Another successful season comes to a close with Raiders runners up at Southport

Match report Sunday 1st May
THe 7th season of mini/junior rugby came to close on a glorious summers day at Copley. Only the under 7's had a fixture against Halifax while the micros and under 8's trained. The under 11's were on tour at the Southport Fesstival and ended a very successful season as festival runners up. On the main pitch at Copleya combined under 13/14's hosted touring side Ardrossan.

Two under 7's players have broke the minis try scoring record set by Tom Georgiou two years ago. Tom scored an impressive 95 tries in the 2008-09 season but Ted Grogan notched his 100th try and Jon Baker also passed Tom's record.

Under 11's The Raiders
Raiders end season on a high note as Runners up at Southport Festival

Rishworthians Under 11's completed a successful season with a tour to the Southport RUFC Festival, eventually finishing as Runners Up.

Pool Game 1 Rishworthians 15 - 0 Southport
The two day event started with a match against the hosts Southport. A tight first half saw the Rishworthian Raiders struggling to win clean possession at set pieces against a much bigger forward unit. In the second half though the backs did see more ball and moved the ball wide at pace. Scrum Half Kallan Jamieson pounced on a loose ball and sprinted through a gap in the Southport defence to score the opening try. This was followed by tries from James McHugh and Kian Stewart to make the scoreline Rishworthian Raiders 15 - 0 Southport.

Pool Game 2 Rishworthians 30 - 5 Altrincham Kersal 'B'
In the second match, Altrincham Kersal 'B' started very brightly and took an early lead after the Raiders defence was caught napping. Callum Bell soon scored a try to level the scores and then the Raiders cut loose, playing some of the best attacking rugby they'd produced all season. Quick rucked ball and superb back play resulted in tries from Patrick Smallman, Kian Stewart, Sam Lovering and Morgan Smithies. The best try was yet to come however, with the ball being spun out wide to right wing Will Symms who made a scissors pass to full back Tom Craven. Craven cut back in-field, dummied and side stepped before off-loading to outside centre Lovering who finished off a superb team effort. Final score Raiders 30 - 5 Altrincham Kersal 'B'.

Pool Game 3 Rishworthians 15 - 20 Daventry Devils
The final match on day 1 of the festival pitched the Raiders against a strong Daventry Devils outfit. The opposition were in determined mood too, capitalising on some lapses in concentration within the Rishies ranks and dominating at the scrum. Daventry scored 3 first half tries before adding a forth, early in the second half. Some tactical substitutions were then made by the Raiders coaching team which enabled more possession to be secured and the back line to move the ball wide again, something they'd failed to do in the first half. The strong running of Patrick Smallman resulted in two tries and Morgan Smithies added a third, but despite the spirited fight back, the clock ran out and the Raiders suffered a 20 - 15 defeat.

Pool Game 4 Rishworthians 0 - 15 Altrincham Kersal 'A'
Day 2 saw a tough opening match against Altrincham Kersal 'A' who were undefeated after the first day's play. Altrincham's massive forward pack soon exerted pressure on the Raiders scrum, who were back pedalling for most of the match. The Raiders tackled well though and looked to be holding their own until a scrum close to their own try line allowed the Altrincham scrum half to dive over from close range. Altrincham scored 2 more tries to win 15 - 0 and book their place in the final.

Pool Game 5 Rishworthians 20 - 0 Winnington Park
The final game was a must-win match against Winnington Park. Raiders needed the win to pip Daventry who had drawn 2 earlier matches, and the Raiders responded with a magnificent team performance. Morgan Smithies lead the defensive effort, tackling and rucking as though his life depended on it. This fired others up too and the Raiders managed to win possession from set pieces and in the loose. Scrum half Jamieson picked up from the base of the scrum and went down the blindside. He drew the defender towards him before timing his pass to perfection to winger Sam Puddephatt, who scored in the corner. Shortly afterwards, centre Kian Stewart made a strong run towards the right hand side before straightening his run. This isolated the last defender who got drawn in to the tackle and Stewart floated a well timed pass to Puddephatt who dived in the corner for his second try. The hard work of Connor Friend paid off with a well deserved try and Kian Stewart finished Winnington Park off with a typical swerving run through their defensive line to chalk up a 20 - 0 victory and secure a well deserved place in the festival final against Altrincham Kersal 'A'.

The Final Rishworthians 0 - 20 Altrincham Kersal 'A'
As expected, the final was a really tough match against a much bigger team. The Raiders scrum held firm though, with Patrick Smallman adding some extra power in the second row. Altricham were very quick to close down the Rishies backline though, preventing them from playing the running game that had been so effective in earlier games. Morgan Smithies was outstanding in defence once more and the whole team put in a superb effort but eventually the pressure told and Altrincham secured a 4 try victory.

Scorers v Southport (Jamieson, McHugh, Stewart)
v Altricham Kersal B (Lovering (2), Bell, Smallman, Stewart, Smithies)
v Daventry Devils (Smallman (2), Smithies)
Winnington Park (Puddephatt(2), Friend, Stewart)

"Man of Steel" Award: Morgan Smithies

Another fantastic festival performance this time at Driffield Festival

Festival report Sunday 17th April
The minis continued their remarkable festival success this season with another impressive set of results at Driffield. The under 12's won the Salver competition, the under 10's won the plate competition and the under 9's shared the cup competition with the final resulting n a draw with Pocklington. The under 8's won 2 and lost 3 games and the under 7's were undefated winning 4 games and drawing the other game. There were no trophies awarded at under 7 and under 8 levels.

We have also received the following very complimentary e-mail from David Stephenson the Festival organiser at Driffield.
I am just recovering from organising our Mini's festival and felt I should let you know what an absolute credit your mini's are to your club They played a major part in the festival and I've received a number of comments complimenting your mini's on their ability and more importantly their conduct (players, coaches, and parents), congratulations to all at 'Rish'!!
Well done to all parents, coaches and players.

Under 7's The Young Guns
Young Guns undefeated at Driffield

Rishworthians had a great day at Driffield in the sun to win 4 games and draw the other which means we were undereated in the festival to top the league. It was also great to get our 1st win against Sandal's first team whih has been a bogey side for the young Guns.

Pool Game 1 Rishworthians 7 - 2 Sheffield
The Young Guns first game of the day was against a Sheffield team that had beaten us earlier in the season, all the boys had there game faces on from the start. Rishies first try came from a fantastic cross field run from Jake Smith to score in the corner.This was followed by our best defence of the season making Sheffield turn the ball over 3 times . Rishies scored on all turnovers with Ted Grogan and William Davidson beating most of the Sheffield team to score there tries, and twinkle toes Charlie Rushworth sprinting down the touch line getting away from 3 Sheffield defenders to score in the corner. Sheffield got a try just on the half making a 4-1 half time score.

Rishes made 2 half time subs with Jon Baker making way after a first half injury and Jake Smith making way after great work tagging.Even with the changes Rishes attitude did not change. The defence lead by William Boom and Benedict Freeman was once again the platform, fantastic running from Ethan Grogan and Felix Jackson, Set up Ted Grogan the first 2 tries of the half. Sheffield did get a well worked try in the corner before Ted Grogan got his 4th of the game to seal a superb win for the young guns.

Squad: Ted Grogan, Jon Baker, Ethan Grogan, William Boom, Jake Smith, William Davidson, Charlie Rushworth, Ben Freeman, Felix Jackson.

Scorers: Ted Grogan 4, Jake Smith 1,William Davidson 1, Charlie Rushworth 1

Pool Game 2 Rishworthians 6 - 1 Driffield
Once again the young guns started out with great determination on defence.William Boom opened Rishies scoring a wonderful solo effort, once again team defence lead by Jake Smith and Charlie Rusworth created turnover ball from the home team, creating a great opening for Jon Baker to get his first of the day.Driffield scored after a great team effort on the whistle to give Rishies a slender 2-1 lead going into the second half.

The introduction of Felix Jackson and William Davidson sparked Rishies once again, Felix made some trade mark power runs into the heart of the Driffield defence, creating massive openings for Ethan Grogan to sprint through for 2 second half tries, William Davidson used his lightning pace to draw the Driffield defence and with 2 well timed off loads set Ben Freeman and Ted Grogan up for easy tries.Again the boys showed that is our defence that wins us games. well done.

Squad: Ted Grogan, Jon Baker, Ethan Grogan, William Boom, Jake Smith, William Davidson, Charlie Rushworth, Ben Freeman, Felix Jackson.

Scorers: Ted Grogan 1, Jon Baker 1,William Boom 1, Ethan Grogan 2 , Ben Freeman 1

Pool Game 3 Rishworthians 4 - 3 Sandal Bulls
Both teams were in confident mood and played attacking tag rugby matched with high levels of concentration in defense. The Young Guns first try came from an inside pass from William Boom that wrong footed the covering defenders to create space for Ted Grogan to score. Sandal responded with their first try of the game to level the scores. The Young Guns were soon back in front after Jake Smith picked up a loose ball and out sprinting the Bulls chasing defenders to score a great individual try. Sandal scored on half time to level the scores which was a fair reflection of the game up to that point.

Rishies under 7s were back in front at the start of the second half after Felix Jacksons determined run set up Ted Grogan for his second try of the game. The Young Guns then won turn over ball in the next play which led to Jon Baker scoring after a weaving run. Sandal never gave up and were reward with a late try at the end of the game.

Squad: Ted Grogan, Jon Baker, Ethan Grogan, William Boom, Jake Smith, William Davidson, Charlie Rushworth, Ben Freeman, Felix Jackson.

Scorers: Ted Grogan 2, Jake Smith and Jon Baker.

Pool Game 4 Rishworthians 5 - 2 Brodleians
Ethan Grogan scored the opening try of the game after backing up Jon Bakers weaving run. Brods responded with a try of their own but the Young Guns were back in front with a great try from Benedict Freeman. The Young Guns then won hand after over ball after collecting 6 tags and followed up with a try from Ted Grogan. The Young Guns led 3-1 at half time and this was increased to 4 – 1 at the after the restart with another try from Ted Grogan. Brods then scored their best try of the game after to brilliant support play but the Young Guns had the final say as Felix Jackson stormed through the defense to score in the corner.

Squad: Ted Grogan, Jon Baker, Ethan Grogan, William Boom, Jake Smith, William Davidson, Charlie Rushworth, Ben Freeman, Felix Jackson

Scorers: Ted Grogan 2, Ethan Grogan 1, Benedict Freeman 1 and Felix Jackson 1.

Pool Game 5 Rishworthians 3 - 3 Sandal Bears
The final game of the morning was against Sandal Bears. Both teams were evenly matched in defense and attack. Jon Baker scored the first try of the game after side stepping through the Bears defense. Sandal then scored two tries to take the lead but the Young Guns drew level on half time as Charlie Rushworth showed off his pace to score a great individual try.

The second half was very tense. Both teams defending brilliantly. Sandals broke the deadlock as their stand out player – white boots used his pace to create a fine individual try. The Young Guns hit back with a flowing team move which was finished off by a sprint to the try line by Ethan Grogan. The game finished 3 – 3 which was a fair result for both sides.

Squad: Ted Grogan, Jon Baker, Ethan Grogan, William Boom, Jake Smith, William Davidson, Charlie Rushworth, Ben Freeman, Felix Jackson.

Scorers: Charlie Rushworth 1, Jon Baker 1 and Ethan Grogan 1

Overall Scorers: Ted Grogan 9, Jon Baker 3, Ethan Grogan 4, William Boom 1, Jake Smith 2, William Davidson 1, Charlie Rushworth 2, Ben Freeman 2, Felix Jackson 1.

Well done to all the squad for playing their part in a entertaining and successful tournament for the Young Guns. Our tagging and attack play was very good throughout and it is very pleasing to see that all the boys scored.
Thank you to the parents for their support.

Darren Grogan

Under 8's The Rams
Mixed fortunes for Rams at Driffield

On a gloriously sunny April Sunday a squad of 13 under 8's made the long journey to Driffield. With 12 teams entering the festival we were to see some familiar old faces and were soon to discover that we were in a very hard side of the draw. With an emphasis on full squad participation, and the kids having fun, the teams were rotated every match.

Game 1: Rishworthians 6 - 2 Bridlington
The opening game was very one sided. A strong team was 4-0 up at halftime and cruising. More fine attacking play ensured we ran out easy winners.

Game 2: Rishworthians 4 - 6 Driffield

A balanced first half, against an equally matched team, saw us leading 4-3 at halftime. However the loss of Joseph for the second half, our star player, together with major Driffield substitutions, saw 3 unanswered Driffield tries. Lady luck was not on our side.

Game 3: Rishworthians 4 - 7 Sandal
An old foe and a familiar outcome. At half-time the team were going try for try and were 2-3 down. However some quick fire Sandal second half tries meant that we could not catch them up. Sandal is turning into our bogey team, and we witness the confidence ebb away before the whistle is blown.

Game 4: Rishworthians 2 - 3 Ripon
The one that got away. The team never really got out of the blocks against a side there for the taking. Too many backwards passes, playing team mates into trouble, and not passing out wide - sound familiar?

Game 5: Rishworthians 6 - 4 Pocklington
Our final match of the festival and a strong side never looked back. Weary legs aside the team kept on defending and some great tries wrapped up a good day out.

Tries: Toby Laurie 3, Joseph Smallman 10, Jack Lumb 1, Ben Gianotti 1, Emma McHugh 2, Adam Wodcock 1, Bobbie White 2, Edward Windle 1, Lewis Paxton-White 1

Thanks to all parents, grand parents and coaches for a great days work.

