Old Rishworthian RUFC
Address: The Clubhouse, Copley, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX3 0UG
Telephone: 01422 353919, E-mail: rugby@orrufc.co.uk
Club Colours Maroon, White and Black
Minis Match Reports 2009 - 2010
Old Rishworthian RUFC
Minis Match Reports 2009 - 2010
Match report Sunday 20th September
An Indian summer morning at Copley produced good numbers for the third minis training session of the new season. More new recruits join in to boost the numbers. Meanwhile the under 8's were invited to pay an exhibition half time game at Leeds Carnegie. They opened their account for the newseason with an excellent win in front of a large crowd.
Under 6's The Micros
The micros trained his Sunday with yet another increase in numbers. This week the micros had 20 players enjoying a training session. Warren Doyle now has three coaches to help plus a number of parents willing to help whenever required.
The Under 8's at Leeds Carnegie
The under 8s get their season of to a winning start.
Aireborough 1 - 4 Rishworthians
On a beautiful sunny day the Old Rishworthian under 8's headed off to Leeds to play at Headingly, in the half-time slot of Leeds Carnegie v. London Irish. The air of excitement amongst our young players was palpable. The thought of playing to a much larger crowd (several thousand plus the TV audience) didn't seem to phase them one jot, in fact the bigger the number of watchers quoted the higher the excitement level amongst the team. For the first half of the match our young players watched the professionals - giving all their support to the local team. Then as the half-time whistle blew the squad launched themselves onto the pitch ready to meet the opposition.
They were playing Aireborough, a team they have never played before. The match was just 10 minutes long but the pace frenetic, the action non-stop. Rishworthians were all over their opposition. There were some fantastic tackles, and stunning runs for the line and the match ended 4-1 to Rishworthians.
This was the first competitive game played after the long summer break and all members of the team played well. A good omen for the season ahead.
Squad: Brandon Savage, Finn Sutcliffe, Henry Hilton, Henry Craven, Kian Sutcliffe, Oliver Brian, Owen Witchell, Haydon Faulkner, Reece Barraclough, Reggie Herd, Tom Georgiou, William Adams,
Scorers: Finn Sutcliffe (2), Oliver Brian, Tom Georgiou
Man of the Match
Top Tagger -
Effort Award -
Match report Sunday 4th October
After yesterdays howling gale and sweeping down the Copley pitch the minis started their new season in sunshine. The under 7's and 12's were without a game and the under 11's travelled to Leeds Carnegie to take part in the Land Rover Cup. More new players arrived and the under 12's now have a squad of 13 players enough to sta playing ompetitive games.
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Under 6's The Micros
The Young Guns disappointed with no opening game
Rishworthians C - C Baildon
The Young Guns with 14 players keen for their first competitive game had to make do with a training session as Baildon were unable to raise a team.
Man of the Match
Top Tagger -
Effort Award -
The under 8s make it 2 wins out of 2
Rishworthians 18 - 12 Baildon
The sun shone brightly over Copley as the Old Rishworthian Under 8's faced Baildon in their first proper competitive game of the season. The game started with both teams evenly matched in the first third, coming to the first break 2 all.
However, Rishworthians showed none of the sparkle that had been present in their play in the 2008-09 season. After an inspiring team talk in the break Rishworthians threw themselves into the 2nd section and put up a much more respectable performance with tries scored and tags taken by most of the team.
Old Rishworthians entered the 3rd, and final, section of play 9-7 up but Baildon scored the first try to keep the pressure on. This galvanized Rishworthians they put their all into the final minutes of play and scored a total of 9 tries and took 30 tags in the final section. Final score was 18 to Old Rishworthians ? 12 Baildon.
Although the Old Rishworthians are not yet playing as well as they did at the back-end of the 2008-9 season, 2 wins out of 2 is a good start to the season for any team, and the quality of play will improve as the season progresses.
Try Scorers: Thomas Georgiou (7), Oliver Brian (6), Brandon Savage (1), Reece Barraclough (1), Henry Craven (1), Finn Sutcliffe (1), William Adams (1)
Squad: Haydon Faulkner (c), Henry Craven , Henry Hilton, William Adams, Oliver Muscat-Baron, Oliver Brian, Owen Witchell, Brandon Savage, Thomas Georgiou, Billy Smith, Reece Barraclough, Finn Sutcliffe
Man of the Match: Owen Witchell
Top Tagger: Thomas Georgiou
Effort Award: Haydon Faulkner
The under 9s get their season of to a great start.
Rishworthians 40 - 0 Baildon
Rishworthian's ability to put the opposition down in the tackle and regain possession of the ball allowed them to play some fine flowing rugby and score some quality tries. They worked hard as a unit and all the players contributed to this impressive win. All the hard work during the extra training sessions definitely paid off and the players visibly grew in confidence as the game went on. A great start to the season and long may it continue.
Try Scorers Carrick Keighley-Payne 4, Corey White 2, Nathan Donaldson, Tom Stott
The effort award rightly went to the whole team for an all-round excellent performance.
Man of the match for his 4 try haul went to Carrick Keighley-Payne.
Tackler of the match was awarded jointly to Tom Stott and Corey White.
Thanks again to all the parents for their support, to Simon and Andy for running the team on and off the pitch and to Matthew's dad for making the day's awards.
Squad: William Harker, Zak Rush, Toby Helm, Joe Barrett, Kian Sutcliffe, Tom Stott, Nathan Donaldson, Reggie Herd, Corey White, Carrick Keighley-Payne, Matthew Tooby, Luke Sadler
The Raiders get season under way with a good win.
Rishworthians 30 - 10 Baildon
Rishworthians U10's hosted Baildon for their first match of the season. After some great training sessions and the addition of several new players, the U10 unit were a force to be reckoned with!
In the first half, the front row combination of Sam Puddephatt, James Mc Hugh and Toby Muscat Baron in the scrum gave scrum half Vinny Maude a solid platform to work from. Maude got the ball away from the base of the scrum with ease to set up Will Symms for two tries in quick succession. Sam Puddephatt was also quick to exploit gaps in the Baildon defensive line with a brace of tries, taking the team into a 4 try lead at half time.
The second half saw Baildon get on the score board with two quick tries as a result of lapses in concentration from the Rishworthian defensive line. Baildon would have scored a third try had newcomer and man of the match Morgan Smithies not made a fantastic covering tackle just before the attacking player touched down. From the resulting spilled ball, Puddephatt slipped a pass to Kallan Jamieson who weaved his way the length of the pitch to score. Callum Bell also got in on the action to finish off a fine solo run, adding to the tally and bring the first match of the season to a resounding victory for Rishworthians 6 tries to 2.
Try Will Symms 2, Sam Puddephatt 2, Kallan Jamieson, Callum Bell
Man of the match Morgan Smithies.
Squad: Will Symms, Sam Puddephatt, Kallan Jamieson, Callum Bell, Morgan Smithies, James Mc Hugh, Toby Muscat Baron, Vinny Maude, Tom Craven,
Under 11's The Reds at the Land Rover Cup
A bad day at the office for The Reds.
The under 11's season got under way with the prestigious Land Rover Challenge at Leeds Carnegie. As usual the event was well attended by players and parents and it was thought that we may do well as we had avoided Sandal and Brods in the group stages. Unfortunately it was not a good day, rugby wise, for the Reds, who lost all three of their group matches. I don't know if it was the rousing, inspirational speech from coach Cockroft "It's not about winning its about enjoying yourself"?.that the players took literally, or poor coaching, but things did not go according to plan.
Rishworthians 0 - 5 Sheffield
The Reds started the game as though they meant business and were dominating the scrum and the maul with scrum half Will McDonnell stealing the ball in the maul on two occasions. Jack Davis and Jonathan Wheatcroft used their size to good effect with some strong runs, and second rower Jamie Smith was busy in the rucks and mauls. Both teams were evenly matched and the second half continued the same way with Davis dragging the opposing winger in to touch. McDonnell managed to find space down the right wing with a run from deep indeed his own half before also being hauled in to touch. Sheffield took the spoils in the dying seconds when they stole the ball in a ruck close to the Reds line and managed to go over.
Rishworthians 5 - 20 York
Again the Reds started well with the forwards winning balls in the rucks and mauls which allowed quick ball and the opening score. Will McDonnell picked up from a ruck, managed to evade 3 or 4 tacklers and sprinted down the left wing to score in the corner. The lead was short lived as York hit back with a quick tap penalty and went over to level the score. Just before half time another good run from a York player was well snuffed out with a double hit from Charlotte Siddall and McDonnell banging the player in to touch. A good catch and return from full back Nathan Cooper at the kick off gained ground for the Reds, but it was York who went in to the lead after their fly half sold a superb dummy and strolled over. A fumble from the kick off saw York steal the ball again and canter over to increase the score to 15-5. The Reds heads were now down and York finished us off at the end when their player ran the full length of the pitch to score a solo try.
Rishworthians 0 - 25 West Park Leeds
The Reds tournament was now over and this final group game was a match too many with handling errors and poor defence evident. West Park scored three times before half time all down to ineffective tackling, and two further tries came in the second half. Mention must go to Jamie Highley in his first game for the club, who made an excellent try saving tackle in the dying seconds of the game.
A very frustrating day after last seasons tremendous efforts. For some unknown reason last seasons rock solid defence has crumbled and to allow so many soft tries was disappointing to watch. We seemed to lack any cohesion in nearly all aspects of the game with the guys unable to find the spark that they had last season. Any way, that is out of the way, and next week we are at Moortown, where Steve will not be doing any motivational speaking, and where we will try to kick start our season.
Thanks again for all attending and supporting the team.
Dave Mc
Minis perform well at Moortown
Match report Sunday 11th October
The Minis travelled to Leeds to play Moortown for the first time and came away with a share of the spoils. Both the under 7's and under 12's won their inaugral matches whilst the under 9's and under 10's lost.
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Under 6's The Micros
The micros trained his Sunday with yet another increase in numbers. This week the micros had 22 players enjoying a training session. Warren Doyle now has three coaches to help plus a number of parents willing to help whenever required.
The Young Guns start their season with a win
Moortown 9 - 11 Rishworthians
The game against Moortown was the first taste of competitive tag rugby for the children in this year's under 7's team and they all played their part in a very exciting and enjoyable game.
The under 7's started very tentatively as they adjusted to playing against another team but their confidence grew with every try they scored and tag taken.
The children were rotated in and out of the playing side at regular intervals and it was a superb team effort of tagging and attacking play in the second half that got them back from being behind 5-4 at half time to win by 11 tries to 9.
Tries were scored by Bobbie White (3), Ted Grogan (3), Joe Walsh (2), Jack Lumb, Emma McHugh and Dillon Hilton.
Man of the Match - Bobbie White
Effort Award - Joe Walsh
Top Tagger - Ted Grogan
Squad - Ben Collins, Jack Lumb, Ted Grogan, Joseph Robinson, Bobbie White, Emma Mchugh, Ben Gianotti, Joshua Moore, Joe Walsh, Toby Laurie and Dillon Hilton.
Thank you to the parents/grandparents etc for their support on the day.
Cats winning run continues
Moortown 10 - 16 Rishworthians
Old Rishworthians continued their strong start to the season by knocking up another win in their match against Moortown on Sunday.
In the first third the team really pulled together to take as many tags as possible to retain possession. As the game progressed the team lost some of its spark but they were still able to keep ahead of an inexperienced Moortown through good support of the player with the ball. Rishworth cemented their lead in the 2nd third, moving ahead by 6 tries ? a hurdle that was to prove insurmountable by Moortown ? despite upping their game and scoring 5 tries in the final third.
This week special mention should be made of Billy Smith for some phenomenal flying tags and sprinting runs, Thomas Georgiou for great tenacity in going after as many tags as he could, and Joshua Marsden who joined the squad this week and got fully involved in his first ever rugby match.
Try Scorers: Thomas Georgiou (7), Finn Sutcliffe (5), Henry Craven (2), Owen Witchell (1), Billy Smith (1)
Man of the Match: Henry Craven
Top Tagger: Billy Smith
Effort Award: Oliver Muscat-Baron
Squad: Henry Craven (c), Henry Hilton, Oliver Muscat-Baron, Brandon Savage, Finn Sutcliffe, Joshua Marsden, Haydon Faulkner, Owen Witchell, Reece Barraclough, Billy Smith, Thomas Georgiou.
Two late tries sink the Destroyers
Moortown 40 - 25 Rishworthians
Rishworthians raced into a 10-0 lead with tries from Nathan Donaldson and Luke Sadler. Silly mistakes then allowed a more aggressive Moortown side to take a 20 - 10 lead before Kian Sutcliffe scored a fine try to take Rish into half time trailing by a single try at 20-15.
Moortown again started more aggressively in the second half scoring two tries before Carrick Keighley-Payne and Kian Sutcliffe scored a try apiece to take the score to 30-25. Despite playing the better rugby in open play Rishworthian's weaker defence let in two late tries to leave Moortown 40-25 winners.
Try Scorers Nathan Donaldson, Luke Sadler, Carrick Keighley-Payne, Kian Sutcliffe 2.
The effort award went to Kian Sutcliffe
Man of the match went to Carrick Keighley-Payne.
Tackler of the match Corey White
Thanks again to all the parents for their support.
Squad: William Harker, Zak Rush, Toby Helm, Joe Barrett, Kian Sutcliffe, Tom Stott, Nathan Donaldson, Reggie Herd, Corey White, Carrick Keighley-Payne, Matthew Tooby, Luke Sadler
Good second half performance by a strong Moortown squad sees off The Raiders
Moortown 35 - 20 Rishworthians
Old Rishworthians Under 10's travelled to Leeds on Sunday to play a strong Moortown side that only lost 1 match in 24 last season. Despite this pedigree, a fine first half performance saw the Rishworthian Raiders score 3 very good tries.
Sam Puddephatt burst through the defensive line on two occasions from quick rucked ball, and scrum half Vinny Maude added to the tally with a fine sole effort. Defensive lapses cost the visitors dearly though, as Moortown were gifted a couple of tries through a lack of concentration. The home team scored a third just before half time to make the honours even at the break.
Half time Moortown 15 - 15 Rishworthians
The second half saw Moortown apply constant pressure, and line outs in particular were a problem for Rishworthians. Despite some good work by James McHugh to secure line out ball, hesitation by the Raiders half backs allowed Moortown to steal the ball twice and score.
Toby Muscat-Baron bulldozed his way over the line with a typical direct run for Rishworthians, but the team were always second best at the break down. Moortown scored twice more and despite some superb defensive work by James McHugh and a late disallowed try by Morgan Smithies, Rishworthians were well beaten 7 tries to 4.
Tries Sam Puddephatt (2), Vinny Maude (1), Toby Muscat-Baron (1).
Man of the match James Mc Hugh.
Effort Award Vinny Maude & George Ackroyd
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
No game
Inaugural victory for new U12's Side (The Red Backs).
Moortown 14 - 17 Rishworthians
Its was with a sense of expectancy that Rishworthians took to the field for their first match of the season, indeed for several players it was their first ever time playing a competitive game of Rugby Union. Myles was given the Captains armband on his debut and took part in a novel way of deciding kick off, an arm-wrestle, which he promptly won and decided that we would play the first period down hill.
