WELCOME It gives me great pleasure to welcome our visitors, Wath upon Dearne, to Acklam Park, accompanied by Vince Tilson, brother of our Treasurer Phil. I think this is our first meeting – at least at senior level, as I'm pretty sure our Juniors have met previously. Visiting a club for the first time is always interesting and I sincerely hope our visitors enjoy their time with us today. (For those of you who don't know, Wath lies between Barnsley and Rotherham.) Having finished in 5th spot in the league last season our visitors are currently lying in 6th place, with 5 wins from 10 games. They have won four of their six home games, against Pontefract, Selby, Heath and York; the exceptions being home defeats by Doncaster and then last week by Malton & Norton. Wath have won one of their away matches, 25-21 at Hullensians. Their other trips have taken them to Scarborough, Yarnbury and Bridlington.

MATCH NEWS First let me explain our decision to concede our Yorkshire Shield match at Pontefract. The matter was discussed in depth in full committee, when initially the overriding feeling was that we should fulfil the commitment, despite difficulties in fielding an adequate side. However we were presented with a list of 10 forwards and 7 backs who couldn't play for whatever reason; all of them would have been considered for selection. We could not have selected the required five forwards (in a squad of 19) with front row experience. We have conveyed our apologies to Pontefract and to Yorkshire.

We returned to action last week at Selby. It was a tense affair with the result decided by the last kick of the match. The journey wasn't promising - a Stygian gloom engulfed the coach on our approach with the mist reducing visibility to not much more than a pitch’s length. It lifted a little as the match started, a match dominated by penalties and defences. Selby struck the first blow, taking three points on offer. Their kickers seemed to struggle after that point at least until the 81st minute, when they popped over the winner. Jack had brought the scores level in the first half as we upped the intensity of our defence and Selby were looking a bit wobbly. Half time came with us pressing hard, but unable to convert any of our half chances into tries.

In the second half Selby had the lion’s share of possession, but we looked more dangerous with the ball in hand. In fact, it was our mistakes in trying to force the play that led to Selby’s more dangerous attacking moves. We looked the more likely to score a try, but then the inevitable happened with the clock on 80 minutes, we were penalised for a ruck infringement...and the rest is history.

Our last home game against Scarborough was a real nail-biter, one of those 'games of two halves.' A try from the back of a maul by Isa converted by Jack was all we had to show for our first half efforts, whereas Scarborough crossed the line three times, accumulating 24 points by the break. However they were the only points scored by our opponents as we controlled the second half. The Ash/Jack combo added another seven points five minutes into the half, followed by two superb individual efforts, first from Conner and then Simmo, who converted his own try, gave us a narrow 26-24 victory with a try-scoring bonus point.

Since our last review I am delighted to report three more victories for the Lions, a thumping 65-5 win against Seaton Carew, followed by rather more competitive wins against Bishop Auckland by 37-25 and then last Saturday in a humdinger of a match we beat Stockton 34-29. This was another typical game of two halves; in the swirling mists Stockton were 2 tries to nil up, then 4 to our 2, before we finished the stronger with a further 3 tries, aided by those spring chickens Jonno and Jason Westy.. Unfortunately the 'A' team lost their two matches, 10-24 to Stockton and 28-15 to Mowden Park (see the report on p5) but once again I must give a huge vote of thanks to 'wee man' Paul Wrathmall for all his efforts to turn things around.

JUNIORS A note from the ever-industrious Sarah Hutchinson: “Congratulations to the U9’s who on Sunday were runners up in the County Cup 7s, which was a culmination of great effort and team work from all of our U9 squad. I speak for myself and Matt when I say that we are very proud of our squad of players, and that includes everyone who was at Westoe, as well as those who come to training week-in, week-out. All of our players have had a superb start to this season and have taken to tackling like they have been doing it for years! Finally, thank you too, to all parents for your continued support in bringing the players to training and games, without you we wouldn’t have a team.”

Also last weekend, in the midst of the mists, our U16s, who beat Ripon 40-0 in the first round of the Yorkshire Cup here, went to Ripon and beat them 38-0 in the Bowl competition. The U15s have lost only once in nine matches, including a 61-7 result at Beverley. Our Junior Colts have lost only twice all season, coming away from York in their last match with a 40-17 victory; they are at Doncaster tomorrow, having already beaten them at home. After a foggy drive down to Harrogate, the U13s were looking forward to a good game in the Yorkshire Plate as they had already beaten Harrogate at home a few weeks ago; unfortunately they lost.

CLUB NEWS Massive congratulations to our former junior player Lewis Boyce, one of Budgie's boys, who has been selected for the England U20 squad for the season a year young.

Having welcomed Yorkshire Carnegie for a junior coaching session last Monday, we are running a club referee support evening here at 7 pm this coming Monday evening to support the development of club referees and coaches at all levels; the session will be on the Tackle - Breakdown and will start inside then go outside to do a practical session.

And now can I remind you of some forthcoming attractions. Following our Fantastic Kaleidoscope of Fireworks and Bonfire Night (and I am continually amazed at the huge number of our members who willingly give up their time to ensure everyone has a great night, whilst raising a few bob for the kitty – can I thank each and everyone of you for your selfless efforts) we move into December, when the U7s/8s/9s hold their Christmas party on Thursday 11th, closely followed by the Members Grand Christmas Draw on Sunday the 14th. And make a particular note that our 6th Annual Pie-baking Competition will be held the following Tuesday, 16th, not the 23rd as I reported last time. And then we have the third event of the week on Thursday 18th with the visit of Santa Westy for our entertaining and extremely popular Carol Sing-a-long; no matter how many song sheets we print there never seems to be enough so get here early! On Saturday 27th we have a variety of activities; we play Stockton, away, for the Alan Todd Memorial Trophy, our very own Shaun Cassidy is selecting a North East Baa Baas side (which will include some of our finest) to play the 'Hire a Hero Gorilla Rugby Team' at Newcastle before the Falcons/Saracens match the same day. To round off a busy day we are holding our Annual Ball at the Thistle Hotel– details are on p16. And don’t forget the Lizard Run, the Golf Tournament and the Santa Sashay – all in Santa costumes, of course.

SPONSORS We are delighted to welcome the two 'Rollicking Richards' Readman and Storry, today’s sponsors. Readman Steel are steel stockholders, wharfingers, suppliers and fabricators of tubular items, and the sole UK agents for the Evren Chain of Turkey; Lithgow Sons & Partners, Stokesley, specialise in auctions of industrial and commercial goods and properties, as well as providing asset valuation and disposal, commercial property valuations, residential property and storage services. We are pleased to welcome them both and their guests; we are grateful for your continued support.

REFEREE'S CORNER Our best wishes for a speedy recovery go to Phil Gordge, the referee appointed for this match; unfortunately he is injured and has had to withdraw. But every cloud has a silver lining and I am delighted to welcome Jason Garrick back to Acklam Park. If the name sounds and the fella looks familiar that's because Jason was here in charge of our fixture against Scarboro three weeks ago – the first time I can remember having the same whistler in consecutive matches. For those of you not present for the Scarboro game let me tell you that Jason is a New Zealander who played in the back row for Western Australia University, Grasshoppers in the Netherlands and London NZ. He then met a Yorkshire lass and now lives in Hemsworth, Wakefield. I hope he enjoys his return trip with us this afternoon. Jason is a team leader for Barclays Bank.