Guy Laurie

Under 9's The Meercats
"Cats" share winners cup at Driffield

Rishies under 9's finished their season on a high with a fantastic performance at the Driffield Junior Festival on Sunday. After topping their group, the Cats shared the honours after they drew with Pocklington in a closely fought final.

Game 1 Rishworthians 0 - 0 Hull Ionians
Despite missing some key players, Rishies stepped up to the mark in their opening game against a well organised Hull side. Both sides battled hard but with some excellent rucking and fine handling, Rishies had the lion's share of possession and Finn Sutcliff was unlucky not to score on two separate occasions. Rishies fine tackling restricted the Hull attack but despite both side's best efforts, the game remained scoreless.

Game 2 Rishworthians 25 - 0 Beverley
The Meercats kept up their fine form with an excellent performance against Beverley. Superb support play led to a hat full of unanswered tries from Oliver Brian (3), Reece Barraclough (1) and Owen Witchell (1). Continued pressure and good tackling kept the Beverley attack at bay.

Game 3 Rishworthians 20 - 5 Driffield
In their third game of the day Rishies proved too strong a force against the host side. Once again, the all round team play and support was first class resulting in huge territorial gains and large periods of possession for Rishies. This allowed the Meercats to exploit Driffield's defence and run in four tries with Oliver Brian (3) and Owen Witchell (1) providing the final execution to some excellent team play. To their credit, Driffield battled on, breaching the Rishies defence and scoring a consolation try.

Cup Final 4 Rishworthians 0 - 0 Pocklington
Having won their respective groups, the festival final was a closely contested game between Rishies and Pocklington. With both teams showing some top class tackling, rucking, handling and passing, the final proved to be a fantastic exhibition for junior rugby. Both sides fought hard and were denied scoring opportunities by fine, try saving, cover tackles. Honours were eventually shared with neither side being able to break the deadlock before the final whistle.

U9's Squad : Brandon Savage, Finn Sutcliffe, Hayden Faulkner, Henry Hilton, Jack Marsden, Max Robinson, Nathan Sparkes, Oliver Brian, Marcus Woodhead, Owen Witchell, Reece Barraclough, Thomas Atkinson.

Try Scorers - Oliver Brian (6), Owen Witchell (2), Reece Barraclough (1).

Man of the Match Reece Barraclough
Effort Award: Oliver Brian
Top Tackler: Tom Atkinson/Brandon Savage

Mark Witchell

Under 10's The Destroyers
Destroyers win the Plate Competition

The Destroyers completed their 2010 / 2011 campaign with a trip to to the Driffield festival, and on a perfect spring morning found themselves in a very strong group of four which included Sandal Bulls, Keighley and host team Driffield.

Pool Game 1 Rishworthians 0 - 25 Sandal Bulls
Rish suffered an early blow to their eleven man squad when speedy winger Nathan Donaldson took a bang to the head during pre match training, and could only play the first half of this game before receiving treatment for what turned out to be concussion. Two weeks ago at the Old Brods festival Rish beat Sandal twice, but on this occasion they could not recapture this form. Early Sandal attacks were halted by two good tackles from Corey White, but as Sandal won more possession they went over in the corner to open the scoring. Rish then had their best spell of pressure with Tom Stott going closest to scoring but they could not break the strong Sandal defence, and as Sandal regained possession they went over for a second try following a top class 'dummy'. As the half closed Sandal went over for a third try to effectivley seal the victory by half time.

During the second half Rish continued to battle hard but gave up hard won possession too easily and Sandal went on to score a further two tries. Carrick Keighley Payne went close to scoring a late consolation try but was held up close to the Sandal line leaving the final score at 25 - 0.

Pool Game 2 Rishworthians 15 - 0 Driffield
In spite of defeat in the first game the Destroyers were not downhearted, and began their second game well, attacking Driffield from the off. In the early stages good scrumage play allowed scrum half Kian Sutcliffe to set up Jake Haynes who was held up just short of the line. Rish continued to win good possession and it was just a question of time before they would score. This came when Carrick Keighley Payne played out a good ball to Tom Stott who raced up the wing to score. From the restart it was Driffield's turn to apply pressure but they lost possession deep in the Rish half allowing Jake Haynes to collect the ball and run almost the length of the field to score a second Rish try. As half time approached Driffield almost came back in to the game but a great try saving tackle by Tom Gillespie prevented this, and The Destroyers went to the break with a healthy two try cushion.

As the second half commenced Rish absorbed more Driffield pressure with good tackling, and sealed the victory when a Oliver Fleming pass allowed Jake Haynes to score his second try with a fine run down the wing.

Man of the Match Corey White
Effort Award Matthew Tooby
Top Tackler Tom Gillespie

Pool Game 3 Rishworthians 5 - 10 Keighley
As Sandal had sealed top spot in the pool this game would decide who finished in second place. Quite recently Keighley easily beat Rish, so it is a sign of how much the team has improved in recent weeks that they matched the large Keighley team for the entire match. In the first half scoring chances were few and far between at either end as both teams tackled well. Keighley opened the scoring with a try to the corner. Rish responded immediately from the restart as Keighley were penalized, and Corey White took advantage of a gap in the Keighley defence to barge over to leave the match finely poised 5 - 5 at half time.

The second half commenced with Keighley on the attack and time after time they drove at the Rish line only to be held back by great tackling.When Rish won possession they could not find the crucial pass to break out of their own half, and in the final minute of play Keighley finally forced their way over the Rish line to score the winning try, which was harsh on Rish as they deserved a draw for their efforts.

Man of the Match Tom Gillespie
Effort Award Corey White
Top Tackler Jake Haynes

Plate Final Rishworthians 20 - 0 Baa Baas
The previous result meant Rish went in to the Plate final against a Baa Baa's team consisting of players from Hull Ionians, Pocklington, Sandal and Keighley, and found themselves down to nine fit players as Kian Sutcliffe could not play any part due to a twisted ankle. Rish got off to a great start with Tom Stott laying off a neat little pass to Corey White who scored the opening try. This was quickly followed by good work from Tom Gillespie who raced over to double the lead. With the final play of the half Rish almost scored again but a Baa Baas defender just managed to ground the ball behind his tryline to prevent the try, leaving Rish with a 10 - 0 half time lead.

During the second half Rish continued to dominate possession and more good work by the pack from a scrum 5 metres from the Baa Baas line allowed Jake Haynes to collect the ball and increase the lead. Further Rish pressure followed and this paid off late in the game as Corey White fed a ball out to Tom Stott who went over to give Rish an emphatic 20 - 0 win and the plate trophy.

Man of the Match The Squad
Effort Award The Squad
Top Tackler The Squad

Squad - Nathan Donaldson, Oliver Fleming, Thomas Gillespie, William Harker, Jake Haynes, Toby Helm, Carrick Keighley Payne, Zak Rush, Thomas Stott, Kian Sutcliffe, Corey White.

So the Destroyers ended the season with a victory and a well deserved trophy.Congratulations to all 18 squad members, and thanks to all parents and family members for their continued support throughout the season. Finally a big thanks to Grahame, Simon and Hugh for giving up their time to coach the squad.

Shaun Brittlebank

Under 11's The Raiders
Raiders miss out on Driffield Festival

With no coaches available The Raiders were unable to compete in the festival and trained at Copley.

Under 12's The Reds
Reds the Salver

It was always going to be difficult after the outstanding squad performance at Alnwick last week. Compounded by the absence of playmaker Will Mcdonnell and other key men, the remaining twelve arrived at a gloriously sunny Driffield. Grouped with Driffield, Sleaford, Sandal and Hull Ionians, it would be an extremely difficult group from which to progress.

With One draw, two near losses and a final match lesson from Sandal, Rishies fought to the end, scoring three tries in total and conceding ten. Results didn't go their way and the first three games could with a bit of luck been wins, but that is rugby and for their efforts the boys won the Salver.

The squad.
Greg Day: A chip off the old block, not the biggest prop but teaching bigger lads that technique and heart are more than a match for size. Loves the physical aspect of the game and enjoys a carry, when popping up in the back line.
Thomas Cockroft: Solid at hooker all day. Superb around the ruck and maul, carried low and hard making valuable yards.
Lewis Hilton: More than held his own in the scrum. Quick to the break down. Never frightened to hit the ruck and turn the ball over at every opportunity.
George Radcliffe: Tackled, rucked and mauled all day, quick to break off the scrum he was a constant threat to the opposition backs, unlucky not to score from a mazy run from the back of a rolling maul.
Josh Lynch: Tackled and worked hard all day. Strong at the line out and powerful in Rishies rolling mauls, crashing over from ten metres to score one of the days tries.
Jacob Bower : Worked well round the park all day. Great jumping at the line out, some solid infield and try saving tackles, also diving over from ten metres from a quick penalty for his try.
Jamie Highley: Soft hands at the back of the scrum, some good passing off both hands, worked hard all day, mixing it up with some quick breaks of his own.
Sam Bake: Bit like Red Rum, the harder ground suited him, sold an outrageous dummy/ side step for his try, aggressive and solid in mid field, tackled hard all day.
Jack Davis: Did what Jack does, ran straight and hard at every opportunity. The man mountain put in some bone crunching hits every game.
Thomas Sweeten: Exciting running throughout, so nearly had another one of those trademark interception tries. Never gave up trying to go in at the corner.
Nathan Cooper: Versatile to the end, playing in the backs or at fullback, secure under the high ball, or chasing back to gather the kick over the top, he gave 100% running it back and taking the hit, he never shirked from the physicality of the opposition.
Toby Gledhill: A shortage of backs had Toby on the wing, and he gave it his all, some strong carries and testament to his strength never beaten on the outside, no matter how big or quick the opponent, he had them.

Simon Bower

Fantastic performance at Brods Festival

Festival report Sunday 3rd April
This is probably the minis best ever festival performance. The under 7's followed up their SAndal Festival success by winning the bowl final. The under 8's not to be outdone followed up the Keighley festival success also winning the bowl final. The under 9's produced the best performance to win the cup final, The under 10's lost 5-10 to Hull Ionians in the cup final. The under 11's won the bowl final and the under 12's won the plate final.

List of festival winners
Under 7's
Plate Leodiensians, Bowl Old Rishworthians, Cup Sandal
Under 8's
Plate Old Brodleians, Bowl Old Rishworthians, Cup Scunthorpe
Under 9's
Plate Sheffield, Bowl Scunthorpe, Cup Shared: West Park Leeds & Old Rishworthians
U10
Plate West Park Leeds, Bowl Old Brodleians, Cup Hull Ionians
U11
Plate Shared: West Park Leeds & Sandal, Bowl Shared: Driffield & Old Rishworthians, Cup Sheffield
U12
Plate Old Rishworthians, Bowl West Park Leeds, Cup Old Brodleians Bears

Under 7's The Young Guns
Young Guns lift the Festival Bowl trophy

Rishworthians under 7s had a successful tournament winning the Bowl Trophy against festival hosts Brodleians. This was another fantastic squad effort with all 12 players contributing to the team’s success. The Young Guns were pooled in a very tough group playing against Leodiensians, Scunthorpe, Roundhegians and Sandal. We progressed to the Bowl Final after finishing third with two wins and two losses. See photos at end of page

Pool Game 1 Rishworthians 3 - 4 Leodiensians
Ethan Grogan, Jake Smith and Jon Baker scored the tries for the young guns in a very entertaining game which saw a last minute try from Ted Grogan disallowed for a foot in touch in the lead up to the try. A draw would have been a fair result between two evenly matched sides.

Pool Game 2 Rishworthians 4 - 3 Scunthorpe
This was another close game. The Young Guns finished the first half with a 3 – 1 lead and managed to hang on against a second half come back from Scunthorpe to win 4-3. The try scorers for Rishies were Ethan Grogan 2, Benedict Freeman and Ted Grogan.

Pool Game 3 Rishworthians 6 - 4 Roundhegians
Both teams played their part in fast flowing open game of tag rugby. The Young Guns just had that little bit extra in defense to give them a two try lead at half time which they maintained to the final whistle. Jon Baker scored the Yung Guns only hat trick of the festival in this game with William Davidson, Ted Grogan and Ethan Grogan also scoring.

Pool Game 4 Rishworthians 4 - 5 Sandal
The children looked as if they were starting to tire after a long morning of rugby but this didn’t diminish the effort put in by both sides as they tagged and attacked like it was the first game. The Young Guns try scorers were Ted Grogan 2 and William Boom 2.

Bowl Final Rishworthians 3 - 0 Brodleians
The Young Guns picked up the Bowl Trophy with a good win over hosts Old Brodleians. Both teams played their part a very exciting final with the Young Guns organized defensive effort being the difference between the two sides. Ted Grogan and Benedict Freeman scored the Young Guns first half tries after backing up breaks from Freddie Connell and Charlie Rushworth respectively. Jack Billington was top tagger of the game stopping many of the Brods attacks. The Young Guns were in control for much of the second half and were rewarded with a great individual try from Theo Davies to seal victory for the team.

Squad – Charlie Rushworth, Ted Grogan, William Davidson, Ethan Grogan, William Boom, Jon Baker, Benedict Freeman, Jake Smith, James Wadsworth, Freddie Connell, Theo Davis and Jack Billington.

Scorers – Jon Baker 4, Ted Grogan 5, Theo Davis 1, Ethan Grogan 4, Jake Smith 1, Benedict Freeman 2, William Davidson 1 and William Boom 2.

Thank you to the parents/grandparents etc for their support.