Moortown dominated the early exchanges with some neat passing and tactical kicking, and it was to their credit that Rishworthians held out against some prolonged pressure, the whole team can be commended for some fierce tacking and the forwards especially, working as one to repel constant attacks. Edward Denham especially put in some thunderous tackles that made the Moortown pack think twice before aiming their attacks in his direction. Eventually however, Moortown made a break down the left wing and despite a last minute tackle by Max Dawes they managed to ground the ball just inside the corner flag. They duly took the extra two points, and the assembled parents/supporters tried to rally the team to prevent their heads going down, as had occurred in several matches last season. We should not have worried though, Rishworthians showed tremendous team spirit, immediately exerting pressure on Moortown with several forward led breaks resulting in a scrum. The domination in the scrum, which we showed throughout the first half, produced excellent ball for the backs and Edward Denham ran in a great try. A further try by Elliot Craven gave Rishworth a well deserved lead.
Again Moortown tried to take the game to us, but our front row were now dominating at the breakdown and backed up by excellent tacking from Jack Bruce we had them pinned down for some time along their try line, eventually after a powering break by George Heron, the ball broke to Harry Wade who scored another try and James Stott added the conversion. There was just time for one last break away by Elliot, who was only felled by a try saving tackle from two of their backs, which pushed him into touch.
Half time Moortown 7 - 17 Rishworthians
At Half time the scale of our front row domination of George, Isaac and Edward, became apparent when the referee stated that we were going to uncontested scrums as our front row was so much bigger than Moortowns, lets hope that this situation becomes a rarity rather than the norm in the season ahead.
In the 2nd period despite playing up the slope and having a major part of our game denied us, the team again withstood a period of sustained pressure by a well drilled Moortown pack and several last ditch tackles were made. Moortown kicked with great accuracy to push us back but the ball was returned each time to make up lost territory. Some excellent running by Elliot, which he produced throughout the match, kept the ball away from the try line.
In the last 5 mins Moortown scored a converted try to make for an intense last few minutes, but Rishies held out, and indeed were only denied two further tries though losing the ball under a tackle when already over the try line. An excellent team performance which gives great hope for the season ahead.
Man of the Match: Elliot Craven
Training Effort Award: Isaac and George Heron
Tacking Award: Edward Denham
Your Reporter: Steve Dawes
Squad: Jack Bruce; James Stott; Edward Denham; George Heron; Isaac Heron; Max Dawes;
Elliot Craven; Sam Burford-Eyre; Harry Wade; Jack Hirst; Jack Raby; Myles Smithies
Slideshow.
Click on arrows to view more photos, click on photo to enlarge.
Excellent performances by all age groups at the Festivals
Match reports Sunday 18th October
The Minis were spread acoss West Yorkshire as the mini section achieved a first by sending squads to all the age group festivals.
The best performance came from the under 11's who qualified for the 1st round of the under 11 Yorkshire cup as losing finalists. Close on their heels was another excellent performance by the under 9's who also were losing finalists. The under 10's were undefeated in the festival, as runners up in their pool they went on to win the shield competition. The under 12's put in a tremendous performance in their first festival travelling one short but pulling off a draw against Baildon.
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Under 6's The Micros
The micros trained his Sunday with yet another increase in numbers. This week the micros had 20 players enjoying a training session. Warren Doyle now has three coaches to help plus a number of parents willing to help whenever required.
No opposition for The Young Guns again
Rishworthians v Ilkley
Man of the Match - Bobbie White
Squad - Ben Collins, Jack Lumb, Ted Grogan, Joseph Robinson, Bobbie White, Emma Mchugh,
Another good win for the "cats" Rishworthians 23 - 16 Ilkley
The Ilkley team looked a little unsettled at the start missing most of their counterparts and Rishworthians were able to take advantage of their confusion in the opening minutes to break ahead and get some clear ground between the two teams. Rishworthians got some good tags and retained much of the possession in the first half. Ilkley rallied and picked up their game coming into half-time just 4 tries behind ? Rishworthian lead 10-6. In the 2nd half it was all about the tries, with both teams making big runs to get the ball over the line. The score difference stayed the same as the teams spent 10 minutes scoring equal amounts of tries, but the quality of the Rishworthian team started to show through in the final minutes as they started to increase their lead over Ilkley. There was a great team spirit in the Rishworthian camp in the closing minutes of the game as all team members drew together to ensure that all members of the team had had a chance to get a ball over the line and add a try to the scoreline. Man of the Match: William Adams
Try Scorers: Thomas Georgiou (7), Finn Sutcliffe (6), Oliver Brian (3), Oscar Thomas-Rowe (2), Billy Smith (1), William Adams (1), Brandon Savage (1), Henry Hilton (1), Owen Witchell (1) Squad: Oliver Brian (c), Brandon Savage, Henry Hilton, Oscar Thomas-Rowe, Thomas Georgiou, Billy Smith, Owen Witchell, Finn Sutcliffe, William Adams Great performance by Destroyers to reach Festival Final Rishworthians at Wharfedale
The performances in the pool games were fantastic and the team showed exactly what they are capable of. In winning two games and drawing one the team scored 60 points without reply proving their skills in both defence and attack. This was all about team work and all twelve players worked together to earn Rishworthians their passage into the final. Rishworthians 30 - 0 Wharfedale A
Rishworthians 0 - 0 Bradford & Bingley Rishworthians 30 - 0 Skipton
Final Rishworthians 0 - 20 Wharfedale B
Despite a few tears the team were very gracious in defeat and gave the victors a well deserved three cheers. This was a great morning for the whole team and everyone involved in the team, including parents and coaches, should be proud of their achievements. Man of match fittingly went to the team.
A final award of player of the morning went to Kian Sutcliffe. My thanks to the parents for their support during the morning and to Simon Donaldson and Andy Sadler for running the team in the morning. Squad: Joe Barrett, Toby Helm, Zak Rush, William Harker, Reggie Herd,
Matthew Tooby, Kian Sutcliffe, Corey White, Nathan Donaldson, Tom Stott, Luke Sadler, Carrick Keighley-Payne Unbeaten Raiders lift the Shield at District Festival Rishworthians Under 10's had a successful day at the Huddersfield District Festival on Sunday. Nine teams were split into 3 pools of 3 with the Raiders being drawn with Wharfedale and Skipton. Game 1 Raiders 5 - 5 Wharfedale
Game 2 Raiders 10 - 10 Skipton
With two draws from the first round of pool matches, Rishworth then went through to the Shield competition. Game 3 Raiders 10 - 5 Cleckheaton
Game 4 Raiders 10 - 5 Keighley
Man of the match: Callum Bell
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 Reds Qualify for 1st round of Yorkshire Cup After a disappointing start to the season at Leeds Carnegie 2 weeks ago, the Reds were in a determined mood as we travelled to Skipton to compete in the district qualifications for the Yorkshire Cup. With a couple of good training sessions under our belt, confidence was high that we could finally get our season under way. With 3 groups of 3 teams the Reds were drawn against Huddersfield and Bradford and Bingley. Game 1 Huddersfield 0 - 14 Rishworthians The Reds kicked off the tournament against Huddersfield who, over the years, have always been a hard team to wear down. It was good to see the Rishies youngsters start at a pace and intensity that was missing in Leeds. The forwards were impressive in the rucks and mauls winning quick ball for the backs. Jonathan Wheatcroft and Jack Davis tested the Huddersfield defence with some direct, charging runs and when Davis was bundled in to touch 5 yards from the opposition line, Jamie Smith stole the ball in the lineout and fought his way over to score. Jacob Bower converted. Huddersfield had there moments but both Will McDonnell and Sam Bake snuffed out promising moves with excellent tackles. The second half went the same way with the Reds dominating play. Thomas Cockroft and George Radcliffe were immense in the mauls. Another score was on the cards and McDonnell was bundled in to touch yards from the line. A penalty 10 yards out was punished by Wheatcroft who barged through the defence and crashed over. Bower converted. The Reds almost scored again after McDonnell took the ball from a penalty and made 40 yards before offloading to Davis who was held short of the try line. The final whistle came and the Reds had overcome the first hurdle 14-0. Game 2 Bradford/Bingley 40 - 0 Rishworthians From the kick off the Bees fumbled and knocked on giving the Reds there first scrum 5 yards from the opposition line. The Reds were then camped in the Bees half and the first try came from a penalty when Wheatcroft burst his way to the line and from the tackle scrum half McDonnell picked up and dived over from 1 yard. Bower converted. Excellent play from the whole team brought about the second try. After quick ball from a ruck the ball was fed down the line, and an exquisite final pass from Charlotte Siddall out to Sam Bake on the wing allowed him to run in to score in the corner. Bower converted. The Reds were now dominating the game and the Bees could not cope with wave after wave off attacks. After a high tackle on Cockroft 5 yards from the Bees line, Bake received the ball at pace and went over to score his second try. Bower converted and half time came.
The second half began with a good kick return gaining ground in to Bees territory, and McDonnell then crossed the line only to be ruled as a knock in while been tackled. Further tries did come with Jack Davis piling over, and then McDonnell picked up the ball from a ruck on half way and dodged and weaved his way through the Bees defence before making sure this time. He converted his own try. Continued pressure from Rishies then gave Cockroft the chance to sneak over through a crowd of tacklers. McDonnell tagged on the extra points and the Reds had won the game 40-0.
With qualification achieved, The Reds, as winners of their group, then progressed to the playoff rounds of games to determine final qualification positions. Play off 1 Skipton 0 - 21 Rishworthians For the first 5 minutes of this game the Reds could not keep hold of the ball and knocked on 5 or 6 times. They eventually came back in to the game and took the odd scrum against the head and from one such scrum Will McDonnell managed to get over the line only to be adjudged held up. Continued pressure though did allow Lewis Hilton to score under a pile of players to give the Reds the lead. Jacob Bower converted. The kicking game is now part of play and under pressure on the Reds 5 metre line, Jacob Bower cleared the lines with a beautiful kick which bounced in to touch deep in Skipton territory. The second try was a forwards effort with George Radcliffe battling his way though tacklers in midfield before Wheatcroft took up the mantle and made ground. His offload in the tackle gave Jamie Smith chance to go over for his second try of the day. Bower converted. Continued pressure by the Reds on the Skipton goal line made the home team ground the ball in their in goal area. From the resulting scrum Wheatcroft used his strength to pile over the line with Bower converting. Final score 21-0 to the Reds. Play off 2 Brodleians 14 - 7 Rishworthians After a 5 minute break the Reds then took on local rivals Brods.
The Reds had to endure some early Brods pressure with their lively backs causing problems every time they got the ball. But for a try saving tackle by Sam Bake the Brods would have scored in the first couple of minutes. Poor rucking by the Reds and efficient rucking by the Brods youngsters eventually brought the try that seemed to be on the cards. With the score at 7-0 the Reds came back in to the game. Will McDonnell took the ball deep in to Brods territory and his offload to Sam Bake saw him crash over in the corner, only to be disallowed, as he was ruled to be in touch. The rest of the half was evenly contested and The Reds started the second half in the same frame of mind. They competed well in the rucks and the mauls but then gave away a string of penalties. The Brods increased their lead when a phase of good passing saw them dive over in the corner. The match was still tight, but the Reds did not give up and continued to attack the Brods defence, and were rewarded with a try after McDonnell again offloaded in the tackle to Cockroft who dived over from close range. Bower converted. The Reds managed to take the ball back into Brods territory and were put in to touch 5 metres out but time was against the Reds and the final whistle was blown. Scorers: Tries: Jamie Smith 2, Jonathan Wheatcroft 2, Will McDonnell 2, Sam Bake 2, Jack Davis, Thomas Cockroft 2, Lewis Hilton Conversions: Jacob Bower 9, Will McDonnell 2. Player of tournament Jamie Smith
A very rewarding mornings work by the squad who have now qualified for the 1st round of the Yorkshire Cup. We were unlucky to be beaten by Brods, having just played our Skipton game prior to that match. We obviously tired them out because their game against Skipton after us was a close run affair.
Hopefully yesterdays results will be our springboard for another successful season.
Great performances from a squad of only 12 players at the District Festival. On a cold and crisp Sunday morning the U12's entered their first tournament of the year, the District Festival, excellently hosted by Bradford and Bingley. Playing in Pool 1, the Red-Backs played four games against some of the Districts most organised and experienced squads. Although they came away without a try, they played with great heart and enthusiasm in all but one of their games. In all games we played with a man down and without the luxury of any subs to alleviate tiredness amongst the Squad. Game 1 Bradford/Bingley 12 - 0 Rishworthians Captain Max Dawes. From kick off it was clear that this was going to be a difficult game , a well drilled Bees team put pressure on the U12's from the outset and employed there large pack to provide their backs with excellent clean ball. Rishies took up where they left off against Moortown the pervious week and some excellent tackling from Jack Bruce, Sam Burford-Eyre and Max Dawes kept the Bees out for long periods. George and Issac Heron took on the Bees forwards head to head and Bees had to work hard eventually crossing our line and converting the score. In the second half the game continued along similar lines but again Edward Denham and Myles Smithies came to the fore, and put in some excellent last ditch tackles. The Bees only managed to cross our line once more,at the final whistle the Bees coach made a point of offering his congratulation to Mick Bruce on the Red-Backs efforts. Game 2 Skipton 21 - 0 Rishworthians Captain George Heron. The squad suffered a major hangover from their first game in this encounter, from the kick off an early score was forthcoming as Skipton easily broke our lines and ran in a try which was converted. Skipton looked very dangerous every time they got the ball and Rishies wilted under the pressure with the opposition running in a further 2 tries in the 2nd half which were again converted, heads were very down at this point and there were very little positives to bring away. Some deserved tough talking from Mick at full time, led to the squad being asked to look amongst themselves for a much more focused response in their 3rd game. Game 3 Baildon 0 - 0 Rishworthians Captain Jack Bruce. This was a game where the true heart of the squad would be shown and indeed demonstrate how much they had learnt from the drubbing in game 2. From the kick off Baildon again looked like they would be a difficult "nut to crack" but some excellent tacking again by Edward Denham and Myles Smithies set the tone, Rishies equalled Baildon in all departments and managed a few attacking breaks after good ball from the scrum supplied by Jack Hurst supported by James Stott (who had now moved to centre) and Jack Raby. Jack Bruce led the squad from the front, with support from Harry Hollingworth and Harry Wade and Rishies repelled all attacks, Baildon were denied a late try by an excellent tap tack by Edward Denham that pushed their winger just into touch. All in all this was a vast improvement on Game 2 and showed the team had learnt from the experience which is all we can ask from them. Game 4 Cleckheaton 28 - 0 Rishworthians Captain Jack Bruce.Although the score looks like a walkover , this game was anything but, the opposition benefiting from a large squad providing fresh legs at the end of a very draining day , also had an excellent number 8 who's size and speed were used to great effect. Cleckheaton ran in 3 converted 1st half tries, but during that time excellent tackling was again on show from the squad with Edward Denham and Myles again deserving special mention. Sensing we were tiring, Cleckheaton also used their kicking to push us back but the boys returned the ball at every opportunity. At Half Time it would have been very easy for the squad to throw in the towel but they came out to put Cleckheaton under pressure on their own line, something not many teams had managed to do. George and Issac working together pushed the squad forward and the ball broke through Jack Hirst along the backs to James Stott who went for the line, however the attack was foiled, and a thunderous clearing kick had Myles Smithies and Max Dawes running back to their line and working together to prevent a counter attacking try. From the resulting line-out Cleckheaton broke again and crossed our line for one further scoring try. Rishies left the pitch to a round of applause from the massed support of freezing parents. The day had ended on a high note with the 2nd half performance possibly being the best passage of play of the whole morning. Your Reporter: Steve Dawes Squad: Jack Bruce; James Stott; Edward Denham; George Heron; Isaac Heron; Max Dawes;
District Festival Slideshow.
Ilkley pulled out of the fixture on Saturday leaving no time to find another fixture. With 2 cancellations in 3 three weeks the disappointed squad now eager for games had to train.
Effort Award - Joe Walsh
Top Tagger - Ted Grogan
Ben Gianotti, Joshua Moore, Robbie Moore, Joe Walsh, Toby Laurie, Dillon Hilton,
Thomas Doyle, Jon Baker, Harry Shackleton, Noah Mackrill, Oscar Thomas Rowe.
With most of the Ilkley team lost and confused somewhere in the middle of Halifax it looked like our under 8?s were going to struggle to get a match against the intrepid 5 that actually made it down to Copley on Sunday morning. However, in the spirit of sportsmanship, Rishworthians loaned Ilkley a couple of players and were able to play 7 a-side.
Effort Award: Oliver Brian
Top Tagger: Thomas Georgiou
After last weeks disappointing defeat at Moortown an early meet allowed the players to have a lengthy warm up and go into the first game of the festival properly prepared. With Cleckheaton failing to turn up Rishworthians pool was reduced to four teams.
Try scorers Carick Keighley-Payne, Kian Sutcliffe, Luke Sadler, Corey White, Nathan Donaldson 2.
Man of match Corey White
Tackler of match Luke Sadler
Effort award Team
An unusual score line but this was a game which Rishworthians could have won.
Man of match Kian Sutcliffe
Tackler of match Corey White
Effort award Joe Barrett
Rishworthians then kept warm before the final with a friendly game against Skipton.
Try scorers Nathan Donaldson 2, Luke Sadler, Corey White 3
Man of match Luke Sadler
Tackler of match William Harker
Effort award Matthew Tooby
Don't be fooled by the B. This was their A team which had thrashed everybody at the Baildon festival the week previous. The Rishworthians team went behind to an early try and heads could have gone down allowing another Wharfedale rout. Instead the lads rallied round against a very strong and well drilled side and restricted the opposition to just three further scores with some excellent defensive work. Going forward they were unable to break a strong Wharfedale defensive line.
Tackler of match Corey White
Effort award Carrick Keighley-Payne
In the first match, Wharfedale took the lead through a well worked try and looked like they would hold out for the win despite Rishworthians constant pressure. However, with only a minute to go on the clock, Callum Bell ran onto a short pass and sprinted through the defensive line to even up the scores.
Skipton were more difficult opponents, with a big pack and plenty of pace in the back division. They scored two tries in the first half from well worked rucked ball. The Rishworthian defence improved in the second half though and managed to halt the charge of the Skipton pack. Callum Bell got a try back for the Raiders and then ripped a ball out of a maul and off loaded to new boy George Ackroyd. He sprinted down the wing to cross the whitewash, levelling the game at 10 points each.
Cleckheaton were the next opponents, but found Rishworthians in an uncompromising mood. Morgan Smithies put in a fine tackling display and James McHugh secured plenty of line out ball for the Raiders. Callum Bell and George Ackroyd once again scored a try each.
The final match was against Keighley. A strong Raiders defensive performance once again prevented the opposition from making ground. Scrum Half Vinny Maude capped a fine all round performance with a try, and James McHugh added another try in the second half. Smithies and Bell were awesome again in defence and Rishworthians were well deserved 10 - 5 winners, lifting the District Shield and remaining unbeaten in the entire Festival.
Effort: George Ackroyd / Vinny Maude
Man of Steel: Morgan Smithies
Tries: Bell (3), Ackroyd (2), Maude (1), McHugh (1)
Effort award: Thomas Cockroft
Dave Mc
Sam Burford-Eyre; Harry Wade; Jack Hirst; Jack Raby; Myles Smithies, Harry Hollingsworth
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Minis perform well at Cleckheaton
Match report Sunday 1st November
The mild Indian Summer came to an abrupt end as the Minis travelled to Cleckheaton to find the pitches just playable after heavy overnight and early morning rain. The Minis played well despite the driving wind and rain and came away with several victories under their belt. The under 7's finally got a game after frustrating weeks of no oppposition and came away with a comphrensive win. The under 8's and 11's also had easy wins.
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Under 6's The Micros
The micros cancelled their session due to the bad weather.
The Young Guns enjoy a 9 try romp in the rain
Cleckheaton 1 - 9 Rishworthians
At last the Young Guns got a game after frustrating weeks of no opposition. Despite the bad weather the ball handling was excellent as they ran in nine tries and putting in a terrific tagging effort against their opponents from Cleckheaton.
The weather conditions were terrible but team played with enthusiasm and kept good concentration throughout the match. There were good performances from Ben Collins for his non-stop running and from Jack Lumb with his tenacious tagging.
Toby Laurie opened the scoring with Robbie Moore and Finlay adding in quick sucession. The best try of the morning was then scored by Josh Moore who showed great awareness to side step through the Cleckheaton defenders. In the second half Bobbie White, Robbie Moore, Ted Grogan added tries, Robbie Moore then completed his hat trick and Boobie White added the last try.
Tries , Robbie Moore 3, Bobbie White 2, Finlay, Joshua Moore, Toby Laurie and Ted Grogan.
Man of the Match Bobbie White
Effort Award Ted Grogan
Top Tagger Emma McHugh
Squad Ben Collins, Jack Lumb, Ted Grogan, Bobbie White, Emma Mchugh, Robbie Moore, Joshua Moore, Toby Laurie and Finlay.
Thank you to the parents/grandparents etc for their support on the day.
Cats machine continues to purr along
Cleckheaton 3 - 14 Rishworthians
There was a little sparkle in the air at the Cleckheaton ground on Sunday morning as Old Rishworthian Under 8's finally returned to previous form and showed us what they can really do. They played together as a team, used their space well and defended as well as they attacked so that Cleckheaton never really got a look in.
Old Rishworthians dominated the match from the off. The first try scored was by Rishworthians (Finn Sutcliffe) and Cleckheaton replied with a fairly quick response, but after that the first half was Rishworthians. There was excellent support from all team members to ensure that when Rishworthian had the ball it went over the line - and excellent tagging meant that Cleckheaton rarely got the chance to reciprocate. There was a stunning full length run made by Kian Sutcliffe shortly before the half-time whistle which resulted in a well-earned try and left Cleckheaton and Rishworthian players alike standing in amazement.
Half time Cleckheaton 1 - 8 Rishworthians
There was more of the same in the second half. Cleckheaton came out fighting and tagged as hard as they could but they were just out-classed by the Rishworthian side. Some excellent supporting play, and a pretty nifty half-length run to the try-line, earned Brandon Savage the Effort Award. Haydon Faulkner - one of our newest members - was our top tagger for shear number of tags taken. Billy Smith got Man of the Match for setting up a number of tries and always being in the thick of things. The final score-line was a win for Rishworthians 14-3.
Try Scorers Oliver Brian 5, Thomas Georgiou 3, Finn Sutcliffe 2, Brandon Savage 1, Kian Sutcliffe 1, William Adams 1, Haydon Faulkner 1
Team: Brandon Savage (c), Finn Sutcliffe, Kian Sutcliffe, Haydon Faulkner, Billy Smith, Owen Witchell, Oliver Brian, Thomas Georgiou, William Adams, Henry Craven
Man of the Match Billy Smith
Top Tagger Haydon Faulkner
Effort Award Brandon Savage
Overnight rain sinks the Destroyers
Cleckheaton P - P Rishworthians
The heavy overnight and early morning rain meant sections of the Cleckheaton picth were unplayable. The under 9's were the unlucky team to lose out. They could have played later on after the under 10's had finished but it was cold and wet and they decided otherwise.
Raiders fine start to the season continues
Cleckheaton 20 - 30 Rishworthians
The Raiders continued their good start to the season with an away win at Cleckheaton. The heavy overnight rain did nothing to dampen the spirits of the Rishworthian Raiders as Kallan Jamieson made a darting run down the right wing to open the scoring. Tries were then added by Kian Stewart and Connor Friend who were both making their debut in Rishworthian colours, following good defensive work from Tom Craven. Cleckheaton got a try back to make the score 3 tries to 1 at half time.
Half Time Cleckheaton 5 - 15 Rishworthians
The second period was a tighter affair, with the ball being caught in rucks and mauls and plenty of players infringing to slow play down from both teams. Cleckheaton scored two tries to bring the score level but James McHugh found himself in space for the Raiders twice in as many minutes and sprinted over the whitewash to bag a couple of well deserved tries. Solid tackling from George Wright and Morgan Smithies though meant that Cleckheaton rarely made much ground and when Smithies broke free late on in the match nobody could stop him adding a sixth try to the Raiders tally. A late consolation try from Cleckheaton made the final score 6 tries to 4 in Rishworthians favour.
Tries: James McHugh (2), Kallan Jamieson, Morgan Smithies, Connor Friend, Kian Stewart
Man of the match Tom Craven
Effort Award Connor Friend
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
Cleckheaton blown away on a wet windy day
Cleckheaton 0 - 73 Rishworthians
A miserable, blustery, wet autumn morning greeted the Rishies bandwagon to Cleckheaton on Sunday. Some members of the party, children and parents, were looking somewhat bleary eyed and worse for wear after late night Halloween festivities. Fortunately the driving rain ceased just before kick off and spirits were raised. ( Little Halloween joke.) The Rishies youngsters shook off any signs of fatigue and went on to produce a sparkling display of top quality rugby running in 11 unanswered tries. The Reds got off to the best possible start when Thomas Sweeten followed the kick off deep in to Cleck territory, tackled the opposing player and forced a maul from which the Reds managed to steal the ball and George Radcliffe dived over near the corner flag. Sweeten missed the conversion.
The second try followed soon after with a perfectly executed training ground move. From a penalty, scrum half Will McDonnell dummied two passes before firing the ball out to Sweeten on the wing who used his strength to force his way over the line. Sweeten missed the conversion. The Reds were in control of the game but were guilty of dropping a few simple passes, but another slick move brought about another try. Another penalty by Cleck gave Rishies chance for another move and Jack Davis obliged after running on to a pass and barging his way through the defence. McDonnell converted to make the score 17-0. Rucking has been a big part of training recently and the second row pair of Jamie Smith and George Radcliffe did some excellent work in the breakdown area and their determination gave McDonnell the time to collect the ball in the ruck and run in to score. McDonnell converted his own try. Cleckheaton had no answer to the aggression of the Reds tackling and defence. Even when they managed to get through the forward line, the back line of Jamie Highley, Charlotte Siddall and full back Nathan Cooper stepped up and made big tackles. The front row of Lewis Hilton, Thomas Cockroft and Greg Day were causing big problems for the Cleck forwards and great play by them forced a loose ball which was picked up by fly half Sam Bake who had to beat 3 players before scoring. McDonnell converted. Half Time Cleckheaton 0 - 31 Rishworthians The second half continued to see the Reds dominating play. Half back pair of McDonnell and Bake controlled the game and the back row produced some wonderful passing moves with Jamie Highley just missing out on a try when he knocked on a metre from the line. Another try was on the cards and from a scrum 5 metres from the Cleck try line the ball was fed out to Sweeten on the wing to power over. McDonnell converted. The floodgates now opened and the Reds began to score at will. The technically better front row of the Reds won another scrum against the head deep in their own half and Davis was on hand to sprint the full length of the field to increase the lead to 43-0. McDonnell converted. Thomas Creasy on the wing and full back Cooper tested the Cleckheaton defence with some jinking runs and Sweeten again used his power and pace to bring play up in to Cleck territory where another excellent Reds ruck allowed McDonnell to stroll through a massive gap to score his second. He converted his own try. Even though the game was somewhat one sided the Cleckheaton youngsters never gave up the cause. Another scrum against the head gave the platform for the next try when Bake scampered over from close range. McDonnell converted. McDonnell then scored a solo try when he set of from deep inside his own half and sprinted down the right wing to go in at the corner. Sweeten converted. The final try was another team effort. From another turnover ball play was moved up field through numerous hands, and then through a phase of rucks where fittingly hooker Cockroft dived through a mass of players and placed the ball over the line. McDonnell again converted and the final whistle was then blown with the final score 73-0 to the Reds.
Tries: Will McDonnell (3), Sam Bake (2), Thomas Sweeten (2), Jack Davis (2), George Radcliffe, Thomas Cockroft.
Man of the match award goes to the front row of Lewis Hilton, Thomas Cockroft and Greg Day.
I think I can say on behalf of the coaches that we are highly delighted with the attitude shown by all the players. With the game won by half time it would be easy to sit back and relax but the guys actually upped the pace in the second half and played some wonderful rugby. What was impressive was the way the team opened up the Cleck defence with the set moves that were re introduced in training. Although most of the tries came from the backs, they could not have done so without the hard graft by the front 5 who laid the platforms throughout the game. Well done to all. Cleckheaton prove to strong for Red Backs. Cleckheaton 42 - 7 Rishworthians
They say that "the pen is mightier than the sword " but at Cleckheaton on Sunday the pen was defeated by the atrocious weather conditions encountered by the Red-Backs on Sunday at Cleckheaton, so this report is compiled from memory only. In driving wind and rain the U12's again a man down due to half term holiday and without the luxury of subs played an entertaining game against a very experienced and able Cleckheaton side. Cleckheaton were losing finalists in the West District festival and cruised through to the last 16 of the Yorkshire cup. Having lost 0-28 to Cleckheaton in the shortened festival pool game, the Red Backs were going to find it tough in a full game. Cleckheaton piled pressure onto Rishies right from the kick off and maintained that through most of the first half, however the whole team can be commended for some excellent tacking and defense, especially against Clecks number 8 who we encountered at the District Festival, leaving him with a bloody nose at one stage after some thunderous encounters. Restricting Cleckheaton to 3 converted first half tries, the team were told to be upbeat for the 2nd half. Half time Cleckheaton 7 - 17 Rishworthians Again pressure was applied but Rishies stood firm and were only denied an early Edward Denham try buy some last ditch tacking. The pack showed what they can achieve by driving the opposition off the ball several times, allowing Myles Smithies, a debutant at scrum half, to supply attacking ball to the backs. Eventually though Rishies made a breakthrough and supported by the front row of Isaac and George Heron and Edward Denham, Myles Smithies managed to dive over for a well deserved try. Again great defense was on show by Jack Bruce and Elliot (who had to leave the field 3 times for running repairs on various parts of his anatomy) throughout this period. As fatigue took its toll, Cleckheaton, who were able to use their full quota of players and 4 subs, ran in three late tries which were again all converted. This produced a score that was not held up by the manner of the performance. The Cleckheaton Coach made a special effort at the end of the game to congratulate Rishies on their improvement since the festival and wished us well. The team are improving with every game. Man of the Match: Myles Smithies
Your Reporter: Steve Dawes Squad: Jack Bruce; James Stott; Edward Denham; George Heron; Isaac Heron; Max Dawes;
Conversions: Will McDonnell (8), Thomas Sweeten
Effort award to the whole team.
Dave Mc
Effort Award: Elliot Craven
Tacking Award: The Team
Elliot Craven; Sam Burford-Eyre; Harry Wade; Harry Hollingsworth; Jack Raby; Myles Smithies
Click here to view Cleckheaton website
Tough morning of Rugby for Minis at Sandal but clean sweep v Castleford
Match report Sunday 8th November
Sandal is always one of the fixtures the minis look forward to. They are one of the top clubs in Yorkshire and there is an excellent relationship between the two clubs. So to compete well there and provide a good level of opposition for Sandal is something we always strive to achieve.
The under 7's and under 8's played very well against Sandal A and B teams. The under 10's struggled against Sandal A but found Sandal B and C teams to be much more even encounters. The under 11's found he going tough against their rivals the Sharks but managed to beat their A team. The under 9's found Sandal a tough nut to crack losing 5-20. A very good performance all round considering we were only able to provide one side at each age group (Oh for the luxury of Sandal under 10's with 3 teams). The under 7's 8's and 9's had an excellent set of results against Castleford recording a clean sweep.
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Under 6's The Micros
With the recent wet weather the micros had a break from using Copley and trained in the warmth and dry of Rishworth School Sports Hall. Two more new micros started this week with 27 training today.
Young Guns lose their 100% record to Sandal A
The Young Guns played 3 games at Sandal on Sunday morning in a four team mini-tournament with Castleford.
Sandal B 2 - 6 Rishworthians
Sandal A 4 - 0 Rishworthians
Castleford 4 - 7 Rishworthians
Squad - Ben Gianotti, Jack Lumb, Ted Grogan, Bobbie White, Emma Mchugh, Toby Laurie, Rafe Donlon, Gailon and Finlay Stewart Man of the Match This week it goes to Finlay Stewart for his efforts in all three matches. Bobbie and Emma were also in contention for the award.
Thank you to the parents/grandparents etc for their support on the day. Cats undefeated run extends to 26 games Sandal B 7 - 12 Rishworthians
Scorers: Finn Sutcliffe 4, Oliver Brian 3, William Adams 2, Thomas Georgiou 1, Henry Craven 1, Ethen Vaughan 1 Sandal A 5 - 5 Rishworthians
Scorers: Finn Sutcliffe 1, Henry Craven 1, Owen Witchell 1, Thomas Georgiou 1, Oliver Brian 1 Castleford 4 - 8 Rishworthians
Scorers: William Adams 3, Finn Sutcliffe 1, Ethen Vaughan 1, Henry Craven 1, Oliver Brian 1, Thomas Georgiou 1 Special mention should be made of Ethen Vaughan who, despite being new to the game, was our top tagger of the day.
Man of the Match Finn Sutcliffe
Squad: Finn Sutcliffe, Reece Barraclough, William Adams, Thomas Georgiou, Haydon Faulkner, Ethen Vaughan, Henry Hilton, Henry Craven, Oliver Brian, Oliver Muscat-Baron, Oscar Thomas-Rowe, Owen Witchell, Mixed fortunes for Destroyers Castleford 15 - 20 Rishworthians
Sandal 20 - 5 Rishworthians
Effort Award - William Harker
Squad: William Harker, Zak Rush, Toby Helm, Joe Barrett, Kian Sutcliffe, Tom Stott, Nathan Donaldson, Reggie Herd, Corey White, Carrick Keighley-Payne, Matthew Tooby, Luke Sadler My thanks to Simon Donaldson and Andy Sadler for running the team in my absence and to Jacob Tooby for writing the match reports. Thanks again to all the parents for their support and I'm looking forward to two home games.
Raiders find it tough against a very strong Sandal squad Rishworthians Under 10's travelled away to Sandal on Sunday for what is always a tough fixture. Sandal have strength in depth at this age group fielding 3 teams!!! Game 1 Sandal B 15 - 5 Rishworthians
Game 2 Sandal A 40 - 0 Rishworthians
Game 3 Sandal C 10 - 20 Rishworthians
This score line obviously worried the Sandal coaching staff though who then took off the whole 'C' team and replaced them with the 'A' team again! Unphased by this complete change in opposition at half time, Rishworth defended their lead magnificently in the second half, only conceding two tries to record a fine 4 - 2 victory. Try scorers: Puddephatt, Friend, Jamieson (2), Symms Man of the match Morgan Smithies
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 Reds have no answer to the Sharks Our friends over at Sandal gave us a warm welcome as usual on Sunday and we had a pleasant dry day with pre match bacon butties and coffee going down a treat. Contests between the Reds and the Sharks over the years have produced some good quality exciting rugby with the Reds just edging the win last season. Unfortunately for the Reds, this Sharks team are now probably the best junior team in the country, and they went on to produce a display of rugby that underlines why they have that status. Game 1 Sandal 42 - 0 Rishworthians
Sandal use this young man as a battering ram against defences and in doing so he takes out 3 or 4 defenders every time. Within a few minutes of the start however, the diminutive Sam Bake tackled 'Goliath' head on and managed to bring him down. (Technique always wins). Sandal would have scored early on but for another try saving tackle from Jacob Bower. The Sharks always looked like scoring and they did so after the ball was released from the scrum and fed down the back line for the winger to score in the corner. The Sandal back line played some flowing passing rugby while the forwards dominated the pack, taking a couple of scrums against the head. Their second try came by way of 'Goliath' who powered his way over the try line with 4 Reds players hanging off him. Another try was saved when Jamie Highley on the wing made an important tackle on the Sandal centre. Reds scrum half Will McDonnell was the next to face 'Goliath', but a hard low hit brought him to the deck. Moments later young 'Goliath' was in action again when from a 5 metre penalty he was held up on the line only for him to offload to one of his mates who dived over. With the half coming to a close, the Sharks had the final word when they stretched the Reds defence with some good hands and scored in the corner to make the half time score 28-0. Half time Sandal 28 - 0 Rishworthians The old cliché of, a game of two halves, was no more appropriate than this match when Rishies at last showed what they could do when they put their minds to it. They started the second half with more purpose and vitality with a good driving maul which allowed scrum half McDonnell to gain ground before offloading to hooker Thomas Cockroft who was stopped short of the try line. The Sharks though gave away a penalty and Jack Davis stepped up to crash in to the Sandal defence and go over the line, only to be ruled as held up. The Reds now had their tails up and a long kick from Jacob Bower was chased down by Thomas Sweeten who harried the defender and managed to win a penalty. The Sharks defence though again held fast against the Reds barrage. The front five in the Reds pack were again playing out of their skins and finally won a scrum against the head only for their efforts to be dashed when a loose ball was picked up by Sandal who found a gap in the Reds defence to score. It appeared that Sandal would be kept to only one score this half, but in the final minute they scored their best try of the match when the ball was won from a lineout on the right and passed through six pairs of hands out to the winger who scored next to the left corner flag after cruising through some ineffective Reds tackling. The final score was 42-0 with the Reds becoming the latest victim crushed under the wheels of the rugby juggernaut that is Sandal under 11's. Game 2 Sandal 'A' 14 - 40 The Reds
In the scrum, hookers Greg Day and Lewis Hilton were getting the better of their much bigger opponents, winning good ball against the head. With confidence now evident from the Reds they ran the ball from deep in their own half and with some lovely hands from the back line, Charlotte Siddall made it well over half way before being bundled in to touch. You had the impression that the Reds were going to score again and they did just that when Will McDonnell picked up a loose ball from a ruck and sprinted over. Bower converted. Good rucking phases by the forwards brought about the next try when McDonnell again got clean quick ball and managed to fight his way through a pack of players from 20 metres out. Bower converted. The Reds were now in charge of the game and they increased the lead after further powerful rucking on half way. McDonnell collected the ball from the breakdown and then went jinking and weaving his way through the Sandal defence to score his hat trick try. Bower missed the conversion. Sandal scored a try in the dying seconds of the half after a missed tackle allowed the Sandal player to score next to the corner flag. Half time score was 26-7. Half time Sandal 7 - 26 Rishworthians The Reds continued to play well in the second half with some good phases of passing and ball handling. Nathan Cooper was having a great game at full back, looking comfortable under the high ball and returning with some strong direct running. McDonnell increased the Reds lead with another solo try from half way when he sprinted down the left wing unopposed. Bower again converted. Sandal replied with a try of their own when 'Goliath' again trundled over from close range. From the resulting kick off and chase the Reds put pressure on the Sandal defence and were awarded a penalty 10 meters from the line. Jack Davis crashed his way to the try line before being stopped, but the ball was taken up by Thomas Cockroft who managed to wriggle over. Bower converted and the game finished with the Reds winning comfortably 40-14. Tries: Will McDonnell (4), Thomas Sweeten, Thomas Cockroft Con: Bower (5) Man of the match: Nathan Cooper
Dave Mc
Game Cancelled Sandal C - C Rishworthians
The game was cancelled with Rishworthians unable to raise a team. There were a number of players unavailable due to attending a Rememberance Sunday Service. Squad: Jack Bruce; James Stott; Edward Denham; George Heron; Isaac Heron; Max Dawes;
The young guns dominated much of the game giving 100% in attack and defence.
Bobbie White opened the scoring followed by tries from Emma McHugh, Bobbie White and Finlay Stewart to lead 4-0 at half time.
In the second half Bobbie Wite completed her hat trick and Ted Grogan added the final try. Sandal B scored 2 late conciliation tries.
The Young Guns then played against Sandal A without a rest after the game with Sandal B. It was a big challenge for Rishworthians as their opponents have played as a team for 12 months and were the best opposition we have played so far this season. The young guns were equal to Sandal A for much of the game and it was only through fatigue of playing two games in a row and the loss of a player with an hand injury that the youngsters let in 4 tries.
In the final game of the tournament a refreshed Rishworthians ran in 7 tries to end the morning on a high.
Bobbie White again opened the scoring with Ben Gianotti , Emma McHugh adding further tries to lead 3-0 at half time.
The two sides then cancelled each out with 4 tries a piece. Young Guns 2nd half scorers were Bobbie White, Jack Lumb, Toby Laurie and Finlay Stewart.
Effort Award Ben Gianotti
Top Tagger Jack Lumb
This Sunday Rishworthians had a busy day as they faced 3 opposing teams. Their first match was against Sandal (B). Rishworthians had the edge but Sandal made them work for their victory. There was some good tactical play by Rishworthians and great tagging. Rishworthians went into half-time leading 7-4, aided by a hat-trick from Finn Sutcliffe. The second half was a lot closer with Sandal not letting Rishworthians extend their lead. A stunning run fron Henry Craven ended the game. Final score 12-7.
The second match was against Sandal (A) team. The two sides were very evenly matched, and both teams afterwards said that this was the hardest match they had played so far this season. It was not the highest scoring match of the season but the Rishworthian team played excellently in what was a nail-biting match for the spectating parents. Rishworthians entered half-time trailing 3-2. The second half saw more high quality play from both teams. Oliver Brian made a speedy sprint for the line to take Rishworthians ahead for the first time in the match. Unfortunately, despite a valiant defence from the Rishworthian side Sandal equalised in the last play of the game. Final score 5-all.
The final match of the day was against Castleford. They were a less experienced team and Rishworthians were able to turn the ball over and had much of the possession. A hat-trick from William Adams in the first half took Rishworthians into the break leading 4-1. Castleford rallied in the second half and were able to close the gap. Final score 8-4.
Effort Award: William Adams
Top Tagger: Ethen Vaughan
After a shaky start conceding 2 tries Rishworthian's showed great character with a try up the slope from Matthew Tooby. Good support play at the ruck and some excellent passing sealed the win with three further tries from Corey White, Kian Sutcliffe and Carrick Keighley-Payne. A good team effort with some exceptional tackling from Corey White and Tom Stott.
Rishworthian's struggled from the start as Sandal scored quick successive tries. Losing possession at the ruck was a problem and Sandal capitalised to score other tries. Rishworthian's only score came from a well earned try from Nathan Donaldson.
Man of the Match - Kian Sutcliffe
Top Tackler - Corey White
Grahame
In the first of 3 games Sam Puddephatt burst through the defensive line of Sandal 'B' to open the scoring for Rishworth, with a trade mark elusive run from quick rucked ball. Sandal replied shortly afterwards though with 2 tries. The game became very close with both teams evenly matched. Morgan Smithies was first to every breakdown for Rishworth and put in a superb defensive performance. Despite lots of effort and hard work the team couldn't move the ball wide to find space down the wings and found it very difficult to make forward progress through the middle. Sandal scored another try late in the second half from a lapse in concentration by the Raiders defence and so the game finished 3 tries to 1.
In the second match the Raiders came up against Sandal's 'A' team who proved too quick and well organised for the visitors. A fine handling display from the Sandal back division enabled them to run in several unanswered tries. When Rishworthians did make forward progress, the ball was all too often lost in the tackle and Sandal exploited this turnover ball to win comfortably 8 - 0.
With legs now tiring the Rishworthian Raiders rallied for one last effort as they took to the field to face Sandal 'C'. It was Rishworth who started the brightest though with James McHugh ripping the ball out of several mauls and scrum half Vinny Maude distributing the ball well. Connor Friend once again showed his enthusiasm and scored for the Raiders and Kallan Jamieson shot down the wing to score a second. With spirits lifted from their earlier drubbing, other Rishworth players came to life. Will Symms finished off a good move and Jamieson got a second try to take the Raiders into a 4 - 0 lead at half time.
Effort Award Kallan Jamieson
Sandal have always been a hard team to play against, but they have strengthened their squad this season with a front row forward who is nearly as tall as me and probably tips the scales at about 12 stone. For the rest of this report I will refer to him affectionately as 'Goliath' (I hope no one is offended).
After a five minute break the Reds were back in action against the Sandal 'A' team, and they started well with some sustained pressure on the Sandal 10 metre line. The Reds then won a scrum against the head and the ball went down the line for Thomas Sweeten to go over for the opening score. Jacob Bower converted.
Effort award: Will McDonnell
Tackle award: Sam Bake
Elliot Craven; Sam Burford-Eyre; Harry Wade; Harry Hollingsworth; Jack Raby; Myles Smithies
Click here to view Sandal website
Rishworthians open their new mini/junior pitch with the visit of Huddersfield
Match report Sunday 15th November
Copley was buzzing this morning with the visit neighbours Huddersfield who have a large mini section. Rishworthians now able to compete at all mini ranges needed extra pitches and brought their new pitch at Hollas Lane into action. The trial run a fews weeks back paid dividends and the inaugral matches at Hollas Lane went ahead without any hitches. Both sides agreed the surface was in excellent condition despite the recent heavy rain.
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Under 6's The Micros
Another good turnout from micros at Copley with 27 training today. Max Didgiunaitis turned 6 recently and made a great debut with the under 7's.
Rishworthians Young Guns firing on all cylinders
Huddersfield arrived with a big squad of players and with Rishworthians able to field two side the mornings rugby was arranged into 10 minute mini games to ensure all the children could participate.
Game 1 Rishworthians Maroons 3 - 2 Huddersfield Gold
Both teams were evenly matched in playing ability and showed good tag rugby skills. Robbie and Josh Moore scoring all three tries. With the game tied at 2 all Robbie scored the wimnning try.
Game 2 Rishworthians Whites 6 - 4 Huddersfield Maroons
Rishworthians second squad took the field next. Max Didgiunaitis, who had his 6th birthday earlier in the week, made an impressive debut and scored one of the best tries of the morning for the Whites. The game was evenly balanced at 4-4 but Rishworthians finished with a flourish with tries from Joe Walsh, others ???????.
Anyone know who scored tries in this game?
Game 3 Rishworthians Maroons 2 - 2 Huddersfield Maroons
The Moore brothers were in action again with Josh and Robbie scoring a try each. Huddersfield came back from 2 nil down to tie the game.
Game 4 Rishworthians Whites 7 - 3 Huddersfield Gold
Rishworthians always had this game in the bag with tries from Joe Walsh 2, others?????.
Anyone know who scored tries in this game?
Game 5 Rishworthians Maroons 2 - 3 Huddersfield Whites
The final results was Rishworthians 20 - 14 Huddersfield The Young Guns Maroon squad - Jack Lumb, Ted Grogan, Gailon Stewart, Robbie Moore(5), Josh Moore (2), Thomas Doyle, Dillon Hilton and Ben Collins The Young Guns White squad - Ben Gianotti, Bobbie White, Emma Mchugh, Toby Laurie, Rafe Donlon, Joe Walsh, Max Didgiunaitis, Jon Baker and Noah Mackrill Man of the Match Robbie Moore
Thank you to the parents/grandparents etc for their support on the day. Meercats Control the Manor! Rishworthians 19 - 11 Huddersfield
Using the full width of the field and consistently supporting one another Rishworthians showed their dominance early on. After twenty minutes with tries from Reece Barraclough, Oliver Brian, William Adams, Owen Witchell, Henry Craven and Finn Sutcliffe we were leading 8-5. Knowing it was a long match we paced ourselves well and retained the lead. At the end of the second session with a score of 14-10; Brandon Savage, and Henry Hilton were also on the score sheet. The hard work paid off as we reduced Huddersfield to one further score and finished the match 19-11. A convincing win but most importantly a great team effort! Man of the Match "The Team"
Squad Brandon Savage, Oliver Brian, Billy Smith, Finn Sutcliffe, Thomas Georgiou, Owen Witchell, Henry Craven, Oliver Muscat-Baron, Henry Hilton, Oscar Thomas-Rowe, William Adams, Haydon Faulkner, Reece Baraclough
Tries Oliver Brian (6), Finn Sutcliffe (4), Thomas Georgiou (3), Brandon Savage (1), William Adams (1), Reece Barraclough (1), Owen Witchell (1), Henry Hilton (1), Henry Craven (1)
Two close games for Destroyers Rishworthians 0 - 0 Huddersfield
Effort Award - Kian Sutcliffe
Rishworthians 5 - 0 Huddersfield
Effort Award - Tom Stott
Squad: William Harker, Zak Rush, Toby Helm, Joe Barrett, Kian Sutcliffe, Tom Stott, Nathan Donaldson, Corey White, Carrick Keighley-Payne, Matthew Tooby Thanks again to Simon Donaldson for coaching on the pitch and to all the players
and parents. Thanks also to all the coaches, players and parents from
Huddersfield for helping to make this such an enjoyable morning. It is always a
pleasure to welcome our friends from Huddersfield to play here at Copley.
Raiders perform well against District Champions
Game 1 Rishworthians 5 - 15 Huddersfield A
Game 2 Rishworthians 20 - 5 Huddersfield B
Try scorers: Tries = Friend (2), Smithies, Craven, Symms, Man of the match Tom Craven
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 Reds bounce back after defeat at Sandal This Sunday the Reds played their first home game of the season against Huddersfield on our new pitch at Hollas Lane. After all the rain that has fallen this week the new pitch looked remarkably well and it was "christened" by the under 11 Reds who put Huddersfield to the sword with an impressive display of flowing rugby. After an uninspiring display against Sandal Sharks last week the youngsters had a point to prove to themselves, coaches and parents and it was good to see a more positive mindset prior to kick off. A couple of players who have been missing recently returned to the fold, and we gave a welcome to new recruit Toby Gledhill, so the coaches had a full squad to choose from for this encounter. Game 1 Rishworthian Reds 33 - 0 Huddersfield
Huddersfield were undaunted and they had a good 7 or 8 attacking phases within the Reds 10 metre line but great defence from the Rishies youngsters kept them at bay. Rishworthians then attacked again with a wonderful cross field move which finished with McDonnell offloading the final pass to Charlotte Siddall on the wing who made her way to the try line where she was assisted by her team mates who shoved her over to score. The tackle of the day was made by Nathan Cooper who booted the ball up field, chased his own kick, and flattened the ball catcher with a perfect tackle. The Reds almost scored in the final seconds of the half when a scrum was won against the head and the ball was released down the line only to see the final pass go to ground. Half time Rishworthians 26 - 0 Huddersfield The second half started with the Reds again in the drivers seat. A Huddersfield line out was won first of all by George Radcliffe with the two props Jamie Smith and Jonathan Wheatcroft gaining good ground. They then won another scrum against the head followed by a penalty when a Huddersfield player was penalised for an infringement in the ruck. From the penalty Jack Davis charged at the line but Huddersfield gave away another penalty. Again Davis attacked the defence and again was held up but from the maul Jamie Smith barged over from 2 metres. Bower converted. The Reds then got a case of the dropsy?s with a number of final passes going to ground in decent positions. The last attacking play from the Reds saw McDonnell take the pass from a penalty and run across field before offloading to Bake who was held up just short of the try line. A last effort by Huddersfield was snuffed out by Thomas Creasy on the right wing who made a great tackle which put the opposing player in to touch. The final score was 33-0 to the Reds. Tries: Sam Bake, Will McDonnell, Nathan Cooper, Charlotte Siddall, Jamie Smith.
Cons: Jacob Bower (4) Game 2 Rishworthian Reds 77 - 5 Huddersfield
What followed next was a bizarre series of events. From the kick off Thomas Sweeten collected the ball from his own 5 metre line and set off down the right wing to score in the corner. Bower converted. From the second kick off Davis caught the ball and returned it 50 metres through the entire defence before a pass to Sweeten saw him go in again at the corner flag. Bower converted. The ensuing kick off again went to Davis who yet again ran almost the full length of the pitch and this time managed to score. Bower converted. Huddersfield?s next kick off went through the in goal area and went dead. A Rishies scrum on the centre spot saw good handling down the line to Bake who gave the final pass to Siddall who strolled over unopposed. Sweeten converted. Suddenly it?s 35-0. Phew!!! What an amazing 5 minutes of excellent, powerful rugby. But it didn?t stop there. Sustained Reds pressure in the Huddersfield 15 ended when a heap of players crashed over the line for Greg Day to emerge with the days biggest smile on his face after planting the ball down. Bower converted to give the Reds a half time lead of 42-0. Half time Rishworthians 42 - 0 Huddersfield The Reds continued to play on the front foot, dominating possession in the scrums, line outs and breakdowns and their efforts were rewarded with more well crafted tries. From a well driven maul the ball was released to Bake at pace who ran through 3 defenders and dived over to score. Bower converted. The next try was very similar but this time George Radcliffe peeled off the maul and, spinning out of a tackle, reached over the line. Bower converted. The kick off again saw another solo try. This time scrum half Will McDonnell collected the ball and set off like a whippet down the left wing to score in the corner. Bower converted. From the restart McDonnell again returned the ball 30 metres before offloading to centre Bake who continued the run and was awarded a penalty 10 metres out. McDonnell took the ball and jinked his way through a couple of tackles before diving over. Bower converted.
Huddersfield had hardly looked like scoring through the game but good play from them brought them to the Reds 5 metre line and a scrum. I think this coach put the kiss of death on the play when bellowing from the side line, "They will not score!!!" Because, from the scrum the ball went wide down the line and they scored in the corner. The conversion bounced back of the crossbar. 70-5. The last word though went to the Reds with another try from the industrious Sam Bake who sprinted through a gap in the defence. And guess what, Jacob Bower kicked his 10th conversion of the match, and his 14th of the day.
Tries: Jack Davis(2), Thomas Sweeten (2), Sam Bake (2), Will McDonnell (2), Charlotte Siddall, Greg Day, George Radcliffe.
Man of the match: Jack Davis
All disappointments of the previous week were wiped out after this superb exhibition of flowing rugby. Big hard tackles came from every player and Huddersfield had no answer to our handling, passing and intensity in the scrums, rucks and mauls. Confidence should now be high and it will need to be with Brods coming to Copley next Sunday, but if we play like we did today we should be rewarded with a win.
While I give plaudits today, it could be so much better tomorrow. That is, if we get more players attending training on Friday evenings, we could then have the whole team singing from the same song book. It was obvious at times during today?s games that some players do not know such basic things as line out calls, set plays, defensive and attacking tactics. All these things are gone through in training each week to prepare for Sundays matches and it is difficult as coaches to teach such things when nearly half of the team is not there. I know it is difficult at times but it would be appreciated if an effort could be made between 6-7 on Fridays. It is not fair on the 10 or 11 players who do turn up as they are also not receiving the proper team training. We play well as a team, lets train as a team.
Lastly, thanks to all parents, grand parents, relatives and friends that attended and supported the team on Sunday. It was good to see such an impressive crowd. We will try to get a key for that gate by next week.
Dave Mc
Huddersfield prove to strong for U12's Rishworthians 0 - Huddersfield 70
On a bright winters morning, interspersed with a few showers, Huddersfield the recent winners of the District festival overwhelmed a still developing Rishworthians squad at their new Hollas Lane ground. Rishies, blessed with the luxury of two subs, found it tough going from the very start against the well drilled Huddersfield Pack. Their domination in the forwards produced a solid platform on which the backs were able to run in 10 unanswered converted tries, 5 in each half. That being said the game produced long periods of excellent defensive effort by the team that will produce rewards against the lesser teams in the area. Weakened by an ongoing injury to Elliot Craven, who to his credit still turned out for the team and played a cameo role in two short periods in each half , Jack Bruce, Myles Smithies put there bodies on the line once again for the team . Jack Bruce sustaining a blow to the head half way through the half was substituted and replaced by a Guest Player Rhys who played well in his first outing for the U12's. His fellow guest player Stephen also demonstrated promise on his debut. At Half time Mick Bruce gave the excellent Issac and George Heron a well earned breather after a torrid session when they stood toe to toe against some equally big Huddersfield forwards. This led to two volunteers, Sam Burford-Eyre and Max Dawes, trying out at prop with the experienced Edward Denham to show them the ropes, what they lacked in stature they more than made up with their bravery. Myles Smithies, on the odd occasion we managed to get clean ball from the scrum, fed James Stott and Harry Wade who tried to break through the Huddersfield line, but to no avail, and the team were constantly sent scurrying back by punishing kicking from the astute opposing centre. Harry Holingsworth and Jack Raby soldiered on at 2nd row and gave their all time after time to prevent more tries. In the last quarter Isaac and George returned and Max Dawes and Sam Burford-Eyre, returned to the backs but in new roles to again demonstrate their versatility. One thing that cannot be taken away from the team is there effort and team spirit and if points were awarded for those we would be home and dry in a lot of matches. Roll on next week and the visit of the Brods Coach's effort award: None this week
Your Reporter Steve Dawes Squad: Jack Bruce; James Stott; Edward Denham; George Heron; Isaac Heron; Max Dawes; Sam Burford-Eyre; Harry Wade; Jack Raby; Myles Smithies, Harry Hollingsworth; Elliot Craven; Stephen; Rhys; Jack Hirst
It was the Moore brothers again this time Robbie scored both tries but it was not enough as Huddersfield ran in 3 tries to win the last game. All the Rishworthians Maroons tries were scored by the Moore brothers.
Effort Award Max Didgiunaitis
Top Tagger Joe Walsh
A busy day at Copley with six Huddersfield teams playing. Paul and the coaching staff have been working very hard with the team to improve our defence and it paid dividends. With a squad of 13 and three 20 minute sessions the boys had to work really hard.
Effort Award: Oliver Brian
Top Tagger: Thomas Georgiou
Nil nil draws are scarce in mini rugby but two well balanced sides and bot defences on top produced one of those momemts. The game however still produced some exciting rugby.
Man of the Match - Tom Stott
Top Tackler - Corey White
Despite only one try being scored during the morning both sides played some entertaining attacking rugby. However it was the defences on both sides which came out on top causing both sides to make mistakes whilst on the attack. Players from both teams came close on numerous occasions only to be pulled down short of the line or be driven into touch. On the one occasion when Rishworthians played quick ball out to the wing Nathan Donaldson was able to round the Huddersfield defence and score in the corner for the only try of the morning.
Man of the Match - Nathan Donaldson
Top Tackler - Corey White
Grahame
A very close contest saw Huddersfield 'A' team, the District Champions, chalk up a 3 tries to 1 victory against a battling Rishworthian team. Morgan Smithies scored for the Raiders.
In a second game against Huddersfield's 'B' team, the Raiders grew in confidence and cruised to a 4 tries to 1 victory. Tom Craven opened the scoring with a low drive to the line after a scrum, Connor Friend scored 2 tries and Will Symms also crossed the whitewash after a superb effort in the scrum from the Raiders forwards.
Effort Award Connor Friend
Any apprehensions that existed before this match were expelled after a superb opening to the game. Over the years the Reds have scored some quick tries but they excelled themselves in this match scoring in the first 7seconds. From the kick off Jacob Bower put the ball deep in to Huddersfield territory where it rolled in to the in goal area and the Huddersfield defender was slow to collect. Quick thinking Sam Bake, who had given chase, pounced on the ball and was awarded the try. Jacob Bower converted. The immense Reds pack won their first scrum against the head and after the ball had gone down the line, Will McDonnell picked up and darted over. Bower converted. A Huddersfield kick was fumbled by Nathan Cooper at full back but recovered in time to lay the ball back. Will McDonnell at scrum half cleared the lines with a kick downfield which Thomas Sweeten chased and put the defender under pressure. From the ensuing ruck the Reds stole the ball and Cooper battled over to score. Bower converted.
It looked like deja vu when this game kicked off with Thomas Sweeten chasing the kick deep in to Huddersfield territory and recovering the ball only to be tackled short of the line. The try soon came though when Davis forced his way to within 2 metres of the try line where a maul formed, which then drove over allowing Davis to drop and place the ball on the line. Bower converted.
Cons: Jacob Bower (10), Thomas Sweeten.
Effort award: Sam Bake
Tackle award: Nathan Cooper
Man of the match: Max Dawes
Click here to view Huddersfield website
Excellent performance by Rishworthians at Brodleians
Match report Sunday 22nd November
Copley pitches flooded during the week when heavy rain caused the River Calder to overflow. The new Hollas Lane pitch did not flood but was heavy under foot in places and it was decided to rest it to prevent the newly seeded pitch cutting up. We were scheduled to play Brodleians at Copley but Brodleians reported their pitches playable so the fixture was hastly swapped. Thanks tothe Brods al the mini games were able to be played.
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Another good turnout from micros at the Rishworth School Sports Hall with 24 training today.
Rishworthians Young Guns in a clean sweep at Brodleians
The Young Guns were on fire this Sunday winning all four games at Brodleians. Both clubs were able to field two under sevens teams so two pitches were marked out to produce a mini tournament with each team playing both of their opponents sides during the course of the of morning.
Game 1 Brodleians A 8 - 11 Rishworthians Whites
Man of the match Ben Gianotti
Scorers Ben Gianotti (2), Bobbie White (2), Toby Laurie (2), Jon Baker (1), Jack Lumb (2), Robbie Moore (1) and Joseph Robinson (1). Game 2 Brodleians B 7 - 13 Rishworthians Whites
Man of the match Jon Baker
Scorers Bobbie White (1), Jon Baker (3), Jack Lumb (2), Robbie Moore (3), Joshua Moore (3) and Joseph Robinson (1). Game 3 Brodleians B 8 - 9 Rishworthians Maroons
Man of the match Joe Walsh
Scorers Ted Grogan, Thomas Doyle, Joe Walsh 3, Finlay Stewart 2, and Max Didgiunaitis 2. Game 4 Brodleians A 7 - 10 Rishworthians Maroons
Man of the match Finlay Stewart
Scorers Ted Grogan, Emma Mchugh, Rafe Donlon, Joe Walsh, Finlay Stewart 5 and Max Didgiunaitis. The final results was Rishworthians 43 - 30 Brodleians The Young Guns Maroon squad Ted Grogan, Thomas Doyle, Dillon Hilton, Emma Mchugh, Rafe Donlon, Joe Walsh, Finlay Stewart and Max Didgiunaitis. The Young Guns White squad Ben Gianotti, Bobbie White, Toby Laurie, Jon Baker, Jack Lumb, Gailon Stewart, Robbie Moore, Joshua Moore and Joseph Robinson Well done to all the players for turning out on a cold and wet Sunday Morning. Hopefully the results made it worthwhile! It is very encouraging to see our teams play with confidence. 15 children scored tries over the four games.
Meercats machine rumbles on! Brodleians 5 - 13 Rishworthians
Brodleians came out of the gates strong and held the advantage in the first quarter. Rishworthians defended strongly and made Brodleians work for every inch of ground covered but were not able to take back possession. Brods ended the first quarter ahead 2-1. After a energising team talk from the coaches Rishworthians came out in the 2nd quarter raring to get back to winning form. There was some great supportive play ? and Finn Sutcliffe was particularly good at passing the ball and supporting his fellow players to ensure possession stayed with the Rishworthian team. The tries came thick and fast and at the half-time whistle Rishworthians were ahead 7-3. The 3rd quarter started in a similar vein to the match in general. Both teams determined to take possession of the ball ? but with good defending on both sides the try line remained elusive. With no tires scored at all the teams went into the final quarter with Rishworthians still leading 7-3. Once again the lack of try scoring in the previous period galvanised Rishworthians into action. Thomas Georgiou made it a hat-trick of tries in the game and there was a nimble break for the line from Brandon Savage, all of which helped to extend the Rishworthian lead. Oliver Brian lead the excellent Rishworthian tagging defence which impeded Brods progress to the line. Brods managed to get some tries back in the final minutes of the game but the final score was Old Rishworthians 13 ? Old Brodleians 5. Man of the Match Brandon Savage
Squad Reece Barraclough (c), Brandon Savage, Thomas Georgiou, Owen Witchell, Henry Hilton, Billy Smith, Henry Craven, Oscar Thomas-Rowe, Oliver Brian, Haydon Faulkner, William Adams, Finn Sutcliffe Tries Thomas Georgiou (3), Finn Sutcliffe (2), William Adams (1), Henry Hilton (1), Billy Smith (1), Oliver Brian (1), Reece Barraclough (1), Owen Witchell (1), Brandon Savage (1), Henry Craven (1) Destroyers firing on all guns Despite a biting wind and pouring rain welcoming the Rishworthians sides to Old Brods the U9's soon warmed up on the field of play. The Rish defence was on fire putting the Brods side under pressure throughout the two games often driving the opposition backwards or into touch in the tackle and stealing the maul ball on numerous occasions. The Brods side had no answer to the ferocity of the Rish defence and was constantly on the back foot. Game 1 Brodleians 0 - 40 Rishworthians
Man of the Match - Luke Sadler
Game 2 Brodleians 5 - 35 Rishworthians
Man of the Match Kian Sutcliffe
Squad: Tom Stott, Joe Barrett, William Harker, Zak Rush, Toby Helm, Nathan Donaldson, Corey White, Matthew Tooby, Kian Sutcliffe, Carrick Keighley-Payne, Luke Sadler My thanks again to fellow coaches Andy Sadler and Simon Donaldson, to all the players for a fantastic performance and to the parents for their support. Thanks also to Brods for hosting the morning and to their coaches, parents and players for helping to make it a successful morning. Defeat at hands of West Park but Raiders win local derby Rishworthians travelled to Brodleians for a 3 way fixture with West Park Leeds. Game 1 West Park Leeds 15 - 0 Rishworthians
Game 2 Brodleians 5 - 35 Rishworthians
New boy Patrick Smallman crossed the whitewash to score a debut try after a great pass from man of the match Kian Stewart. Morgan Smithies also got on the score sheet by picking up the ball from a ruck then sprinting 25 yards across the field to score in the corner, taking Rishworthians into the break 5 - 1 up. The second half saw the Raiders further extend their lead with Sam Puddephatt bursting though the Old Brods defence to score and then Tom Craven also muscled his way over to chalk up a convincing 35 - 5 win for the Rishworthian Raiders. Try scorers: Kian Stewart 3, Patrick Smallman, Morgan Smithies, Sam Puddephatt, Tom Craven. Man of the match 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 Dave Puddephatt
Reds bounce back after defeat in first game A hastily re-arranged fixture saw the Reds travel to a very chilly Woodhead Park to play local rivals Old Brods. Game 1 Brodleians 31 - 0 Rishworthian Reds
The Reds began the match in good spirits and some hard straight running put the Brods under early pressure. The Brods did weather the onslaught and from a phase of poor tackling they took an early lead. For a short period after, the Reds could not maintain possession, with the ball being lost in the rucks and then losing their own scrum. The Brods have small quick backs who caused the Reds to put in some strong hard tackles. Jack Davis was running good straight lines in an attempt to barge his way through but the Brods defence held strong. Scrum half Will McDonnell jinked his way passed a couple of defenders before offloading in the tackle to Thomas Sweeten who made his way to the try line where, with the help of the forwards, he was pushed over the line, but Brods managed to get players under the ball and denied the try. The Brods youngsters were more committed to the breakdown and won ball off the Reds time and again making there way to within 5 metres of the try line. Fortunately the Reds stole the ball in the ruck and a massive clearance kick from fly half Jacob Bower took play in to the Brods 15 where Bower and Sam Bake chased the ball down, made a good tackle and kept play close to the Brods line. For the remainder of the half the Reds had most of the possession but failed to capitalise so the score at half time was 5-0 to the Brods. Half time Brodleians 5 - 0 Rishworthian Reds In the second half Brods took the game by the scruff of the neck and they took full advantage of the slope. They would have scored within a minute but for a big tackle by Nathan Cooper on their speedy winger. But the score did inevitably come. After being camped on the Reds try line the Brods managed to dive over from close range. The home team were dominating possession and they made it count by scoring another three tries aided by some poor tackling from some members of the Reds team. Even an embarrassing "motivational rant" from yours truly (which I immediately regretted) failed to inspire a response and the Brods ran out easy winners at 31-0. Game 2 Brodleians 14 - 42 Rishworthian Reds
The Reds got off to a cracking start in the second game. Playing up the slope Will McDonnell tested the defence with a 40 metre dash down the wing only to be bundled in to touch 5 metres out. From the ensuing line out the Reds stole the ball and in a mass of players Jonny Wheatcroft managed to put the ball down to open the scoring. Jacob Bower made the conversion. But joy was short lived as the Brods youngsters replied with a converted try of their own. Jamie Smith increased the lead for the Reds when he went over from a 5 metre penalty and Bower converted. Rishies at last had found confidence and began to play as we know they can. Another searching jinking run from scrum half McDonnell made ground before offloading to Thomas Cockroft who continued the run before being tackled. The Reds pack was now working well and from an excellent scrum on half way Jack Davis bounced his way from tackler to tackler taking play up to the Brods 10 metres where McDonnell picked up from the base of the ruck, dived for the line, and managed to stretch his arm over the line and ground the ball. Bower converted to make the score 21-7 at half time. Half time Brodleians 7 - 21 Rishworthian Reds The second half started in the same tempo as the first with the Reds on the front foot forcing the home team back with some penetrating runs from Thomas Sweeten, Sam Bake in the backs and George Radcliffe and Thomas Cockroft in the forwards. Another typical forceful run by Davis from half way was rewarded this time when he managed to shrug of the Brods tacklers to cross the whitewash. Bower converted. From the Brods kick off McDonnell took the high ball in his own 15 and returned the ball the full length of the pitch, evading tacklers on the way, to increase the Reds lead to 33-7. Bower converted. Another new player to the Reds team making his debut, Oliver Marshall, showed that he has safe hands under the high ball and was not afraid to make a tackle. A lapse in concentration allowed Brods to score and convert another try but Rishies roared back. From a ruck on the right touch the ball was spun out through excellent hands to Marshall on the left wing who was denied a try when he was brought down just short of the line with an excellent cover tackle from the Brods. With the game drawing to a close the Reds found themselves again close to the Brods line and after another huge effort in the scrum the ball was popped to Sam Bake who weaved his way through the defence for a try. Bower converted again and the game finished with the final score 42-14 to the Reds. Tries: Will McDonnell (2), Jonny Wheatcroft, Jamie Smith, Jack Davis, Sam Bake.
Cons: Jacob Bower (6) Man of the Match: Will McDonnell
Two games with two different outcomes. After the poor display in the second half of game 1 it was good to see the guys pick themselves up and take control of the second game and win convincingly. I was also impressed with the quality of the kicks from Jacob, Nathan and Will which cleared lines, gained territory and put the Brods defence under pressure from the runners Sam and Sweets who chased well. Next game is the Yorkshire Cup away to West Park Leeds. If the head and the heart are both in the right place we should overturn the defeat in the Landrover Challenge. Brods overcome stiff opposition from the Red Backs Brodleians 49 - 0 Rishworthians
I know what you're all saying on reading the headline score but this performance by the U12's was by far and away the best team performance of the season so far. An under strength Rishworthians development team took the field on a cold, rainy and blustery day at Brods ground due to the flooding of the Copley pitches. Coach Mick Bruce warned that this was going to be another tough fixture against another member of the trio of clubs who qualified for the Yorkshire cup at Bingley, and things looked bad when Brods ran in an easy try in the first few minutes. However after being asked to step up to the plate every single member of the team put in tackle after tackle in the first half , the tackle count must have been at least 3 to one , with the excellent Jack Raby and Jack Hirst leading the way. Hirst returning to scrum half(who will now be alternating with Myles Smithies) spoiled several Brods scrums and supported by Jack Raby's quick breaking from the scrum, the Brods were restricted to 3 converted first half tries. In the 2nd half Rishies would be playing up hill against a team that could afford the luxury of replacing at least 4 players. Isaac and George Heron worked tirelessly in the pack, with Isaac producing some excellent driving play that nearly resulted in what would have been a well deserved try. Max Dawes and Sam Burford-Eyre swapped wings early in the half as two early tries had been run in by a large and fast winger, this seemed to be an excellent decision as the floodgates did not open. A free flowing break by Brods saw Edward Denham produce the tackle of the season, making up ground cross field to fell his much larger counterpart. Elliot Craven once again put his body on the line, having to leave the field twice for running repairs, but the team stood strong. Jack Bruce and Harry Wade matched the Brods with their tackling and the defensive kicking of James Stott is becoming a welcome addition to the team's arsenal. Late on as fatigue once again took its toll Brods ran in two late tries to place an unfair look on the final score. Its been a baptism of fire for the Red Backs in their last 3 games having faced West Yorkshire top 3 clubs who now represent the district in the Yorkshire Cup. Now that we have got the best 3 teams out of the way we can look forward to further successes which I am sure will come Squad: Jack Bruce; James Stott; Edward Denham; George Heron; Isaac Heron; Max Dawes; Sam Burford-Eyre; Harry Wade; Jack Raby; Myles Smithies; Elliot Craven; Jack Hirst Top Tackler Jack Raby
Your Reporter Steve Dawes
Rishworthians led 6 - 4 at half time with tries from Ben Gianotti, Bobbie White, Toby Laurie, Jack Lumb, Robbie Moore and Jon Baker. The Whites added 5 scores in the second half with further tries from Ben, Bobbie, Toby and Jack with Joseph Robinson completing the scoring. The team scored some spectacular tries during the game. Ben Gianotti had his best game of the season so far and picked up the man of the match award
Top Tagger Jack Lumb
Effort Award Toby Laurie
Rishworthians showed good stamina outscoring their opponents by a ratio of 2 tries to 1. The Whites lead at half-time by 6 tries to 2 scored by Bobbie White, Jon Baker, Jack Lumb (2) and Robbie and Joshua Moore. The Whites added to score line in the second half with two further tries each from Jon, Robbie and Joshua to complete their hat tricks with Joseph Robinson completing the scoring. Toby Laurie put in a big defensive effort to pick up the top tagger award.
Top Tagger Toby Laurie
Effort Award Robbie Moore
The scores were tied 4 - 4 at half time with tries from Joe Walsh, Finlay Stewart, Ted Grogan and Max Didgiunaitus. The Maroons made good use of the slope in the second half with further tries by Finlay and Max, two more for Joe to complete his hat trick and a try from Thomas Doyle to complete the scoring. The players tagging skills improve every week with Dillon Hilton leading the chase in defense to pick up the top tagger accolade.
Top Tagger Dillon Hilton
Effort Award Max Didgiunaitis
Rishworthians led 4 - 2 at half time through tries from Joe Walsh, Rafe Donlon and Finlay Stewart with two. The Maroons controlled the second half with some excellent tagging work from Emma Mchugh, Ted Grogan and Finlay and scored tries by Max Didgiunaitis, Emma, Ted and a further three from man of the match Finlay Stewart. The sporting award goes to Thomas Doyle who volunteered to make up the numbers on the Brodleians side at the start of the game and scored two tries against his team mates. Well done Thomas. Well done to Rafe also who scored his first try of the season and to Finlay for scoring FIVE tries in the game.
Top Tagger Emma Mchugh
Effort Award Rafe Donlon
Thank you to the parents/grandparents etc for their support on the day.
PS The childrens Xmas party is on Sunday 20th December 3:00pm - 6:00pm. We would like a mum from each age group to help plan the event. We are going to hold a planning meeting next Sunday 29th Nov while players are training. Any volunteers please let one of the coaches know.
Thank you.Darren Grogan
It was a local Derby as Old Rishworthians travelled to Old Brodleians on a wet and windy Sunday morning. Rishworthians came to the match looking to maintain their winning streak (currently 49 weeks undefeated) and Brodleians have historically always been a strong team ? so an interesting match was bound to follow.
Effort Award: Finn Sutcliffe
Top Tagger: Oliver Brian
In a one-sided game Rish scored at ease to lead 20-0 at half-time with a hat-trick from Carrick Keighley-Payne and a fine try from Tom Stott. Carrick opened the scoring in the second half with Tom Stott, Luke Sadler and Corey White scoring a try apiece.
Effort Award - Tom Stott
Top Tackler - Corey White
A very similar game to the first one with the Rish defence on top throughout. One lapse did allow the Brods over the line shortly into the second half but by this time the game was already won. First half tries from Kian Surcliffe, Tom Stott, Corey White and Nathan Donaldson gave Rish a 20-0 half time lead. Nathan Donaldson opened the scoring in the second half before Brods scored their only try of the morning. Luke Sadler and Kian Sutcliffe completed the scoring to give Rish a 35-5 victory.
Effort Award Matthew Tooby
Top Tackler Corey White
Grahame White
A tough game against strong opposition saw Old Rishworthians struggle to win possession of the ball. West Park threw the ball around with great confidence and dominated possession. Rishworthians tackled well but were never at the breakdown in sufficient numbers to secure the ball. West Park exploited space out wide with some superb passing and ran in 3 unanswered tries to win 15 - 0.
A strongly worded team talk after the earlier defeat from coach Dave Puddephatt, saw a renewed tempo at the start of the Raiders second match of the morning. Local rivals Old Brod's started well with their big forward pack making hard yards, but the Rishworth defence, spearheaded by the ever present Morgan Smithies, held firm. Toby Muscat-Baron made a number of surging runs and managed to present clean ball when eventually tackled to set up second phase ball. As Rishworth piled over at the ruck, scrum half Vinny Maude spun the ball wide and centre Kian Stewart exploited gaps in the Brods defence and burst through 3 times to notch up a first half hat trick for the Raiders.
Effort Award Toby Muscat Baron, Patrick Smallman
Best tackleGeorge Wright
After winning the toss and deciding to play down the slope it was hoped that the Reds could build up a decent first half lead. But, as we know, things never quite go to plan.
After a short break The Reds then played another game with the Brods changing a couple of their personnel with lads coming in from the development squad.
Effort award: Thomas Cockroft
Tackle award: Toby Gledhill
Dave Mc
Man of the match: Isaac Heron
Click here to view Huddersfield website
Another miserable morning weather wise but parents reward with some excellent results
Match report Sunday 6th December
Another miserable morning weather wise but despite the conditions the minis produced some excellent performances with under 7's, 8's and 9's winning all their games. The under 10's however went down 20 - 40 to a big Skipton squad. The under 11's hopes of a cup run were dashed at the first hurdle losing to West Park Leeds..
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Just over 20 Micros trained at Copley this Sunday, next week they host Huddersfield YMCA i a joint training session. Several micros just turned 6 are performing well with the Young Guns and gaining valuable match experience ready for next season.
Rishworthians Young Guns keep on firing at Skipton
In some of the muddiest and wettest conditions of the year so far the Young Guns stepped up to the mark yet again for a clean sweep of victories at Skipton.
Game 1 Skipton A 5 - 9 Rishworthians Whites
With the game only minutes old the clouds opened and the rain lashed down turning a very muddy pitch into a quagmire. Despite the terrible conditions the team found their stride with some great tries from all the team; particular mention going to Ben Gianotti for a great solo effort down the left side of the pitch. An excellent defensive effort from everyone restricted Skipton to only a few scoring opportunities.
Man of the match Bobbie White
Top Tagger Toby Laurie
Effort Award Emma McHugh
Scorers: Joe Walsh 2, Rafe Donlan 1, Toby Laurie 2, Bobbie White 2, Emma McHugh 1, Ben Collins 1
Whites squad Joe Walsh, Rafe Donlan, Toby Laurie, Bobbie White, Emma McHugh, Noah Mackrill, Ben Collins
Game 2 Skipton B 7 - 8 Rishworthians Maroons
Man of the match Jack Lumb
Scorers: Jack Lumb 2, Max Didgiunaitis 1, Ben Gianotti 2, John Baker 2, Finlay Stewart 1 Maroons squad Jack Lumb, Max Didgiunaitis, Ben Gianotti, John Baker, Dillon Hilton, Finlay Stewart The final result was Rishworthians 17 - 12 Skipton A big thank you from the coaches to all players and parents for making the long journey to Skipton. It was lashing down with rain when we set off, we got another soaking during the games, but we went home happy and victorious. The confidence being shown by the players is great to see and bodes well for the future.
Meercats lay the ghost of Skipton to rest (Rishworthians under 7's 3 - 4 Skipton December 14th 2008) The last time the Under 8's squad lost a game. The playing conditions were not the best , there was standing water on the pitch, the wind was bitingly cold and halfway through the first third the heavens opened and drowned our poor players leaving them wondering whether this was all such a good idea. Would the under 8's beat Skipton and the elements.?? Skipton 8 - 22 Rishworthians
Before the heavens opened there was some beautiful passing and well thought out supportive play from the Old Rishworthian squad which saw Henry Craven score another try before Skipton could respond. Even through the pelting rain and the biting wind the passion of the Rishworthian team never abated. They continued to push through to the line and made the most of every opportunity they could. The first third ended 8-2 to Rishworthians. As the match progressed the playing conditions worsened as the pitch became even muddier ? making fast runs more problematic ? but not impossible. Rishworthians kept on top of the ball and Finn Sutcliffe was particularly good at ensuring he was always on hand to scoop up the ball when it slipped out of an opposing players hands. Oscar Thomas-Rowe also had a particularly good match with a great run for the line to close the second third. Rishworthians entered the final third leading 15-4. Players from both sides were suffering from the cold conditions ? Rishworthians had suffered a couple of withdrawals from the pitch. They maintained their focus and continued to draw ahead. Oliver Brian was determined to cross the line before the end of the match and kept hold of the ball, evading tags, as he ran all over the pitch trying to break through the Skipton line. Luckily he made it and the final score came in at Old Rishworthians 22 ? Skipton 8. Scorers: Thomas Georgiou 7, William Adams 5, Finn Sutcliffe 3, Owen Witchell 2, Oscar Thomas-Rowe 2, Oliver Brian 1, Oliver Muscat-Baron 1, Henry Craven 1 Man of the Match Thomas Georgiou
Squad: Finn Sutcliffe (c), Henry Craven, Henry Hilton, Haydon Faulkner, Thomas Georgiou, Oliver Brian, Oliver Muscat-Baron, Oscar Thomas-Rowe, Owen Witchell, William Adams Skipton sunk by Destroyers A pre-match downpour left players and spectators very wet and feeling the cold. Fortunately this was short lived and conditions above ground did improve. Under foot however was very wet and the going was hard for both sides. Game 1 Skipton 0 - 35 Rishworthians
Man of the Match Corey White
Squad: William Harker, Nathan Donaldson, Tom Stott, Carrick Keighley-Payne, Matthew Tooby, Zak Rush, Toby Helm, Kian Sutcliffe, Corey White, Luke Sadler, Reggie Herd A dis-heartened Skipton side clearly didn't want a second game so the players were mixed up and played out a much more even contest allowing some of the Skipton players a chance to show some of their skills. Thanks to all the players and parents, to Andy and Simon for coaching and to Kenny Herd for giving the match awards. Grahame White
As the weather improved throughout the morning, and with Skipton smarting after the earlier loss, an epic game unfurled. Neither team was able to pull away as tries were traded by both teams. With Rishworthians trailing 2 - 3 at half-time a spiriting team talk lifted the players and the maroons edged themselves in front. A top effort from Jack Lumb, covering all corners of the pitch, typified the collective fighting spirit of this young guns team.
Top Tagger Finlay Stewart
Effort Award Jon Baker
Guy Laurie.
The opening play of the match was stunning ? the ball was passed straight to Thomas Georgiou who sprinted past the unsuspecting Skipton team to score an immediate try in the opening seconds of the game. That play set the scene for the rest of the match ? the Skipton team made valiant attempts to defend their line and had some sparkling moments of play, but were generally not a match for the superior force of the Old Rishworthians.
Effort Award: Oscar Thomas-Rowe
Top Tagger: Haydon Faulkner
Rishworthians adapted better to the conditions with some strong straight running in attack and some ferocious tackling in defence. Skipton had no answer to this and trailed 20-0 at half time, the Rishworthians tries coming from Corey White (3) and Nathan Donaldson.
Unusually we then had a change of pitch due to a Junior game starting on the pitch we were using. Rishworthians continued where they left off in the first half and scored three further tries through Carrick Keighley-Payne and Corey White 2.
Effort Award Luke Sadler
Top Tackler Kian Sutcliffe
Big Skipton squad too good for Raiders
The Rishworthian Raiders travelled to Skipton on Sunday to play in atrocious conditions. With standing water covering the pitch the Raiders put up a good defensive display in the first half against a much bigger set of players.
Game 1 Skipton 40 - 20 Rishworthians
Toby Muscat Baron made some superb tackles and Connor Friend managed to get over the try line for the Raiders for an early score. Kian Stewart came off the bench and made an instant impact, scoring a try and also doing some good defensive work. However, the Skipton pack always dominated set pieces to secure possession and they made good use of their physical advantage by scoring several tries from close range.
Rishworthian kept battling though with Callum Bell doing some excellent work in the maul. He managed to rip the ball out several times, setting up George Ackroyd for a try. Connor Friend then made his presence felt with a blockbusting tackle to save a certain Skipton try and Sam Puddephatt darted through the Skipton defence to score and round off a good individual performance. Skipton managed to score a couple of late tries to record a 40 -20 victory but the Raiders left the field pleased with their morning efforts.
Try scorers: : Friend, Ackroyd, Stewart, Puddephatt
Man of the match Connor Friend
Effort Award Sam Puddephatt and Callum Bell
Best tackleConnor Friend and Toby Muscat Baron
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
Dave Puddephatt
Reds crash out of Yorkshire Cup
Old Rishworthians Reds foray in to the Yorkshire Cup came to a grinding halt at ?The Sycamores? yesterday as West Park proved too strong for the Rishies youngsters.
Game 1 West Park Leeds 21 - 0 Rishworthian Reds
The Reds began the game in a determined manner and had the Leeds youngsters pegged back in their own half in the first few minutes. The first scrum was won against the head by The Reds and they continued this power with some strong rucking and mauling. Thomas Sweeten made one of many powerful runs and after battling his way through the Park defence from half way went over the try line but was ruled as held up. From the ensuing 5 metre scrum Jack Davis then barged over but incredulously he too was denied a try when the referee announced that he had also been held up.
There is often a turning point in a game and the Reds failure to score was that point. West Leeds seemed to find their feet and began to throw the ball about. They were only denied a certain try in the corner when the unfortunate winger knocked on metres from the line. Further pressure from the home team did see them go over the line in a heap, but fortunately for the Reds they were also ruled held up. West Park had some solid defence in close quarter contact and so when Will McDonnell managed to find space out wide he set of down the wing but was well tackled in to touch on half way. Both teams were evenly matched midway through the half with some excellent tackling from both sets of players and chances to score were few. However a momentary lapse of concentration by the Reds allowed one of the big Leeds forwards to run across field and then cut back inside where he then spun through 4 tackles before scoring under the posts.
Not a problem. Nearly half time and we were playing up the big slope. West Park too advantage of that slope and again some poor tackling from the Reds allowed the home team to barge through to score and make half time 14-0.
Half time West Park Leeds 14 - 0 Rishworthian Reds
The Reds have never come back from being behind and this game would be no exception, particularly when West Park went further ahead within minutes of the restart. The Rishies play became pedestrian and predictable at times and it was obvious that they were never going to overhaul this Leeds side. Credit where credits due though. Individually there were some good performances with powerful runs from Thomas Sweeten, Jack Davis, and Will McDonnell with only one working knee, great tackles from Sam Bake, Charlotte Siddall, Thomas Creasy and Jamie Highley. Jacob Bower had a decent game with the boot with some searching kicks from deep, and the front five again were immense.
Unfortunately as a team the oomph had gone. West Park were constantly being penalised for being offside at the breakdown but the Reds failed to capitalise on these transgressions, mainly due to some excellent defence from the home team. Leeds failed to cross the whitewash again and the score finished at 21-0.
Man of the Match: Sam Bake for his tackling and attitude throughout the match.
Effort award: Thomas Cockroft for his work rate and determination in the pack.
Tackle award: Charlotte Siddall for yet again taking out the biggest player on the pitch
with a perfect tackle.
Dave Mc
A good training session for the Red Backs
Skipton C - C Rishworthians
Skipton under 12's were involved in the Yorkshire Cup games which left the Red Backs without a game so they had a good training session ready for the game against Hudderfield YMCA next Sunday. There was a good turnout wsit 12 players despite the cold wet morning.
Click here to view Skipton website
Under 11's v West Park Leeds Slideshow.
Click on arrows to view more photos, click on photo to enlarge.
Minis in fine form against Huddersfield YMCA
Match report Sunday 13th December
At last a dry morning but cold perfect for rugby!!!. The minis performed well with only the under 7's losing a game. Perhaps the best result of the day was the under 12's win. THe under 8's deserve a mention, they have gone a year without losing a game. Well done team.
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Tune into 96.7 FM Tuesday 6-8pm to hear our match reports
Just over 20 Micros trained at Copley this Sunday, next week they host Huddersfield YMCA i a joint training session. Several micros just turned 6 are performing well with the Young Guns and gaining valuable match experience ready for next season.
Rishworthians Young Guns keep on firing at Skipton
In some of the muddiest and wettest conditions of the year so far the Young Guns stepped up to the mark yet again for a clean sweep of victories at Skipton.
Game 1 Rishworthians 13 - 17 Huddersfield YMCA
Waiting for report
Man of the match Bobbie White
Top Tagger Toby Laurie
Effort Award Emma McHugh
Scorers: Ted Grogan 3, Bobbie White 3, Jack Lumb 2, Jon Baker 2, Toby Laurie 1, Joe Walsh 1, Dillon Hilton 1.
Whites squad Joe Walsh, Rafe Donlan, Toby Laurie, Bobbie White, Emma McHugh, Noah Mackrill, Ben Collins
Meercats unbeaten in 52 weeks!!
The Meercats continued their winning streak this week and have now gone a full 52 weeks unbeaten (last defeat against Skipton 13th December 2008). This is an amazing feat and a well deserved congratulations to the team and coaches for such a superb result.
Rishworthians 22 - 13 Huddersfield YMCA
The match against Huddersfield YMCA started well with Thomas Georgiou being the first over the try line for Rishworthians. Huddersfield kept up the pressure and quickly got one back in reply, and so the first half progressed. Rishworthians getting a couple of tries over the line and Huddersfield managing to keep apace ? not allowing the home team to extend their lead too far. There was some good backing up from the RIshworthian side and accurate passing meant that they kept possession when tackled. The first third ended 7-4 to Rishworthians.
The second half started badly. After a first try for Rishworthians from Oliver Brian, Huddersfield managed to get 3 over the line, meaning they were only 1 behind. For a while the watching parents bit their lips as Huddersfield continued the pressure and remained just 1 behind Rishworthians, despite tries from William Adams and Oliver Muscat-Baron. Then the tide turned and Rishworthians started to pull ahead again. The second third ended 15-11 to the home team.
The final sector of the match was very one-sided. Huddersfield put up a good fight but the stamina and resilience of the Rishworthian team was just too much for them. There was some good straight running through the Huddersfield defence that resulted in tries from Brandon Savage and Reece Barraclough. The Rishworthian players shared the glory and neatly passed the ball between themselves to ensure that all team members were able to get at least one try over the line.
Although the scoreline was impressive, this was not the highest tagging match this season and there were times when the home team let their concentration lapse and left gaps in their defence. However, they were able to retain control of the situation and the final score was a comfortable 22-13 win to Old Rishworthians.
Scorers: Thomas Georgiou 6, Oliver Brian 3, William Adams 2, Finn Sutcliffe 2, Brandon Savage 2, Reece Barraclough 2, Henry Craven 1, Oliver Muscat-Baron 1, Oscar Thomas-Rowe 1, Henry Hilton 1, Billy Smith 1
Man of the Match Oliver Muscat-Baron
Effort Award: Henry Hilton
Top Tagger: Thomas Georgiou
Squad: Oliver Muscat-Baron (c), Brandon Savage, William Adams, Finn Sutcliffe, Henry Hilton, Henry Craven, Oliver Brian, Reece Barraclough, Billy Smith, Oscar Thomas-Rowe
Alex Huggon
Destroyers now unbeaten last eight games
At last a dry but cold Sunday the Destroyers welcomed near neighbours Huddersfield YMCA to Copley to play two games. The pitch was still heavy after several weeks rain.
Game 1 Rishworthians 5 - 5 Huddersfield YMCA
Both teams tackled superbly in a scoreless first half. Early in the second half Rishworthians took a 5-0 lead with a try from Corey White but the lead was very short-lived. Immediately after the restart Rishworthians over-committed players to a maul and a break-away YMCA player was able to cross the line unchallenged to level the score at 5-5.
Man of the Match Corey White
Effort Award William Harker
Top Tackler Kian Sutcliffe
Game 2 Rishworthians 10 - 0 Huddersfield YMCA
Again it was the defensive play which dominated this game. Rishworthians had the better of the attacking play and man of the match Kian Sutcliffe touched down in each half to earn Rishworthians a 10-0 victory.
Man of the Match Kian Sutcliffe
Effort Award Toby Helm
Top Tackler Corey White
Squad: Toby Helm, Zak Rush, Carrick Keighley-Payne, William Harker,
Nathan Donaldson, Reggie Herd, Tom Stott, Kian Sutcliffe, Corey White, Matthew Tooby
Thanks again to Simon Donaldson for coaching the team, to all the parents for their support and to all the players for a super effort. Thanks also to all the players, parents and coaches from Huddersfield YMCA for making it such an enjoyable morning.
Grahame White
Raiders edge out YMCA in a close match
p>Rishworthians 20 - 15 Huddersfield YMCAA very close first half saw YMCA take the lead after some hesitation by the Raiders close to their own line. YMCA pounced on a loose ball to score and take the lead. The Raiders hit back though with a fine solo try from Sam Puddephatt who brushed aside several attempted tackles to sprint 30 meters and score in the corner. YMCA then enjoyed a period of sustained possession, recycling the ball several times and driving a rolling maul over the try line to take a 10 - 5 lead at half time.
The second half saw the Raiders players getting really fired up with much more commitment at the ruck. Connor Friend and Morgan Smithies were regularly first to the breakdown and cleared the YMCA players off the ball with great effect and George Wright put in several superb tackles. Callum Bell showed his strength to rip the ball out of a maul and touch down for a try. Nathan Hales also got on the score sheet with a tremendous run down the pitch with several YMCA defenders hanging off him. Hales proved too strong for the defence though and managed to touch the ball down to give Rishworth the lead. The Raiders final try came as Fly half Tom Craven received a pass after a scrum and cut inside. He found his way blocked though so cut back and rounded the defence to score. YMCA got a third try late in the game but the Raiders held on for the win.
Try scorers: : Puddephatt, Bell, Hales, Craven
Man of the match Nathan Hales
Effort Award Connor Friend
Best tackleGeorge Wright
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
Dave Puddephatt
Reds back on track
After the disappointment of last weekend the Reds had to get back to winning ways and did so in style with a 12 try demolition of Huddersfield YMCA at Hollas Lane.
Rishworthian Reds 80 - 7 Huddersfield YMCA
Straight from the kick off the Reds had YMCA pinned back in their own 5 metre line, and sustained pressure in the rucks drew players in which allowed scrum half Will McDonnell the space to move right through a gap to open the scoring. Jacob Bower provided the conversion. The Rishies pack have been a strong unit this season and they continued in that vein winning the first three scrums against the head. From the third scrum the ball was fed out wide to Thomas Creasy on the wing who ran in at the corner. Bower converted. Sam Bake was the next to cross the line but his effort was over ruled for handing off. A stolen ball in the ruck allowed McDonnell to attack the YMCA defence before offloading to Bake who this time was not denied. Bower converted. From the restart YMCA punted the ball in to the Reds in goal area and a lapse of concentration allowed them to pounce on the ball to score. The successful conversion made the score 21-7. The Reds were in control of the game and with play taken up to the YMCA line, McDonnell picked up the ball from the ruck and dived over. Bower converted. A lovely passing move created the next try with a well timed final pass by Jack Davis out to Charlotte Siddall who managed to get by two defenders to score. Bower missed the conversion. Jonny Wheatcroft made his presence felt when he bashed his way through the YMCA defence trampling defenders underfoot, and he then scored from a lovely chip kick from full back Nathan Cooper, which he collected and barged over. Bower added the conversion. Good hands again from one side of the field to the other gave Thomas Sweeten the chance to score after wrong footing the defence with a dummy pass. Bower missed the conversion and half time came with the score 45-7.
Half time Rishworthian Reds 45 - 7 Huddersfield YMCA The game was now over as a contest but the Reds showed a ruthless streak that is sometimes missing and the forwards continued to dominate the rucks, mauls and scrums. A long kick up field by Bake was chased down by the Reds with George Radcliffe making the tackle, ripping the ball and then diving over to score. Bower converted. Davis and Sweeten continued to make strong runs through midfield at pace and with the ball on the YMCA line again, Greg Day dived over only to knock on before grounding. The next attacking wave came from another scrum against the head with the ball been thrown out wide to Sweeten who spun his way out of tackles before dashing over the line. Bower converted. Another long clearance kick up field by McDonnell was again chased down and with YMCA under pressure the Reds stole the ball, threw it out wide through three pairs of hands for Creasy to score his second in the corner. Bower converted. From the resulting kick off McDonnell collected the ball deep in his own half and sprinted the length of the pitch for a solo try. Bower made the conversion. The final play of the game went the Reds way. From a line out 5 metres from the YMCA line, the Reds won the ball and from the ruck George Radcliffe picked up and dived over the line. With Bower adding the extra points the final score was 80-7 to the Reds.
Tries: Will McDonnell (3), Thomas Creasy (2), Sam Bake, Charlotte Siddall, Jonny Wheatcroft, Thomas Sweeten (2), George Radcliff (2).
Conversions: Jacob Bower (10)
Man of the match Jacob Bower
YMCA arrived at Copley with only 10 players so a big thank you from the coaches to Jamie Highley and Jamie Smith who played for the opposition. I know its hard to play against your mates, and it does happen from time to time, but the YMCA coach and players were very grateful that they stepped in to make it a proper game.
Red Backs record their first home win at Hollas Lane Rishworthians 38 - 33 Huddersfield YMCA
On a bright winter's day at the Hollas Lane Arena ,Rishworthians took to the field with sense of expectancy for what they knew was going to be close fought match . Rishworthians sportingly agreed to play 2 subs as YMCA only had 10 players, a compliment not afforded us by many of our opponents this year but it made for a close and exciting encounter. YMCA, several minutes into the first half took advantage of some very under par tackling by the team to cross for the first try which was then converted. Rishies playing by far the better rugby were soon back on equal terms with James Stott finishing off an excellent passing move to cross, Stott converting his own try. Unfortunately the redbacks took their eye off the ball again shortly after to allow the large YMCA forward to break several weak tackles to score one again, the conversion was missed. Rishies lifted their game again, excellent rucking by George and Ben released the ball to Myles who released the backs , who for once span the ball down the line , James seeing Max Dawes clear outside produced a perfect pop pass to Max who dived over the line for an excellent passing move try, and unfortunately James just missed the conversion. Once again loose tackling let YMCA back in almost immediately which led to frustration from the watching parents and coach Mick Bruce. From the Rishies kick off however Elliot Craven punished hesitation by the YMCA full back after he had knocked on , picked the ball up and dived over. Stott converting the try. There was just time for YMCA to run in another converted weak try before the half time whistle was blown. Half time Rishworthian 19 - 26 Huddersfield YMCA Mick Bruce read the riot act at half time, pointing out that although we were playing the prettier rugby it would not count for much if we could not tackle , he issued a war cry for the team as a whole to step up the effort and win a game that was there for the taking. They took to the field and things looked bleak when YMCA ran in a very soft try ( which was converted ) it would have been very easy for Rishies to fold but they did not. The tackle count started to rack up and some punishing hits were made by all players particularly Ben, Jack Bruce and James . This reaped rewards when Edward Denham crossed the line after continuous pressure from the forwards . Isaac Heron , Harry Wade were now pushing YMCA back and producing turnover ball , from one of these Captain, George Heron picked up the ball and made a 45m dash leaving most of the YMCA team in his wake , a brave last ditch tackle by the YMCA fullback left him dazed as George crunched over the line for an excellent try. Stott converting the try left just over 5 minutes with Rishworthians trailing by 2 points , the sense of expectation of a great win was tangible amongst the crowd. We thought we had taken the lead shortly after as Elliot broke several tackles to cross the line but dropped the ball in the act of scoring. The team, did not let their heads drop and in the next minute James Stott crossed for another try. Stott converted his try to leave 4 minutes to hold out. Excellent tackling and scrum work kept YMCA away from the line and a short pop pass from Myles to James allowed him to kick for touch and end the game . An excellent win Man of the match George Heron
Squad Jack Bruce; James Stott; Edward Denham; George Heron; Isaac Heron; Max Dawes;
Your Reporter: Steve Dawes
Rishies coaches made a few positional changes to the squad this week with Jacob Bower moving in to the pack, Sam Bake at stand off and Thomas Sweeten coming off the wing to outside centre. With regular hooker Thomas Cockroft unavailable, Greg Day and Lewis Hilton stepped in and did a sterling job.
Effort Award Toby Gledhill
Best tackleGeorge Radcliffe
Dave Mc
Tackling Award Ben Grannan
Effort Award James Stott
Elliot Craven; Harry Wade; Jack Hirst; Myles Smithies; Ben Grannan; Harry Hollingsworth
Click here to view Huddersfield YMCA website
Another execellent performance from the Minis
Match report Sunday 7th February
At last a game of rugby the first since 13th December. Despite the long lay off due to the bad weather the squads indoor training sessions have paid off with some fine performances against Cleckheaton. The best result of the day goes again to the improving under 12's who drew 7 - 7 after a 7 - 42 defeat earlier in the season. The under 8's continued their undeafted run, the under 7's recorded a clean sweep and the under 11's romped home 90 - 0.
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Just over 20 Micros trained at Copley this Sunday. Several micros just turned 6 are performing well with the Young Guns and gaining valuable match experience ready for next season.
Clean sweep for the Young Guns.
The Young Guns welcomed Cleckheaton to Copley for their first competitive game of tag rugby in 2010. Both teams were able to field 2 sides.
Game 1 Rishworthians Whites 4 - 3 Cleckheaton A
Cleckheaton started the game with two well worked tries before Rishworthians responded with three tries from Bobbie White and one try from Dillon Hilton. Cleckheaton struggled to contain Ben Gianotti, Jack Lumb and Joe Walsh throughout the game and Noah Mackrill, Jon Baker and Ben Collins tested their opponents defence.
Game 2 Rishworthians Maroons 6 - 0 Cleckheaton B
The Maroons dominated the tiring Cleckheaton side in defence and attack and ran in six tries through Max Didgiunaitis, Thomas Doyle and two tries each from Finlay Stewart and Ted Grogan. Also Rafe Donlon and Emma Mchugh made good breaks to set up two tries and Toby Laurie was unlucky not to get on the score sheet.
Game 3 Rishworthians Whites 3 - 2 Cleckheaton B
Cleckheaton rallied in the third quarter and put Rishworthians under pressure with an early try. Rishworthians hit back with tries from Jon Baker and Bobbie White before Cleckheaton levelled the scores at 2 -2. Jack Lumb scored the winner with a great individual effort after picking up the ball and side stepping his way to the opponents try line.
Game 4 Rishworthians Maroons 6 - 0 Cleckheaton A
The Maroons put in another great team effort to score six unanswered tries from Finlay Stewart, Thomas Doyle and two tries each from Max Didgiunaitis and Ted Grogan.
Man of the match Ted Grogan
Top Tagger Thomas Doyle
Effort Award Bobbie White
Scorers: Bobbie White 4, Dillon Hilton, Jon Baker, Jack Lumb
Finlay Stewart 3, Ted Grogan 4, Max Didgiunaitis 3, Thomas Doyle 2
Whites squad Ben Gianotti, Bobbie White 4, Noah Mackrill, Jon Baker, Jack Lumb, Ben Collins, Dillon Hilton, and Joe Walsh
Maroons squad Ted Grogan, Thomas Doyle, Emma Mchugh, Rafe Donlon, Finlay Stewart, Toby Laurie and Max Didgiunaitis.
Thank you to the parents/grandparents etc for their support
Darren Grogan
Meercats start 2010 with a win
On a slightly dreary Sunday morning Rishworthian Under 8's ventured forth for their first match of 2010. Due to the inclement weather conditions over the winter this was their first competitive match since mid-December and the team were raring to get on the pitch to blow out the cobwebs.
Rishworthians 18 - 9 Cleckheaton
The first third proved that Rishworthians had lost none of their sparkle and drive for success during their enforced rest period. They were the first to score and got 4 tries in quick succession (from Thomas Georgiou 2, Owen Witchell and Finn Sutcliffe). The Cleckheaton team looked on in bewilderment as the Rishworthian team kept getting the ball over the try-line. However, they soon rallied and managed to get a couple of tries before the first whistle. The first section ended 6-2 to Rishworthians. In the second third Rishworthians took their eye off the ball and became complacent, allowing Cleckheaton to score two tries without reply. This brought the scoreline a little too close for comfort and the team were urged to stay focussed. They answered the call and extended the lead again before the second whistle blew. The score going into the final third was 10-6 to Rishworthians. It was in the final third that Rishworthians really came into their own. They are a tenacious young team with phenomenal stamina and as Cleckheaton started to flag Rishworthians came alive once more scoring a total of 8 tries in this final section of the match. Brandon Savage took some good tags and scored 2 tries and Oliver Brian made a couple of good straight runs over the line. There was inspired team play and the team started looking out for each other in an attempt to keep the ball in play for all long as possible. Scorers: Thomas Georgiou 6, Finn Sutcliffe 4, Oliver Brian 3, Brandon Savage 2, William Adams 2, