whistle about eight years ago; he is a member of East Yorkshire Society.

FINALLY...if you have a spare pair of boots lying around please send them to Carl Griffiths, c/o Trimsaran RFC in Carmarthenshire. The team is missing his 6ft 8in presence in the line outs 'cos he has no boots. Mind they DO need to be size 21...