Darren Grogan

Under 8's The Rams
Sweet success for the under 8's as the Bowl Winners

Old Brod festival welcomes Rishworthians. This was a very friendly and great day of tag rugby environment and pitted our boys and girls against teams we have not faced before in Leodiensians and Scunthorpe. Also in our group were our old foes Sandal.

Game 1: Rishworthians 7 - 4 Leodiensians
A great 1st match to kick off the pool games, attacking rugby from end to end on a big pitch. Leo's going 2 tries up before Joseph Smallman and Joe Walsh brought the scores all level at half time. From here and playing down hill Joseph Smallman scored again followed by 2 tries each from Joe Walsh and Ben Gianotti.

This was a great team effort with Jack Lumb, Toby Laurie and Bobbie White all contributing to drawing the defence in and able to pass the ball away for the others to score. Top tagger of the match was Lewis was outstanding on the wing. A great performance by all players.

Team: Lewis Paxton-White, Jack Lumb, Toby Laurie, Bobbie White, Joe Walsh, Joseph Smallman and Ben Gianotti

Game 2: Rishworthians 5 - 5 Scunthorpe

New opponents who played fast attractive and attacking rugby and were very keen on the defence so this was going to be a real test. Scunthorpe led 2-0 at half time but after that Rishworthians sprung into life and scored 3 well worked tries with Joseph Smallman, Joe Walsh and Edward Windle scoring after great work from Thomas Doyle, Dylan and Ben Gianotti. Scunthorpe hit back to make it 4-3 before Joseph Smallman went the full length.

Further drama ensured with Scunthorpe going 5-4 up with the last play of the match to follow the restart. Good running by all in particular Lewis set up Ben G to do a switch pass to Joseph S to crash in at the corner to equalize and tie the match at 5-5. A great performance by all.

Team: Jospeh Smallman, Joe Walsh, Thomas Doyle, Dylan, Edward Windle, Lewis Paxton-White, and Ben Gianotti.

Game 3: Rishworthians 5 - 7 Sandal
Great running by Toby who consistently drew lots of defenders towards him allowing space for others to run into with Jack and Dylan profiting from this. Bobbie was buzzing around and supporting well scoring in the corner. Thomas Doyle scored 2 well worked tries after Edward and Joseph S had worked the gaps well. Half time 4-3 to Sandal.

The second half saw the score go back and forth with Bobbie and Thomas adding tries before Sandal ran out winners 7-5. This is perhaps one match that got away from us but a great performance still.

Team: Toby Laurie, Jack Lumb, Joseph Smallman, Thomas Doyle, Edward Windle, Dylan and Bobbie White

All 3 performances were top notch and the squad of 10 all proved they have individual skills that can gel together and make great team performances.
This was a tough pool to play in and the fast attacking rugby in attack and defense was a step above our normal matches and the Old Rishworthians equally stood up and matched all teams toe to toe.

Bowl Final: Rishworthians 5 - 4 West Park Leeds
Playing against our old foes from the last 2 festivals we set about West Leeds with aggressive Tag rugby play. An early injury to Jack led to Thomas coming on but great running from Toby, Lewis and Ben G allowed Bobbie and Joseph S to score and make the half time score 2-2.

Changes at half time saw Jack back on for Thomas and Edward replacing Joseph S. Jack opened the second half with a great try followed by tries from Bobbie and Joe W making the final score 5-4 and Old Rishworthians winning the Bowl competition.

Team: Toby Laurie, Jack Lumb, Joseph Smallman, Joe Walsh, Ben Gianotti, Lewis Paxton-White, Bobbie White

All players were happy and extremely pleased with their medals and trophy to follow the Keighley Festival success.

Thanks to all parents, grand parents and coaches for a great days work.

Warren Doyle

Under 9's The Meercats
"Cats" share winners cup

Rishies under 9's played their best rugby of the season so far in a scintillating display at the Old Brodelians Junior Festival on Sunday. Securing outright victory of their respective group, the Meercats conceded a last minute try in a closely fought final to end up sharing the overall winner's trophy with West Park Leeds.

Game 1 Rishworthians 25 - 0 York
Rishies got off to a fine start in their opening fixture with an impressive display against a good York side. With each game only being played over two six minute halves, Rishies managed to run in five unopposed tries. Some excellent support play was rewarded with fine tries from Oliver Brian, Jack Marsden, Tom Georgiou, Henry Hilton and Finn Sutcliffe.

Game 2 Rishworthians 25 - 5 Scunthorpe
The Meercats continued their fine run of form with a well earned victory over Scunthorpe. Despite conceding a late try, Rishies put the game beyond the reach of Scunthorpe with some text book rucking and retained possession. Early tries from Oliver Brian (2), Tom Georgiou (2) and Henry Craven ensured another pool win for the Meercats.

Game 3 Rishworthians 10 - 0 Sheffield
In their third game of the day Rishies faced a large, well organised Sheffield side and managed to come out on top in a fiercely fought battle. Sheffield were unable to break through the Red's defensive line and an impressive display of unified pressing and tackling was the platform from which Rishies were able to secure victory. Once again, fine counter rucking and support play were rewarded with tries from Will Adams and Thomas Atkinson.

Game 4 Rishworthians 25 - 0 Sandal
With Sandal missing some of their key players, Rishies were able to exploit their opposition's weaker areas and secure their place in the overall final with a five try victory over their rivals from Wakefield. Once again, fine support and all round team play was rewarded with scores from Henry Craven (2), Tom Geogiou, Finn Sutcliffe, and "new boy", Marcus Woodhead.

Cup Final 4 Rishworthians 10 - 10 West Park Leeds
In a closely contested final in which both sides played some excellent rugby, Rishies were unlucky not to secure outright victory conceding a try in the last minute of the game. Following some early exchanges of possession, rishies were able to take the lead with a good try from Will Adams, only for Leeds to equalise just before the half time interval. With Rishies then taking the greater share of possession and territory, Tom Georgiou enterprisingly capitalised on a West Park defensive error touching the ball down and putting the Meercats one score ahead in the final quarter of the game. West Park bravely battled on and were rewarded with an equalising try in the last minute of the game. With the rules of the tournament clearly stating that no extra time should be played, honours were shared by both sides in what proved to be a fine exhibition of junior rugby.

U9's Squad : Brandon Savage, Finlay Stewart, Finn Sutcliffe, Hayden Faulkner, Henry Craven, Henry Hilton, Jack Marsden, Max Robinson, Oliver Brian, Marcus Woodhead, Owen Witchell, Reece Barraclough, Thomas Atkinson, Thomas Georgiou, William Adams,

Try Scorers - Tom Georgiou 5, Oliver Brian 3, Will Adams 2, Henry Craven 3, Finn Sutcliffe 2, Henry Hilton 1, Jack Marsden 1, Thomas Atkinson 1, Marcus Woodhead 1,

Man of the Match
Effort Award: The Squad
Top Tackler:

Mark Witchell

Under 10's The Destroyers
Destroyers reach Cup Final, but lose by 1 try to Hull Ionians

The Destroyers went in to the Brodleians festival full of confidence following recent good results, and this confidence was fully justified as they swept aside all opposition to top their pool group, and then narrowly lost the final to a very strong Hull Ionians team.

Rish were drawn in a group of five which included Sandal, Scunthorpe, Leodiensians and supposedly Roundhegians but unfortunatly the latter failed to show up. All games for this Pool were played on a very large, heavily sloping pitch which was perfect for teams with speedy backs.

Pool Game 1 Rishworthians 30 - 0 Leodiensians
Rish opted to play down the slope in the first half in an attempt to build up a good lead, and this proved to be a good decision as straight from the kick off they began pressurising the Leods defence and creating scoring chances. Jake Haynes had an early try disallowed for an infringement, and Corey White went close before Rish opened the scoring. From a scrum deep in the Leods half Kian Sutcliffe played a good ball to Jake Haynes who passed out to Nathan Donaldson for the opening try. This was followed by a good spell of Leods pressure, but Rish held out well and when they regained possession deep in their own half a deterrmined Corey White run gained some ground and as the ball was fed out to Nathan Donaldson he outsprinted the Leods defence to score his second try. Rish were now well in control of trhe game and as half time approached they scored again as the rball was played along the line allowing Tom Stott to cross the try line leaving Rish with a 15 - 0 half time lead.

As the second half commenced any hopes Leods had of making a comeback were snuffed out as Corey White went over for a fourth try following a good Jake Haynes run. This was quickly followed by Nathan Donaldson's hat trick try which was well set up by Tom Gillespie, and to round off a good display Tom Stott scored his second try of the game.

Man of the Match Nathan Donaldson
Effort Award Kian Sutcliffe / Tom Gillespie
Top Tackler William Harker

Pool Game 2 Rishworthians 10 - 0 Scunthorpe
For this game Rish played the first half up the slope against a Scunthorpe side that had much larger forwards than Leods, and they got off to another very good start when Carrick Keighley Payne layed off a pass to Jake Haynes who stormed up the hill to give Rish a vital early lead. The remainder of the half was very even, and good defence from both teams restricted scoring chances. In the later stages of the half Scunthorpe had a chance to equalize but a fine touchline try saving tackle by Tom Gillespie prevented this, leaving Rish with a slender 5 - 0 lead.

Rish shuffled their squad for the second half and weathered some early Scunthorpe pressure before the game wes secured with a second try. Corey White fed the ball to Nathan Donaldson who took advantage of the wide pitch to cut through the Scunthorpe defence and race up the hill for a good solo try. Rish defended well for the remainder of the match to seal a well earned victory.

Man of the Match Corey White
Effort Award Matthew Tooby
Top Tackler Tom Gillespie

Pool Game 3 Rishworthians 5 - 0 Sandal
As both teams had each won their first two Pool games this match should have decided who would be playing in the cup final against the other Pool winners. In a very close first half of few chances both teams defended well. Rish had an early chance to take the lead but a long Jake Haynes pass slipped agonisingly from the grasp of Nathan Donaldson as he attempted to burst free up the wing. The deadlock was finally broken in the Destroyers favour from a line out close to the Sandal line.The ball was won cleanly by Carrick Keighley Payne who played it down the line to Tom Stott who darted across the line for a crucial try. As the half ended Rish absorbed more Sandal pressure to hold on to their slender 5 - 0 lead.

The second half was equally close as Rish battled to hold on to their lead. The closest they came to score again was when a good move ended with Tom Stott been held up on the Sandal try line, and late in the game Nathan Donaldson produced a superb try saving tackle. As the final whistle blew the players received a great ovation from the appreciative Rish supporters.

Man of the Match Tom Gillespie
Effort Award Corey White
Top Tackler Jake Haynes

Pool Game 4 Rishworthians 15 - 5 Sandal
As the Destroyers celebrated their previous victory it was announced that due to Roundhegians absence a further match would need to be played between the teams finishing first and second to decide who would play in the final. So once agaiin Rish would have to take on Sandal, but could afford to lose by up to 3 tries due to Rishworthians superior try scoring in previous games. The squad was shuffled again and to their credit Rish attacked Sandal straight from the kick off with Nathan Donaldson running to within 5 metres of the Sandal line. The ball was collected by Carrick Keighley Payne who just strecthed over the line to open the scoring. Rish then conceded their first try of the day as Sandal hit back down the slope to score in the corner leaving things all square 5 - 5 at half time.

In the second half playing down the slope Rish once again took control and secured their place in the final scoring two further tries. The first from a scrum close to the Rish line which was well won and allowed Kian Sutcliffe to lay the ball to Nathan Donaldson who ran the length of the pitch to score. The final try went to Tom Gillespie who scored in the corner following a good pick up.As the final whistle blew the players came off the field to an even louder cheer than the previous game.

Man of the Match Corey White
Effort Award Oliver Fleming
Top Tackler Toby Helm

Cup Final Rishworthians 5 - 10 Hull Ionians
After a long delay waiting for other games to take place Rish took to the field against a well organised Hull Ionians team, and opted to use the advantage of the slope in the first half. The early stages were even with both teams tackling with great determination. Rish broke the deadlock when Tom Stott intercepted a Hull pass deep within the Rish half and ran the ball forward. From the ruck the ball was played out to Nathan Donaldson who once again sprinted down the wing for a good try. Rish now tried to hold on to their advantage until half time, but with the final play of the half Hull forced their way over to level the scores.

The second half was another very close affair and remained level and Rish did well to hold out the Ionians for a long period as they attacked down the slope. As the half progressed when Rish gained possession they tried to play the ball out along the line and on several occasions were unlucky as final passes went astray. Hull eventually took the lead when a good crossfield run led to them scoring in the corner. Rish continued to battle and in the final minute of the game Hull were penalized on their five metre line giving Rish the chance to level the game. Corey White took the ball in at full speed but the Hull defence held out to end a fantastic Rish effort.

Man of the Match The Squad
Effort Award The Squad
Top Tackler The Squad

Squad - Nathan Donaldson, Oliver Fleming, Thomas Gillespie, William Harker, Jake Haynes, Toby Helm, Carrick Keighley Payne, William Robbins, Zak Rush, Thomas Stott, Kian Sutcliffe, Matthew Tooby, Corey White.

Every player put in 100% effort and represented the club superbly today playing some fantastic flowing rugby along with good defence which is backed up by the 13 - 3 overall try count. Thanks to Grahame and Simon along with all parents for their continued support.

Shaun Brittlebank

Under 11's The Raiders
Raiders share festival bowl trophy with Driffield

The Raiders had a great Brods Festival playing in a tough pool to reach the Bowl Final against Driffield. The final ended in a 5 - 5 draw and the Raiders shared the trophy with Driffield.

Pool Game 1 Rishworthians 0 - 5 Sheffield
A tough opening game against Sheffield, who eventually went on to win the tournament, Rishworthians were slow to get going. Sheffield had the physical advantage, especially in the forwards, and when the Raiders did win possession, individual handling errors and ill discipline at the ruck cost them dearly. Sheffield scored a try towards the end of the first half and despite an improved second half performance, the Raiders couldn't get on the score sheet, losing 5 - 0.

Pool Game 2 Rishworthians 15 - 0 Scunthorpe
Against Scunthorpe the Raiders rucked in numbers and moved the ball wide through the hands. Tom Cravens kicking game gave them good field position and from set pieces the powerful running of Patch Smallman, Kian Stewart and George Ackroyd gave them the advantage. Scunthorpe were beaten 15 - 0 with tries from Smallman (2) and Ackroyd,

Pool Game 3 Rishworthians 25 - 0 Roundhegians
Raiders were now getting into their stride after their slow start and went on to a crushing 25 - 0 victory against Roundegians. Getting on the score sheet were Nathan Hales, Tom Craven, Callum Bell, Toby Muscat-Baron and Will Symms.

Pool Game 4 Rishworthians 0 - 10 Sandal
The final pool match was a much sterner test against Sandal. Despite being a very closely fought game Sandal capitalised on a tap penalty at the end of the first half, when the Raiders defence momentarily switched off, and again in the second half when their stand off was given space to run at the defence. Sandal won 10 - 0 which set up a play off against Driffield in the Bowl competition final.

Bowl Final Rishworthians 5 - 5 Drifield
A very close game between the two sides resulted in some good rugby being played. Centre Kian Stewart scored for the Raiders but Driffield equalised shortly afterwards. Some committed defence by Morgan Smithies and Kallan Jamieson prevented Driffield from adding to their total, but once again, Rishies were unable to capitalise on their possession, drawing 5 - 5 at the final whistle to share the Bowl with Driffield.

Under 12's The Reds
Reds win Plate

The festival season is well and truly upon us and on Sunday we all decamped to Brods for their annual festival. This time we were drawn in a pool with Sandal, Scunthorpe and Brods second string.See photos at end of page

Pool game 1 Sandal 15 v 5 The Reds
There was a feeling of déjà vu as we have now played Sandal for the last 3 weekends. As in the match at the Sandal festival both team played very good rugby with neither side managing to get the upper hand. The Reds were putting in some excellent tackles and Jacob Bower and Nathan Cooper were stealing the ball in the rucks. Determined defence from both sides managed to keep the game scoreless at half time. The game really came to life in the second half when Will McDonnell kicked a clearance from his own try line. The ball bounced on half way between 2 Sandal players and while they were deciding who was going to catch it, Will had chased his kick, plucked the ball from the air and galloped to the try line. Delight was soon dampened when Sandal replied from the restart and they increased their lead soon after. A third Sandal try put the game to bed when their big prop barged over from a 5 metre penalty. Final score 15-5.

Pool Game 2 Brods Broncos 5 v 10 The Reds
This should have been an easier match but the Reds put themselves under pressure with some early sloppy play. Jacob Bower was again nicking the ball in rucks and Josh Lynch was bashing his way in to the Brods defence, but against the run of play Brods took the lead from another 5 metre penalty. The Reds were putting in some big tackles and managed to make Brods panic with their passing, which paid dividends when Thomas Sweeten intercepted a loose pass and sprinted for the line to level the scores. It appeared that we had taken the lead when Jack Davis charged down the right wing and crashed over in the corner, only to see the touch judge with his arm in the air. From the second half restart McDonnell managed to battle his way through the Brods tackles to make his way to the Brods 10 metres. Bower and McDonnell then made a double tackle on a Brods forward 2 metres from the line, and the Reds defence was again tested with another 5 metre penalty, but some great defence kept the home team out. With time almost up, the Reds had a scrum on their 5 metres. The ball was run out of defence, and a lovely well timed pass from Sweeten to Ben Rooney sent the winger screaming down the wing to score in the corner and save the Reds blushes.

Pool Game 3 The Reds 30 v 0 Scunthorpe
This game started with a bang when the Reds managed to get quick ball from a midfield ruck and sent Rooney over the try line. He almost scored again moments later but was bundled in to touch 2 metres from the line. Sam Bake had a penetrating run through the defence before Nathan Cooper carried on the momentum and barged over for the second try. The Reds were now playing great rugby, getting quickly to the breakdowns and turning ball over. Second rower George Radcliffe picked up from a ruck and crossed the line, and after Bower had made 40 metres with a weaving run, Greg Day sent Radcliffe over for his second try in as many minutes. From the next restart Will McDonnell weaved his through the entire Scunthorpe defence and made the half time score 25-0. The opening kick of the second half was chased down by the Reds, and from a scrum the ball was thrown out to Sweeten who scored the sixth try and therefore ending the game 30-0.

Pool Game 4 Sandal 25 v 0 The Reds
There seemed no sense in playing this match as Sandal had won all their pool games, and I think the Reds youngsters thought the same as they allowed Sandal to romp to a comfortable 20-0 half time lead. In the second half the Reds managed to keep the try count down to one and the final score was 25-0

Plate Final The Reds 10 v 5 Driffield
This final was played during a hail storm therefore not many notes were taken as my pad soon became soggy. However I have managed to decipher bits and bobs. A good start by the Reds took early play in to Driffield's half with some strong play at the breakdowns. Driffield managed to clear the ball up to the Reds line, and from a line out the ball was fumbled in the in goal area and Driffield pounced on the ball to score. Rishies took the play in to the opposing half and had most of the possession but were unable to capitalise upon it, and at the half time we were still 5-0 down. My notes have now become illegible but here goes. The Reds continued to play positive flowing rugby and were taking the play to Driffield. From a scrum 5 metres from the Driffield try line, McDonnell fed an inside pass to Bower who crashed over to level the scores. Bower was in action soon after at the other end of the pitch when he made a brilliant try saving tackle inches from the line. It was end to end stuff, and the Reds managed to get up to the opposition line again where a powerful ruck allowed McDonnell to pick up and dive over the line from close range. The Reds managed to defend well for the final minute or so and managed to hold out to win the match 10-5.

Tries: Will McDonnell (3), Jacob Bower, George Radcliffe (2), Thomas Sweeten (2), Ben Rooney (2), Nathan Cooper

Dave Mc

Young Guns bring home some Silverware

Match report Sunday 20th March
Another successful festival, this time the under 7's produced the best performance winning the Plate competition. Although there were no teams finishing outright winners the under 12's shared 3rd place in a draw with West Park Leeds in the Play off Plate final and the under 9's lost the playoff plate final to Cleckheaton. Its a very tough festival probably the toughest in Yorkshire and to cme away with those results is very encouraging.

Under 7's The Young Guns
Young Guns lift the Festival Plate

Rishworthians under 7s had a successful tournament winning the runners up Plate against festival hosts Sandal. This was a fantastic squad effort with all 12 players contributing to the team’s success. The teams in the under sevens section were drawn into two pools with Rishies playing against Sandal, York, West Park Leeds and Old Brodlians. The winners of each group played each other in the final and the runners up battled out for third and fourth place in the Plate final. Each game comprised of two five minute halves with a three minute half time break. Rishworthians progressed to the runners up plate final following two wins, one draw and a loss in the pool matches.
There are links to lots of photos at the bottom of the page

Pool Game 1 Sandal A 4 - 1 Rishworthians
Rishies started their games against the team that went on to win the under 7’s final. Sandal started the game very well, and were 2 tries up within 2 minutes, Rishies struggled with the pace of some of the Sandal boys ,but is was our poor tagging in the first half was a major factor in being 2-0 down at the half.

The second half started much better with some great running from Ted Grogan and Felix Jackson leading to Jon Baker scoring the first try of the half. Despite a much better second half performance giving the team something to build on, Sandal scored 2 more second half tries, to finish 4 to 1 victors. This game was a good lesson for all involved, to come ready to play from the first whistle, if we had done ,then the result could have been much closer.

Squad: Ted Grogan, Jon Baker, Ethan Grogan, Benedict Freeman, Jake Smith, William Davidson, Jack Billington,Felix Jackson, Freddie Connell, James Wadsworth, Charlie Rushworth ,William Boom.

Pool Game 2 Rishworthians 5 - 1 York
Using the time between games, Rishies coaches got the boys together to sort out a couple of thing from the first game. The words from the coaches had certainly registered, with all the players stepping up their game.The team really started working together, quick tagging from William Davidson and Ethan Grogan forced York turnovers, Jake Smith and Jack Billington created openings in the York defence allowing Jon Baker and Ted Grogan to score 2 first half tries. Ben Freeman made 3 great try saving tags to allow Rishies to go in at the half 2-0 up.

Rishies made 4 half time subs, this did not make a change to the play , with all players talking and helping each other out in defence. Once again great tagging set the platform with Freddie Connell and Charlie Rushworth leading the way.William Boom made a great break down the wing making a quick inside pass to Ted Grogan to give him is second of the game. James Wadsworth and Felix Jackson responded to Yorks only score , both players showing a turn of pace to score a 2 great solo efforts.Giving Rishies a well deserved win .

Scorers:Ted Grogan 2, Jon Baker, James Wadsworth,Felix Jackson

Pool Game 3 Rishworthians 6 - 3 Brodleians
Next up for the under 7s was a local derby game against a physical Brods side. Rishies made a great start, with Ethan Grogan scoring a fantastic try on the first play of the game, Brods responded with a try before Rishies tagging once again started to pay off , with William Davidson making a series of amazing diving tags.Jake Smith made a powerful cross field run to score in the corner.With Ted Grogan, Jack Billington and Jon Baker leading the way in defence making tags all across the pitch, Ethan Grogan got his second of the half before Ben Freeman sidestepped his way across the line to give Rishies a 4 to 1 lead.

Rishies made 5 half time subs , Brods started the half well scoring an early try, Rishies immediately re grouped, a number of strong runs from Felix Jackson, Freddie Connell and James Wadsworth once again set up Ted Grogan for a superb team try, Charlie Rushworth and William Boom once again keeping to the task of defending on opposite wings did fantastic work forcing men into touch and stopping any scoring opportunities for Brods. Jon Baker did very well staying on the pitch, after an interesting tagging technique was adopted by one of the Brods players, after the stoppage Jon made a nice inside pass to Ted Grogan for his second of the game. Brods managed a late try on the final whistle to give Rishies a strong win.

Scorers: Ted Grogan 2 , Ethan Grogan 2 Jake Smith, Benedict Freeman.

Pool Game 4 Rishworthians 2 - 2 West Park Leeds
This was the final game of the poole matches and turned out to be the decider for runners up position within the group. Rishies were winning 2 – 0 at half time with tries from Benedict Freeman and Ethan Grogan. The game looked to be set for a Rishies win but West Park Leeds produced a second half fight back to tie the game at 2 -2.

Plate Final Rishworthians 7 - 3 Sandal Saxons
Rishies progressed to the Plate final after finishing runners up in the group stages. The first half was very close as both teams defended extremely well. Benedict Freeman scored the opening try for Rishies after Jack Billington initial break. Sandal responded with a try of their own. Jon Baker scored two further tries before half time to give Rishies a 3 -1 half time lead. Sandal scored first after the break playing down the hill but Rishies rallied in defence and attack and scored three tries from Jon Baker and Ted Grogan 2 before Sandal scored their final try of the game. Rishies continued to attack until the end of the game with William Boom completing the scoring on the final whistle. This was a victory for the whole team as every member of the 12 player squad played in the Plate Final.

Squad – Charlie Rushworth, Ted Grogan, William Davidson, Ethan Grogan, William Boom, Jon Baker, Benedict Freeman, Jake Smith, James Wadsworth, Freddie Connell, Felix Jackson and Jack Billington

Scorers – Jon Baker 5, Ted Grogan 6, James Wadsworth 1, Felix Jackson 1, Ethan Grogan 3, Jake Smith 1, Benedict Freeman 3 and William Boom 1.

Thank you to the parents/grandparents etc for their support.

Darren Grogan/Dave Smith

Under 8's The Rams
No silverware from this festival

After winning the Keighley Festival it was going to be interesting to see how the team faired in probably the toughest festival in Yorkshire . The pool draw found the under 8's in a very tough group with Morley, Sandal, West Park Leeds, and Old Brods. No easy games there. .

Game 1: Rishworthians 6 - 3 Sandal
A great match to start to the festival with Toby Laurie and Lewis Paxton-White both grabbing a brace of tries with Jack Lumb and new player Edward Windle chipping in with a well worked try each.

Game 2: Rishworthians 1 - 4 Brodleians

After the euphoria of the Sandal game the squad faced local rivals Brodleians and came down to earth with a bang. nEmma McHugh scored a consolation try at the end of the match.

Game 3: Rishworthians 2 - 6 Morley
Morley one of the fancied sides to win something were the next team. This was a great performance against a very good side Rishworthians had failed to beat in five previous encounters season. Ben Gianotti and Adam Woodcock scored a try each . The team actually making Morley think about how they defended against us.

Game 4: Rishworthians 1 - 6 West Park Leeds
Adam Woodcock scored the only try of the match for the Under 8's against a very strong and well drilled West Park Leeds team.

Squad: Ben Collins, Ben Gianotti, Bobby White, Emma McHugh, Jack Lumb, Joe Walsh, Lewis Paxton-White, Rafe Dolan, Edward Windle, Felix?

Warren Doyle

Under 9's The Meercats
Rishworthians Finish Fourth at Sandal Festival

Rishworthians under 9's had a great day at the Sandal Festival last Sunday reaching the play offs and only narrowly missing out on the Final. Drawn in Poole B, Rishworthians had to play a number of group games before making it through beyond the group stage.

Game 1 Sandal 5 - 5 Rishworthians
The Meercats got off to a fine start drawing with a strong host side with a good individual effort from Tom Georgiou.

Game 2 Rishworthians 10 - 5 Pocklington
Rishworthians played some of their best rugby in their second game of the morning with some fine rucking and tackling. Tries from Tom Georgiou and Will Adams ensured a well earned victory.

Game 3 Rishworthians 20 - 0 Brodelians
The Meercats continued to impress against local rivals Brods running in four unopposed tries with Oliver Brian (1) and Tom Georgiou (3) both crossing the line for an impressive win.

Game 4 Rishworthians 15 - 15 Moortown
A tough game against Moortown ended in a draw with both sides playing some good rugby. The Meercats showed great character and fought back bravely to score an equalising try in injury time. Scores from Tom Georgiou, Oliver Brian and Finn Sutcliffe kept Rishworthians in the game.

Unfortunately the draw with Moortown cost Rishies a place in the final with the reds finishing a creditable second in their group behind Sandal. Rishies were therefore drawn against Cleckheaton in a play-off game for third place.

Play-Off Rishworthians 5 Cleckheaton 10
With Rishies' legs tiring in their last game of the day, the reds were narrowly beaten into fourth place by a strong Cleckheaton side. Despite some good attacking play and a try from Will Adams, The Cleckheaton side were able to score twice thereby securing third place overall.

U9's Squad : Billy Smith, Brandon Savage, Finlay Stewart, Finn Sutcliffe, Hayden Faulkner, Henry Hilton, Jack Marsden, Max Robinson, Nathan Sparkes, Oliver Brian, Owen Witchell, Reece Barraclough, Thomas Georgiou, William Adams,

Try Scorers - Tom Georgiou 6, Oliver Brian 2, Finn Sutcliffe 1, Will Adams 2

Man of the Match
Effort Award: The Squad
Top Tackler:

Mark Witchell

Under 10's The Destroyers
Valiant effort by Destroyers

The Destroyers travelled to Sandal for their second festival of the season, and just as at West Park Leeds two weeks ago found themselves up against some very strong opposition. On this occasion the 12 competing sides were split in to 3 groups of 4 teams, and Rish were drawn against the hosts Sandal, along with the ‘giants’ from Dinnington and the highly ranked Rosslyn Park team who had travelled up from London for the occasion.

Game 1 Rishworthians 5 - 15 Sandal
Following on from last weeks heavy defeat at the hands of Sandal Rish were aware of the importance of getting off to a good start and this they did in great style, holding Sandal to a solitary try in the first half which came from a powerful drive over following a period of good sustained Rish tackling. Nathan Donaldson almost equalized close to half time but his storming run down the wing was halted close to the Sandal line. The half ended with Rish still very much in the game.

The second half commenced with Sandal on the attack, and following a disallowed try for ‘handing off’ they went over for a second try to take a 10 – 0 lead. Rish continued to tackle well and as the clock ticked were gaining more possession and attacking the Sandal line. Following a period of sustained pressure the breakthrough came from a lineout close to the Sandal line from which Rish won possession and the ball was passed along the line allowing Nathan Donaldson to go over for a well deserved try. From the restart Sandal attacked again and pinned the Rishies in their own half, Rish fought well and regained possession and in an attempt to break clear and score the equalizing try they were forced to take chances and throw the ball out wide. Unfortunately Sandal intercepted and went over to score a third try with what turned out to be the last play of the game.

Man of the Match Nathan Donaldson and Jake Haynes
Effort Award The Squad
Top Tackler The Squad

Game 2 Rishworthians 5 - 25 Rosslyn Park
In this game the Destroyers made six changes from the first match and got off to a dream start as Rosslyn Park lost possession from the first play and Nathan Donaldson galloped down the wing to score in the corner. As the half wore on a well organized Roslyn Park began to win more possession and despite some determined Rish tackling they forced their way over the line twice to take the lead. This was extended to 15 – 5 when a good running try was scored from the last play of the half.

As the second half commenced Rosslyn Park began to apply more pressure, but Rish continued to tackle well and this was epitomized by Corey White who on two occasions drove a Rosslyn Park attacker in to touch. Eventually Rosslyn Park did find a way through to score a fourth try, and with the last play of the game extended their lead to 25 – 5 which gave a scoreline that did not truly reflect the game.

Man of the Match Nathan Donaldson
Effort Award Edward Chippendale
Top Tackler Jake Haynes

Game 3 Rishworthians 10 - 5 Dinnington
As the match for third place in the group commenced it was clear that the size of the Dinnington forwards would make it almost impossible for the much smaller Rish pack to win any possession from the scrums, and they would have to use any possession they got well, and utilize their speedier players. Rish tackled brilliantly during the opening stages of the half but the deadlock was broken when a run from a giant Dinnington forward finally broke the Rish defense for the opening try. The Destroyers responded immediately as from the restart Carrick Keighley Payne burst through the Dinnington defense to level the scores with a great try. Shortly after this Rish took the lead when the ball was played out to Tom Stott who went over in the corner for another good try to give Rish a half time lead of 10 -- 5.

The early encounters in the second half were even, and Jake Haynes and Nathan Donaldson both had chances to score and would have but for good Dinnington tackling. As the half progressed the larger Dinnington team began to dominate possession as they searched for the equalizing try and found themselves camped in the Rish half for the final minutes of the game. Only determined Rish tackling held them at bay, and with the final play of the game it looked as if Dinnington had leveled the game, but dogged Rish tackling forced the Dinnington forward to drop the ball over the try line leaving the Destroyers with a thoroughly well deserved and hard fought victory.

So Rish ended a good days rugby with a victory along with 2 great performances against very strong opposition. All should be very proud of their efforts, and once again thanks should go to all parents for their great support and encouragement.

Squad - Edward Chippendale, Nathan Donaldson, Oliver Fleming, Thomas Gillespie, Carrick Keighley Payne, William Harker, Jake Haynes Toby Helm, Sasha Highley, William Robbins, Zak Rush, Kian Sutrcliffe, Thomas Stott,,Matthew Tooby and Corey White.

Man of the Match Jake Haynes
Effort Award The Squad
Top Tackler Jake Haynes

Shaun Brittlebank

Under 11's The Raiders
No report

The Raiders

Under 12's The Reds
IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY AT SANDAL TO FINISH JOINT 3rd

The England rugby team in this years 6 Nations have beaten all before them, and then last Saturday they fell apart against Ireland. Italy against France. Say no more. The England cricket team whupped the Aussies over Xmas and yet are beaten, coincidentally, by Ireland in the cricket world cup. Andy Murray, Britain's best tennis player for decades, sometimes plays like a world beater, then the following week plays like a weekender at Queens. You are probably thinking, what is he on about. Well, we have the under 12's, the Reds, and there is a huge similarity between the above esteemed athletes and our very own budding internationals. You never know which team is going to turn up from one week to the next. One week it's mediocre and the following week it is outstanding.

This weekend we were at the prestigious Sandal Festival with an array of top teams from Yorkshire, and thankfully the Rishies youngsters turned up in a proper mindset and a correct frame of mind, and played some very impressive flowing rugby. In our group we had the company of Sandal, Selby, York and Cleckheaton.

Pool game 1 Sandal 25 - 15 Rishworthians
Last weekends confident display against Sandal at Copley seemed to have continued, as the Reds had the best of the opening forays and from a penalty on half way, big Jack Davis ran on to the ball at pace and barged his way through the Sandal defence to open the scoring. From the restart though Sandal managed to get to the Reds 5 metres and just like last week big Rees piled over from close range to level the score. Sandal took the lead almost immediately when they passed the ball through numerous hands to the winger who touched down in the corner. Play then switched from end to end with both teams guilty of handling errors, but the Reds did manage to keep hands on the ball, and some great passing through the backs fed Ben Rooney on the wing who managed to outpace the defence to level the score 10-10.

The start of the second half saw some lacklustre attempts at tackling which allowed the Sandal winger to retake the lead for the home team. Scrum half Will McDonnell took a quick tap penalty in his own half and managed to shrug off some ineffective Sandals tackles to make ground to the Sandal 5 metres, but initial quick ball from the ruck went to ground at the final pass and a possible try was missed. Very soon though Rishies managed to steal the ball in the line out and George Radcliffe dived over to level the scores again. The impressive Sandal boys however managed a further 2 tries, but the Reds youngsters did not give up the ghost and continued to attack the defence which managed to hold out to the end of the game. This account does not give a realistic account of a great game of end to end rugby. Both teams gave their all and were roundly applauded off the pitch at the end. The best game of the festival; this should have been the final.

Pool game 2 Rishworthians 20 - 0 Selby
The Reds continued in a confident mood and played the ball through the back line in waves of attacks up to the Selby try line but could not manage to break through to score. One of the Selby boys managed to break free down the left hand wing and was heading for the line but McDonnell tracked him and a well timed tackle banged him in to touch. It was then Thomas Creasy's turn to fly down the wing before he too was bundled in to touch. From the lineout Selby threw the ball wide but Tom Sweeten managed to intercept the pass and stroll over from 20 metres. The second half saw the Reds continuing to attack and this time Creasy managed to evade the tackles to score in the corner. Lovely hands through the backs again saw the ball end up with Creasy who helped himself to his second try and give the Reds a 15-0 lead. Will McDonnell had another run out of defence to deep in to the Selby half where he offloaded to Sam Bake who finished off in the corner. Final score 20-0 to the Reds.

Pool game 3 Rishworthians 10 - 10 York
For the first few minutes both teams tested the others defences with out making any headway, but McDonnell managed to break through the defence before offloading in the tackle to his half back team mate Bake who scored an identical try to the Selby match. Reds tackling took a holiday for a few minutes as they allowed the York centre to breeze through a huge gap from 20 metres to level the score. From the restart Lewis Ackroyd picked and up drove towards the line gaining precious yards. Most of the play was now in York's half and from 20 metres out the Reds took a superb rolling maul to the line where the ball was released down the line to Ollie Marshall to stroll over the line for a 10-5 lead. The game continued with Rishies having the better of the possession with surging runs from Davis and Sweeten from the backs and the pack were there at every ruck and maul securing ball. Against the run of play York managed to get the ball out to the wing and put in down in the corner with seconds to play.

Pool game 4 Rishworthians 35 - 10 Cleckheaton
Rishies opened the scoring from a scrum on half way with Davis driving forward before offloading to Bake who scurried over. From a stolen line out on the right touch the ball was thrown across field to Rooney on the left who scored by the flag. The same play brought a second try to Rooney in as many minutes. All of the play was taking place in Clecks half and strong attacking rugby was further rewarded with Creasy crossing again for a half time lead of 20-0. Rishies continued the scoring when Sweeten charged at the defence, threw a wonderful dummy pass and went through the gap that opened up for him. Will McDonnell got his first try of the tournament when he set off from half way, glided through the defence and finished off unopposed. But shock, horror, a momentary lapse of concentration allowed Cleckheaton to claw a try back, but the Reds attacked from the restart and Jacob Bower managed to dive over. Yet again, double shock, horror, what's going on…Cleck managed to score again in the final play of the game, but the Reds had won comfortably 35-10.

3rd/4th place play off final Rishworthians 5 - 5 West Park Leeds
WPL have turned in to one of our bogey teams but the Reds were determined to reverse the result from their festival (and the Yorkshire Cup, twice). The boys put WPL under early pressure and Sam Bake managed to get to the try line but was tackled at the last second. One of the WPL backs forwards managed to break through a gap but a shonking hit by McDonnell put the guy on his backside and made him spill the ball. A Rishies tap penalty on half way sent McDonnell through a gap and screaming down the wing before he was tackled on the line where WPL gave away another penalty. Davis took the ball and dived over in a heap of bodies to open the scoring. WPL have a habit of scoring in the last second and they did so again. From a ruck close to the Reds line, WPL threw the ball wide and the winger dived over to level the sore at half time. Neither team could make their possession pay dividends, though the Reds came close when the ball was again passed through the backs to Rooney but the ball was knocked on and advantage lost. WPL pressurised at the end but the Reds youngsters remained steadfast with some great tackling and on this occasion managed to prevent a last. A great game and I think the score was a fair result.

Coaches and parents were very appreciative of the effort and commitment shown by every player and to come 3rd equal was a tremendous outcome. The scoring shows that we played our normal expansive game with 15 of the 17 tries going to the backs, 7 scored by wingers. Well done guys.

Tries: Jack Davis (2), Ben Rooney (3), George Radcliff, Thomas Sweeten (2), Thomas Creasy (3), Sam Bake (3), Oliver Marshall, Will McDonnell, Jacob Bower

Dave Mc

Under 8's win Keighley Festival, u9's Runners up

Match report Sunday 6th March
Rishworthians enter the Festival stage of the season with visits to Keighley and West Park Leeds Festivals. THe best performances of the day was the under 8's who won their age group, the under 9's were runners up and under 7's reached the semi-finals. The under 12's disappointed winning only one pool game and we have no idea yet how the under 10's and 11's performed.

Under 7's The Young Guns
Well done Tigers to reach semi finals

Old Rishworthians Under 7s had their first taste of festival rugby when they entered the Keighley Mini Rugby Tournament. Rishworthians entered two under 7s sides – Sharks and Tigers. The teams were pooled into two separate groups with the Sharks playing Skipton, Lymm A and Aireborough. The Tigers were pooled against Lymm B, Ilkley and the hosts Keighley. The winners and runners up from each group progressed into the semi-finals. Each game comprised of two five minute half with a three minute half time break.

The Sharks Captain Felix Jackson
The Sharks found themselves in a very competitive section which provided the two finalist for the age group. Unfortunately the results didn’t go our way but the children put in 100% effort and enjoyed a lot of time with the ball.

Game 1 Rishworthian Sharks 4 - 7 Skipton
Sharks scorers - Felix Jackson 2, Will Boom 1, Luke Haigh 1,

Game 2 Rishworthian Sharks 2 - 6 Aireborough
Sharks scorers - Felix Jackson 1, Charlie Lovering 1,

Game 3 Rishworthian Sharks 2 - 6 Lymm A
Sharks scorers - Felix Jackson 1, Freddie Connell 1,

Man of MatchWill Boom
Top Tagger Freddie Connell
Effort Award The Whole Team

Squad William Boom, James Wadsworth, Freddie Connell, Thomas Westgarth, Felix Jackson, Luke Haigh and Charlie Lovering
Scorers Felix Jackson 4, Will Boom 1, Luke Haigh 1, Charlie Lovering 1 and Freddie Connell 1

The Tigers Captain Ted Grogan
The Tigers won their group matches and narrowly lost to Aireborough in the semi-finals.

Game 1 Rishworthian Tigers 7 - 3 Ilkley
Scorers - Ethan Grogan 2, Jon Baker 2, Jake Smith 2 and Ted Grogan 1.

Game 2 Rishworthian Tigers 10 - 2 Keighley
Scorers - Ethan Grogan 3, Jon Baker 1, William Davidson 2, Benedict Freeman 2, and Ted Grogan 2.

Game 3 Rishworthian Tigers 7 - 2 Lymm B
Scorers - Ethan Grogan 1, Jon Baker 1, Jack Billington 2, William Davidson 1 and Jake Smith 2.

Semi Final Rishworthian Tigers 2 - 3 Aireborough
Scorers - Ethan Grogan 1 and Jack Billington 1.

Man of MatchEthan Grogan
Top Tagger The Whole Team
Effort Award The Whole Team

Squad Ethan Grogan, Jon Baker, Jack Billington, William Davidson Benedict Freeman, Jake Smith and Ted Grogan.
Scorers Ethan Grogan 6, Jon Baker 4, Jack Billington 3, William Davidson 3, Benedict Freeman 3, Jake Smith 4 and Ted Grogan 3.

Thank you to parents for their support.

Darren Grogan

Under 8's The Rams
Great performance by the Rams to win the u8's trophy

The first festival of the year was accompanied by a lovely spring morning. A squad of 12 players travelled to Keighley for games against Skipton, Aireborough, Bradford Bees, Lymm & Ilkley. Despite a very late change in the start time, the team had their "game faces" on and were ready to play. The format was also changed from pool games and 2 final games to a league based system. These changes did not distract the squad as went on to win all their ames and lift the under 8's festival trophy.

Game 1: Rishworthians 6 - 2 Skipton
First up were the side from Skipton, a team that had turned us over the last time we played. However things were going to be very different today. The first half was a very one sided affair with regards to the scoreboard with Joseph Smallman running in 3 tries without any response from Skipton. Rishies produced great direct running from the forwards and this was complimented by fantastic tagging by the whole team to stop Skipton scoring. In the second half Skipton found their feet, which led to a much closer game. Joseph Smallman opened the scoring and then Skipton crossed the line for the first time. Toby Laurie & Adam Woodcock scored twice more and one final try from Skipton closed out the game.

Squad: Adam Woodcock, Ben Gianotti, Bobby White, Dillon Hilton, Joseph Smallman, Lewis Paxton-White, Toby Laurie
Tries: Joseph Smallman x 4, Toby Laurie, Adam Woodcock

Game 2: Rishworthians 4 - 2 Ilkley
After an excellent showing in the first game, Rishies now had to face Ilkley, another team that had beaten us previously. However buoyed by the performance of their teammates, the remaining team members continued in the same vein. From the sidelines it was clear that those Wednesday night training sessions were bearing fruit as the team maintained excellent defensive lines and forward running and by the end of the first half had put three tries on the board (Ben Collins, Toby Laurie & Bobby White). Much like the game against Skipton, Rishies extended their lead with another try from Toby Laurie at the start of the second half. The game then became very tight with Ilkley defending well and preventing Rishies from scoring, while at the same time adding two tries themselves.

Squad: Adam Woodcock, Ben Collins, Bobby White, Joseph Smallman, Lewis Paxton-White, Rafe Dolan, Toby Laurie
Tries: Toby Laurie x 2, Ben Collins, Bobby White

Game 3: Rishworthians 8 - 6 Bradford Bees
In a familiar pattern to the previous matches there was a "score" to be settled in this match. Bradford Bees had taken the honours on the last occasion the teams had met and we wanted revenge. With two wins from the first two games, momentum was building and the team were keen to maintain their winning ways.

Lewis Paxton-White opened the scoring for Rishies, which was quickly followed by a brace of tries from the Bees. Joe Walsh drove through to tie the score at 2-2. The Bees crossed the Rishies line once more before some great running from both Ben Gianotti and Lewis Paxton-White took the score line to 4-3 at halftime. The second half proved to be just as tense as the first. Lewis Paxton-White had another great run into the corner to extend the Rishies lead. The scoring continued from both sides (Ben Gianotti) to bring the score to 6-5. Rishies stepped up a gear and wonderful passing down the line led to Lewis Paxton-White crossing the Bees try line twice more. With little time remaining the Bees managed to score one final time before the final whistle blew.

Squad: Adam Woodcock, Ben Gianotti, Dillon Hilton, Emma McHugh, Joe Walsh, Josh Haigh, Lewis Paxton-White
Tries: Lewis Paxton-White x 5, Ben Gianotti x 2, Joe Walsh

Game 4: Rishworthians 6 - 5 Lymm
Having had lunch and rested up, Lymm were the next opponents for a Rishies side now brimming with confidence. Touted as one of the best teams in the country this was to be our sternest test. Rishies started the game quickly and with good direct running scored twice (Joseph Smallman & Bobby White) before Lymm scored. A scoring pattern emerged with each side scoring (Joseph Smallman x 2, Ben Collins) after each other until the half time whistle, with Rishies leading 5-4.

The second half turned out to be the tightest so far with each side cancelling each other out with good defensive efforts. Joe Walsh crossed the line for Rishies to open a small gap but Lymm scored once more. A very tense few minutes remained for all involved but Rishies were able to hold out and the final whistle blew with the score at 6-5 to Rishies. All in all this was a very good performance against a very good Lymm side that were the eventual runners-up of the festival.

Squad: Ben Collins, Bobby White, Emma McHugh, Joe Walsh, Joseph Smallman, Josh Haigh, Rafe Dolan
Tries: Joseph Smallman x 3, Ben Collins, Bobby White, and Joe Walsh.

Game 5: Rishworthians 4 - 3 Aireborough
With the end in sight, it was clear that Rishies had a very good chance of winning the tournament, but a big and physical Aireborough stood in the way of achieving that. With everyone having played so many games tiredness was creeping in so the coach picked the strongest and fittest players and the team took to the field to face Aireborough.

Lewis Paxton-White opened the scoring and then a lovely solo run from Bobby White added to Rishies try count. Aireborough added a try of their own and then with the best play of the tournament Ben Gianotti fired a great pass out wide to Lewis Paxton-White for another Rishies try bringing the score to 3-2 at halftime. At the start of the second half Lewis Paxton-White scored once more for Rishies to give a 2-try cushion. Despite the best efforts from Aireborough they only scored once more with the Rishies showed great discipline and desire to ensure that they won the game and the tournament.

Squad: Ben Gianotti, Bobby White, Emma McHugh, Joe Walsh, Joseph Smallman, Lewis Paxton-White, Toby Laurie
Tries: Lewis Paxton-White x 3, Bobby White

Tries for: 28, Tries against: 18
Try scorers: Lewis Paxton-White 8, Joseph Smallman 7, Toby Laurie 3, Bobby White 3, Ben Gianotti 2, Joe Walsh 2,
Ben Collins 2, Adam Woodcock 1

Lots of sweets from those players scoring 3 or more tries now required!

It has to be said that this was a great performance from all members of the squad and the result was well deserved. The team played for each other and everybody stood up to their opponents; the defence at times was immense with the team completing numerous sets of 7 tackles, and the attacking play shown in every game was superb with rampaging forward runs and darting backs crossing the line. We had a winning formulas with 3 forwards prepared to run hard and fast with the ball and get in the face of the opposition when without, 2 wingers that stopped the opposition running round the outside and also scored hatfuls of tries, together with 2 back-ups to plug the gaps in defence and exploit the holes in attack. There is now a big trophy heading to the clubhouse trophy cabinet with our names on it.

Player of the Tournament: Lewis Paxton-White – for excellent try scoring, and for being a superb winger showing exemplary defence.

From a very proud coach, and on behalf of the coaching team, can I say a big thank you to all the team and their parents. In particular to Mike who helped out on the day despite only returning from New Zealand the day before minus luggage, and to Paul for keeping such an excellent record of our efforts”.

Guy Laurie

Under 9's The Meercats
"Cats" Lose to a strong Lymm side in final

Rishworthians under 9's had a great day at the Keighley Festival last Sunday reaching the final and only narrowly missing out on winning the overall competition. Drawn in Poole A, Rishworthians had to play a number of group games before making it through to the semi final.

Game 1 Rishworthians 10 - 0 Baildon
The Meercats got off to a fine start with some excellent rucking and retained possession. Two tries from Tom Georgiou and some excellent support play saw the reds cruise to a well earned victory.

Game 2 Rishworthians 15 - 0 Bradford Bee's
Rishworthians continued where they had left off and three excellent tries from Oliver Brian (2) and Tom Georgiou ensured a victory against a battling Bee's side.

Game 3 Rishworthians 10 - 0 Keighley
The Meercats faced the Festival hosts in their last group game and played some of their best rugby of the season. Excellent support play, some fine tackling and rucking led to tries being scored by Tom Georgiou and Reece Barraclough. This well earned Victory over the home side ensured Rishies place in the semi finals.

Semi Final Rishworthians 5 - 5 Huddersfield
A tough game against local rivals Huddersfield ended in deadlock, despite Rishies dominating both possession and territory in the latter part of the game. Huddersfield managed to equalise following a good individual try from Will Adams but despite crossing the Huddersfield try line a number of times, Rishies were unable to find a winning score. Following a scoreless period of extra time, Rishies made it through to the final based on their results in the group stage of the competition.

Semi Final Rishworthians 5 - 10 Lymm
Rishworthians only just missed out in a close final against a well drilled Lymm side. It was the Meercats who opened the scoring with a fine breakaway try from Tom Georgiou. Lymm responded by moving the ball wide and utilising the free space available, scoring an equaliser just before the break. The second period of play was closely fought and with both sides beginning to tire it was Lymm who managed to score a late winning try.

Despite losing out in the final, Rishworthians played some excellent rugby and can look forward to some more festival rugby over the coming weeks.

U9's Squad : Billy Smith, Brandon Savage, Finlay Stewart, Hayden Faulkner, Henry Craven, Jack Marsden, Max Robinson, Nathan Sparkes, Oliver Brian, Oliver Muscat-Baron, Owen Witchell, Reece Barraclough, Thomas Atkinson, Thomas Georgiou, William Adams,

Try Scorers - Tom Georgiou 5, Oliver Brian 2, Reece Barraclough 1, Will Adams 1

Man of the Match
Effort Award: The Squad
Top Tackler:

Mark Witchell

Under 10's The Destroyers
Destroyers find the going tough in a strong pool group

The Destroyers commenced the "festival season" with a difficult trip to Bramhope, the home of West Park Leeds. On a fine and crisp spring morning perfect for rugby the tournament consisted of 2 groups of six teams, with the winner of each group going straight in to the final. Rishies were given the daunting task of playing the hosts West Park Tigers along with Otley, Selby, Sandal and York. The quality of the teams competing was emphasised by the fact that the other group included teams such as Wharfedale, Pocklington, a very strong Lymm team, and the West Park Lions.

Game 1 Rishworthians 0 - 20 West Park Tigers
Rishworthians got off to their customary slow start and never really got in to the game conceding 2 early tries Later in the half they had a decent amount of possession but were unable to convert this in to points and at half time trailed 10 – 0.
The second half continued in the same manner and West Park sealed the victory with 2 further tries, the first of which came from a fortunate bounce of the ball close to the Rishies line, but the second was a very classy and well worked try.

Game 2 Rishworthians 0 - 25 Otley
The second match was played on a heavily sloping pitch, and Rishworthians opted to play up the slope in the first half. Otley took full advantage of playing down the slope and ran in 3 tries in the first half to take a 15 – 0 half time lead.
In the second half Rishworthians continued to battle but were unable to make much headway and Otley ran in a further 2 tries before the game finished.

Game 3 Rishworthians 0 - 15 Selby
The Destroyers were now getting in to the tournament and they put up a much better performance than in the previous 2 games. Selby scored an early try in the corner, and a second try was saved by a fine last ditch tackle from Tom Gillespie. The half ended with Rishies still in the game trailing by a solitary try.
As the second half commenced Rish had their best chance to equalize when Jake Haynes had a fine run, and was halted just short of the tryline. In spite of their best efforts Rish could not create any further clear cut scoring chances and Selby went on to score a further 2 tries late in the game.

Game 4 Rishworthians 30 - 15 Sandal
After loosing three games on the trot many teams would have lost heart but the Destroyers put in their best performance of the day against Sandal. Spirits were raised on the pitch and for the parents on the touchline when Nathan Donaldson ran clean down the wing for a fine try to open the scoring. This was followed by 3 quick fire Sandal tries which put them well in control, but Rish dug deep and before the half ended Jake Haynes jinked past virtually the entire Sandal team to score, and for good measures Nathan Donaldson scored with a good crossfield run to level the scores.
In the second half there was only one team in the game as Rishworthians played some fine running rugby combined with determined tackling. They took the lead as Jake Haynes scored with another amazing run, and Nathan Donaldson secured his hat trick of tries with another blistering run down the wing. Not to be outdone Jake Haynes also completed his hat trick. As the whistle blew for full time the boys received a well deserved cheer from all on the touchline for a fine team performance.

Game 5 Rishworthians 10 - 30 York
After the previous victory Rishworthians once again put in a much better performance against York. Once again they fell behind to an early York score, and after several brave tackles York went over from close range for a second try. Rishworthians then had a good spell of pressure, and following a good run from Oliver Fleming the ball was played out to Jake Haynes who went over the line to bring Rishies back in to the game. Just before half time York scored a third to lead 15 - 5 at the interval.
Early in the second half York scored once again, but Rishworthians came back with great determination and Carrick Keighley Payne scored with a good straight driving run to the line. York immediately responded as their ‘giant’ of a forward charged through the Rish defense to cut short any hopes of a late Rish fightback, and York had the final say with a further try close to full time.

Squad - Edward Chippendale, Alexander Creasey, Nathan Donaldsom, Thomas Gillespie, William Harker, Jake Haynes, Toby Helm, Sasha Highley,Liam Holgate, Carrick Keighley Payne, William Robbins, Zak Rush, Thomas Stott, Matthew Toomby and Corey White.

In spite of four defeats the whole squad should be proud of their efforts, and great sporting attitude against very strong and well organized opposition in every game. Credit should also go to the parents who once again showed up in numbers and supported the boys throughout the day.

Man of the Match Nathan Donaldson, Jake Haynes, Carrick Keighley Payne
Effort Award William Harker, Oliver Fleming Tom Stott
Top Tackler

Shaun Brittlebank

Under 12's The Reds
REDS OFF THE BALL IN LEEDS

After the euphoria of the Huddersfield win a couple of weeks ago, the Reds came back down to earth with a bump at the West Park Leeds festival. Grouped with Roundhegians, West Park Leeds and Malton and Norton it was obvious that there would not be an easy match.

Match 1. Roundhegians 5 v 15 The Reds
Early play in the match was concentrated in the Reds half of the pitch but eventually we managed to make our way to Roundhegians 22. A quick tap penalty on the left was thrown out across field to Thomas Sweeten who managed to evade tackles and power over the line. Roundhegians managed to draw level when the Reds had a scrum on their own 5 metre line. An out of character fumble at the base of the scrum allowed the Rounhegians scrum half the chance to collect and stroll over the line. The Reds had good pressure in the second half and after 2 high tackles they had a penalty in the opposition 22. Another quick tap and scrum half Will McDonnell jinked his way through the defence to regain the lead. A strong run from half way by Sam Bake almost brought the next score but he was dragged down just short of the line. However a strong ruck by the Reds forwards allowed McDonnell time to collect and sneak over for the try and give the Reds a 15-5 win.

Match 2. West Park Leeds 5 v 0 The Reds
With Reds playing up the slope the opposition applied pressure on the Reds defence and the majority of play was concentrated in the 22. Both teams tackled well and the Reds managed to repel all attacks and it was not until the closing minute of the half that we managed to sneak in to the West Park half. The Reds managed more forays in to the opposition half after the break but never really threatened the try line. Same could be said of West Park. With the game ticking away towards a draw West Park managed to give the ball to their giant forward who ran diagonally for 30 metres without been tackled before sweeping left towards the try line, again brushing off some feeble attempts at tackles. A last gasp hard tackle by Jacob Bower appeared to have saved the day but the West Park youth managed to plonk the ball over the line and win the game in the last second.

Match 3. Malton and Norton 5 v 0 The Reds
Other results in the group meant that the Reds had to win this final match to progress to the semi-finals. As in the previous match the Reds found themselves under early pressure in their own half but they maintained discipline and managed to clear the lines. With seconds to half time more pressure from M and N was rewarded when they managed to evade Reds tackles and go over near the corner flag. Playing down the slope in the second half the Reds found themselves in promising positions but failed to capitalise when the final passes went astray. A good attacking position on the opposition line was again foiled when the ball was stolen and cleared. Unfortunately with only 6 minutes each way time soon passes and before we knew it the game had ended with the Reds losing 5-0 and confined to an early bath.

It was one of those days that could have shown such promise but ended in frustration. The guys only got going late in the first match but failed to carry it through in to the other two games. All is not doom and gloom though. Even though they did not play as usual they did not deserve to lose 2 matches and managed to keep 2 very good teams to one score each. If they had produced their usual flowing rugby things would have been so much different. C'est la vie.

Tries: Will McDonnell (2), Thomas Sweeten

Dave Mc

Excellent perforance by all teams in Festival

Match report Sunday 7th November
Rishworthians minis were despatched to all parts of West Yorkshire to compete in the West Aire Wharfe District Festival. The under 9's made the long journey to Wharfedale to win the festval, the under 11's to Skipton to finish 3rd and qualify for the Yokshire Cup and the under 12's to Bees to win the festival andalso qualify for the Yorkshire Cup. Meanwhile the under 10's remained at Camp Copley to host the under 10' festival and won the Shield Competiton and come 3rd. Meanwhile the under 7's and 8's had a taste of festival rugby with a 3 way tournament at Morley.

Under 7's The Young Guns
Mixed fortunes for the Young Guns

Old Rishworthians under sevens took two teams to Morley to play in four team mini tournament with Morley and Bramley under 7’s.

Game 1 Bramley 6 - 8 Rishworthians Rockets
Ted Grogan opened the scoring for Rishworthians before Bramley hit back with two tries. Ethan Grogan side stepped through the Bramely defence to level the scores before Bramley scored their third try. Rishworthians responded with tries from Ted Grogan, William Davidson and Ethan Grogan to lead 5 – 3 at half time. The sides scored 3 tries each in the second half with Ted and Ethan completing their hat-tricks and William Davidson scoring his second.

Man of Match Charlie Rushworth
Top Tagger Ethan Grogan
Effort Award Francis Mackenzie

Game 2 Morley 5 - 4 Rishworthians Sparklers
Morley came out on top in a very close game between two evenly matched sides. Jon Barker and Jake Smith scored Rishworthians first half tries against two tries from Morley. Morley scored two early second half tries before Freddie Connell and Felix Jackson scored for Rishworthians. The game looked set for a draw but Morely scored on the final whistle.

Man of Match Felix Jackson
Top Tagger Jake Smith
Effort Award William Boom

Game 3 Morley 7 - 5 Rishworthians Rockets
The rockets were unable to continue their success from the first game. Rishworthians tries came from Ted Grogan with 4 tries and one try from Ethan Grogan.

Man of Match Ted Grogan
Top Tagger Will Davidson
Effort Award Luke Haigh

Game 4 Bramley 4 - 7 Rishworthians Sparklers
Felix Jackson’s try was matched by Bramley before Jake Smith and Benedict Freeman scored to put Rishworthians ahead to lead 3 – 1 at half time. Bramley rallied in the second half but Rishworthians managed to outscore them by four tries to three. Rishworthians scores coming from Jon Baker 2 , Will Boom and Felix Jackson.

Man of Match Benedict Freeman
Top Tagger Freddie Connell
Effort Award Jon Baker

Scorers – Ted Grogan 7, Ethan Grogan 4, John Barker 3, Felix Jackson 3, Jake Smith 2, William Davidson 2, Charlie Rushworth 1, William Boom 1 and Freddie Connell 1.

Rockets squad – Charlie Rushworth, Thomas Westgarth, Ted Grogan, William Davidson, Luke Haigh, Ethan Grogan, Francis Mackenzie and Oscar Lee.

Sparklers squad – William Boom , Jon Baker, Benedict Freeman, Jake Smith, Freddie Connell, Lucas Mackrill and Felix Jackson

Thank you to the parents/grandparents etc for their support. Also thank you to all those who helped find the referees pen (twice).

Man of Match Jon Baker
Top Tagger Luke Haigh
Effort Award James Wadsworth

Under 8's The Rams
A steep learning curve for the Rams

In a distant corner of Morley RFC, certainly too far for the lawnmower to reach, the Under 8's took part in a mini festival against Morley A, Morley B and Bramley. In grass so long a herd of cows would have been happy, 14 players turned out; an excellent turnout, including Adam our latest and very promising new recruit.

The players showed a never die attitude in all three games, up against very physical non-contact sides, and did the club proud. At one point the coaches wondered if full contact was now allowed in the under 8's, along with travelling and wondering offside.

It was a steep learning curve for the team as Morley and Bramley played a flowing kind of rugby that we have not faced before. Our players were drawn in to get the tag, making space for opposition runners taking a quick off-load. Only our good attacking play making regular ground up the pitch, and strong defensive work, kept the games close and competitive.

Game 1 Rishworthians 1 - 4 Morley A
Game 2 Rishworthians 4 - 4 Morley B
Game 3 Rishworthians 2 - 3 Bramley

Tries Ben Gianotti 3, Toby 1, Killian 1, Dillon Hilton 1, Jack Lumb 1

The Under 8 squad: Toby, Jack, Joe, Rafe, Dillon, Ben G, Ben C, Bobby, Joshua, Noah, Emma, Thomas, Killian and Adam.

A big thank you from the coaches to all players and parents for making the journey to Morley. The sun shone and the players tried their hardest - the future looks bright indeed.
Thanks again. Guy Laurie.

Under 9's The Meercats
"Cats" win Under 9's District Cup

The picturesque setting of Whafedale RUFC was the venue for this years Under 9's District Festival. Old Rishworthian's entered with high hopes on the back of an unbeaten run so far this season. The competition was split into two fixture pools with the overall winners of each group meeting each other in the Final. Old Rishworthians were drawn against Wharfedale, Old Brodleians and Cleckheaton in their side of the draw.

Game 1: Wharfedale 10 - 30 Rishworthians
Rishies made a great start in their first game of the tournament and proved too strong for the home side to contain. Some fine support play and good handling lead to six tries scored by Thomas Georgiou (3), William Adams, Henry Craven and Henry Hilton. Despite some exceptional tackling from Thomas Atkinson, Wharfedale never gave up and battled on to score two consolation tries.

Game 2: Rishworthians 15 - 10 Brodleians
The second game was a closer affair with both sides playing good close contact rugby. Some fine individual runs from Jack Marsden and Oliver Muscat-Baron saw Rishies gain good territorial advantage. Some intelligent play from scrum half Brandon Savage helped to produce excellent tries from Tom Georgiou and William Adams (2). Brods continued to press throughout the game and once again, good defensive work by William Hulme helped to limit Brod's efforts to two tries.

Game 3: Rishworthians 5 - 5 Cleckheaton
Old Rishworthians took the opportunity to rest some of their key players prior to the final and the squad responded tremendously well against a strong Cleckheaton side. An early try from Thomas Georgiou put Rishies in front prior to several more changes in the ranks. Some good all round team play from Billy Smith, Max Robinson, Nathan Sparkes, Hayden Faulkner and Reece Barraclough showed Rishies strength in depth and contained the Cleckheaton attack, limiting them to one try and thereby ensuring Rishies place in the Final.

Final Rishworthians 5 - 0 Skipton
Rishies faced a Strong Skipton side in the final. Skipton had won their group with victories over Bradford and Bingley, Baildon and Keighley. In a closely fought physical game, Rishies took an early lead with a fine individual try from Tom Georgiou, stripping the ball from the Skipton attack before running three quarters of the pitch and touching the ball down. The larger Skipton side then gained good possession but some solid defensive work up front from Owen Witchell and Jack Marsden thwarted the skipton attack.

Some excellent tackling and rucking by the whole team provided further scoring opportunities for Rishies with Tom Georgiou and Henry Craven going close before being forced into touch. Skipton then came back strong in the closing stages of the game but, despite their physical advantage, were unable to breach Rishies galvanised defence. The sound of the final whistle ensured the victory for Old Rishworthians and capped a superb overall squad performance.

Try Scorers - Henry Craven 1, Henry Hilton 1, Thomas Georgiou 6, William Adams 3.

Man of the Match Thomas Georgiou
Effort Award: Jack Marsden
Top Tackler: Thomas Atkinson

Squad: Billy Smith, Brandon Savage, Hayden Faulkner, Henry Craven, Henry Hilton, Jack Marsden, Max Robinson, Nathan Sparkes, Oliver Muscat-Baron, Owen Witchell, Reece Barraclough, Thomas Atkinson, Thomas Georgiou, William Adams, William Hulme.

Under 10's The Destroyers
The Destroyers win the Shield Competition

Old Rishworthians hosted the event this year and overall it was a very successful day.

Game 1 Rishworthians 20 - 10 Bees
A solid start to the day with a comfortable win over Bees. The highlight of the game was Nathan Donaldson's try following some excellent ball handling skills from the Rishworthian's backs. Other scores came from Jake Haynes, Tom Stott and Carrick Keighley Payne.

Game 2 Rishworthians 15 - 0 Skipton
Excellent work in defence prevented Skipton from getting on the score sheet and Rishworthian's superior play going forward gradually allowed them to take control of this game. Tom Stott scored a first half try to give Rishworthians a 5-0 half time lead and two second half tries from Tom Gillespie and Nathan Donaldson resulted in a 15-0 victory.

Game 3 Rishworthians 0 - 10 Wharfedale
Wharfedale, who went on to win the cup final, were a strong and hard hitting opposition. Despite battling hard Rishworthians gave away too much ball in contact areas and Wharfedale finally capitalised on this to go over for a single try in the first half. A similar story in the second half allowed another Wharfedale try giving them a 10-0 victory.

Cup Semi Final Rishworthians 0 - 10 Keighley
Finishing second in the pool stage Rishworthians then met Keighley in the cup semi-final.
Keighley played to their strengths in this game notably one HUGE front row forward who wouldn't have looked out of place in an Under 15's side. It was fantastic to see the lads attempting to stop this player, which they did on many occasions much to the delight of the noisy home spectators who cheered loudly each time he went to ground. Sheer power eventually triumphed and with the Rishworthian players visibly tiring Keighley scored twice in the second half to give them a 10-0 win.

Shield Final Rishworthians 10 - 5 Huddersfield YMCA
Far from being disheartened Rishworthians then took on Huddersfield YMCA in the Shield final.
YMCA were struggling with injuries and could only field 8 players at the start of the game. In our usual sporting spirit Rishworthians also fielded 8 players. Solid defence again restricted YMCA's attacking play and two first half scores from Tom Gillespie and Nathan Donaldson gave Rishworthians a 10-0 half time lead. A further YMCA injury would have reduced the sides to seven players at the start of the second half had Rishworthians not 'loaned' YMCA two players to allow more of the Rishworthians squad to play a game. At one point it looked as though this could have backfired with YMCA scoring to get within one score of levelling the game. Solid defence though allowed Rishworthians to keep YMCA at bay and win the Shield with a 10-5 victory.

Squad:Toby Helm, Tom Stott, Tom Gillespie, Carrick Keighley-Payne, William Harker, William Robins, Corey White, Oliver Fleming, Ed Chippendale, Matty Tooby, Nathan Donaldson, Jake Haynes

After 5 games when every single player did his best it would be unfair to pick out individuals for awards. The morning was all about working together as a team and was typified by moments such as the build up to Nathan Donsaldson's try in the first game and the efforts of the whole team to slay the giant from Keighley. Well done to all the players.

I would like to make a special mention of the 5 players who made up part of the Barbarians team. Sasha Highley, Tom Raistrick, Zak Rush, Liam Holgate and Xander Creasy came up against some very strong opposition but despite losing their games they kept on giving their best and what was most pleasing to see was that they finished with a smile on their faces. Massive thanks also to Doug and Shaun for running the side at no notice.

Finally thanks to all those parents who helped out during the festival and to Hugh Creasy and Glen Cockroft for refereeing.

Under 11's The Raiders
Unbeaten Raiders qualify for Yorkshire Cup

A fine team performance saw Old Rishworthians Under 11's qualify for the first round of the Yorkshire Cup after an unbeaten run in the District Festival at Skipton.

Game 1 Rishworthians 0 - 0 Brodleians
The Raiders ground out a 0 - 0 draw against Brodleians in their opening game. A strong Brods forward pack put the Raiders defence under extreme pressure for much of the game but heroic defending on their own try line prevented the opposition from scoring and earning a well deserved draw.

Game 2 Rishworthians 14 - 7 Wharfedale
The second game saw the Raiders being pitched against Wharfedale. Fullback Tom Craven cut back down the blindside for the first try following a sustained period of pressure by the Raiders, with Sam Lovering converting the kick. Wharfedale equalised with a well worked try by their forwards, who were huge in comparison to the Rishworthian pack. The Raiders tried to move the ball wide to exploit the space down the wings and were eventually rewarded as fly half George Wright broke down the left wing, drew his defender and then timed his pass to perfection with Tom Craven running onto the ball at pace to score his second try of the game. Lovering converted to secure a 14 - 7 victory.

Game 3 Rishworthians 14 - 0 Bees
The final pool match saw the Raiders chalk up a 14 - 0 win over Bradford and Bingley Bees. A strong run by winger Sam Puddephatt saw him tackled just short of the line. The Rishies forwards piled over at the ruck and the ball was shipped out quickly to centre Patrick Smallman, who crashed over for the try, with Kian Stewart adding the conversion. The Bees looked the more likely to score next, camping on the Rishies try line for several minutes. Once more though, a superb team defensive effort prevented them from scoring and Morgan Smithies managed to rip the ball clear and pass it to centre Kian Stewart, who showed his pace by running the length of the field to score a fine solo try, which he also converted.

3rd place play off Rishworthians 12 - 0 Skipton
Having been pipped to top spot in the group stage on points difference by Old Brod's, The Rishworthian Raiders were then drawn against home side Skipton in the 3rd place play off. Despite winning plenty of possession from set pieces and at the ruck, the Rishwothians back division failed to exploit the space out wide, too often cutting back in and holding onto the ball when a simple pass would have been a better option. A tactical switch by coach Dave Puddephatt put Tom Craven at fly half who made an immediate impact, by releasing centre Patrick Smallman for the opening score, which was converted by Stewart. More possession followed and when Connor Friend stole the ball in a maul and scrum half Vinny Maude spun the ball wide, Tom Craven floated a lovely pass to centre Kian Stewart who scored in the corner to secure a 12 - 0 victory and send the Raiders through to the Yorkshire Cup.

Tries: Tries: Craven (2), Smallman (2), Stewart (2)
Conversions: Lovering (2), Stewart (3)

Man of Match Vinny Maude
Effort award Tom Craven & Kian Stewart

Squad: Will Symms, Sam Puddephatt, Kallan Jamieson, Callum Bell, Morgan Smithies, George Wright, James Mc Hugh, Toby Muscat Baron, Vinny Maude, Tom Craven, Nathan Hales, George Ackroyd, Connor Friend, Kian Stewart, Patrick Smallman, William Hilton, Sam Lovering.

Dave Puddephatt

Under 12's The Reds
Reds Qualify for u12's Yorshire Cup

When the Reds travelled to Bingley a couple of weeks ago the weather was atrocious, but this Sunday was completely different with some pleasant autumnal sunshine for the District Festival. The Reds played four group matches and won all of them without conceding a try, finished as the top placed team, and qualified for the Yorkshire Cup.

Game 1 Rishworthians 21 - 0 Cleckheaton
Cleckheaton got the game underway and from the return the Reds managed to make early in roads and took the ball deep in to Clecks territory where quick ball from a ruck saw Thomas Sweeten go over to open the scoring. Jacob Bower made the conversion. From the restart scrum half Will McDonnell charged down the right wing and was free of the defence when he was cruelly brought back by the referee who stated that he stepped on the line!! No worries though as the Reds increased their lead from a penalty set move as Sweeten again crossed the line from a strong direct run. Bower converted. The Reds forwards were dominant in the scrums winning against the head time and again and one such turnover took the ball in to a promising position close to the Cleck line but the Reds failed to convert to points and half time came. The Reds were playing some good rugby with superb hands from the back line, but it was the forwards again who made the next try winning another scrum against the head, and quick ball out to Jack Davis allowed centre Sweeten to run on the pass and crash over for his third try of the game. Bower converted to make the final score 21-0..

Game 2 Rishworthians 21 - 0 Ilkley
The Reds made good ground from the off with an excellent phase of passing and rucking which ended with a frustrated defender trying to take Tom Sweetens head off his shoulders. From the penalty a set move saw the ball go the full width of the pitch before coming back inside for Jack Davis to put the first score on the board. Bower converted. From the restart classic rucking from the forwards and lovely hands from the backs saw Sweeten again take the ball and increase the lead to 12-0. Bower converted. The next try was similar to the last with the Reds controlling the ball and then releasing Davis to crash over from close range. Bower converted with the half time score now 21-0. The second half was try less but the Reds maintained surging runs from number 8 Bower and second rower Josh Lynch, and for a time the Reds were camped in Ilkleys half. When required the Reds defended well and kept Ilkley from crossing the line. The Reds were denied another try at the death when Jamie Highley went over only to be held up, so the game ended 21-0 to the Reds, in a match that they were dominant throughout.

Game 3 Rishworthians 19 - 0 Wharfedale
Soon in to this match the Reds found themselves deep in Wharfedale territory where they were awarded a try 5 metres from the try line. Scrum half McDonnell took a quick tap and before the opposition had realised, he had scored the try. Bower made the conversion. The second try was another tested set move from a scrum in midfield. Lovely interlinking passes between McDonnell and Bower released the scrum half who dodged and weaved his way through the defence to increase the Reds lead. Bower converted. The Wharfedale youngsters had no answer to the power and class of the Rishies pack who gave nothing away and at half time the scored remained 14-0. From the restart the Reds boys found themselves with a penalty close to the Wharfedale try line and another quick tap by McDonnell caught the defence unawares and he strolled over for his third try of the game. Bower missed the kick. The Wharfedale unit seemed to get a second wind and began to produce some good rugby but the Reds defence remained solid and repelled all boarders to win the game 19-0.

Game 4 Rishworthians 19 - 0 North Ribblesdale
Where the Rishies had produced some glorious rugby in the previous three games, this last match produced some lethargic rugby at times strewn with handling errors. However, they were still dominant and opened the scoring with Sam Bake copying his mate Will with a quick tap penalty to go over from 5 metres. Bower converted. The score was increased when a Reds ruck in North Ribbs half saw McDonnell pick up and canter over unopposed down the empty blindside. Bower converted again and the score was 14-0. Early possession and scrums won against the head in the second half were not turned in to points, but the Reds final score eventually came after a succession of rucks when Bake again crossed from 10 metres. Bower missed the conversion and the game ended 19-0 to Rishies.

Tries: Thomas Sweeten (4), Will McDonnell (4), Sam Bake (2), Jack Davis (2) Cons: Jacob Bower (10)

Points award: Thomas Sweeten - 4, George Radcliffe/Jack Davis - 3, Jacob Bower - 2, Nathan Cooper - 1

A good day out with congratulations going to the whole squad who produced some scintillating rugby at times and were no match for any of the opposition, which bodes well for future games. It just shows that going over things time and again in training pays off in the end. We have a very talented set of youngsters in our squad who will only get better and better. Many thanks again to the parents for giving your wholesome support to every player in the squad and the coaches, and to the ‘gazebo team’ who gave us all a laugh trailing the erected gazebo around the site.

Dave Mc

Slideshow Rishworthians u12's District Festival.
Click on arrows to view more photos, click on photo to enlarge.

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Under 7's The Young Guns at Morley Flodlit Festival
Young Guns win Floodlit Festival

Match report Friday 15th October
Rishworthians were invited to play in the Morley Floodlit Festival. It was their first experience playing under lights and to cap a fine evening they wn the under 7's trophy.

Morley 5 - 7 Rishworthians
Rishies took to the field for only the second time in their young career with 7 players and no subs. The players, coaches and parents soon wondered if they were in for a long night as Morley scored an early try on the fourth phase after some good Rishies tagging. Rishies re-grouped and William Davidson took the 1st play of the night and beat every player on the field to draw the scores level. Maybe we could post our first win after losing last week to an older and more experienced Littleborough side, the parents wondered.

However some sloppy play in midfield from both sides saw Morley eventually take the initiative and score back to back tries but only after two try saving tackles from Freddie Connell and Jake Smith. 1-3 down approaching half time and Luke Haigh was very unlucky to be called into touch on his way to the try line on the referees blind side. The resulting play saw a great tag from Jake once again. A Morley dropped ball turned the ball over to the Young Guns and John Baker scored the first of his 5 tries.

Felix Jackson took a fantastic tag from the Morley re-start and was rewarded with a Morley dropped ball and his first opportunity to run at a broken line. His determination to go three quarters of the field was typical of his effort all evening and he was unlucky not to score. A quick Morley try left them 2-4 down with only seconds to go in the first half but more great running from Felix, supported by James Wadsworth set a platform for Jon to score two late tries to leave it 4-4 at half time.

Half Time Morley 4 - 4 Rishworthians

Willliam took the re-start, and once again beat the defence and scoring in the corner before being harshly pulled back for a foot in touch. From the turn over Morley ran hard leaving the Rishies defence a little flat footed and they eventually scored. The try of the match followed with James taking the re-start, supported by a great run down the wing firstly by Freddie, and then by Jake, backed up by John to score his 4th try in a great individual performance. More great tagging by Felix, Jake and William kept Morley out before the fresher legs of the Morley substitutes paid off and they scored an excellent try in the corner.

At the re-start Luke and Freddie made good yards before Jon crossed the line to the delight of the away support only for it to be disallowed for diving. Rishies picked themselves up though, and a great team move started by Freddie went through a full set of hands for Jon to score his 5th try of the game and bring the score level with only seconds remaining. Morley only just had time to re-start the game, and a dropped ball was quickly picked up by man of the match Felix who spotted a gap and scored the final try for a well deserved Rishies victory.

In only the 2nd game of the U7's young rugby career, the parents cheered the players off the field and captain Jon Baker collected the 1st trophy of the season. Jake Smith was awarded top tagger for try saving tags and Freddie Connell won the team effort award for being in all places at all times. Luke, James, William, and in particular Jon can deserve to feel gutted that they missed out on individual awards but such a great team performance made it hard to share out. With 8/10 additional players all available for Sunday's trip to Brodleians, Rishworthins U7's are looking strong and destined for a great debut season.

Squad - Jon Baker (Captain, 5 tries), Jake Smith (Top tagger), Luke Haigh, Freddie Connell (Effort award), James Wadsworth, Felix Jackson (MoM, 1 try), William Davidson (1 try)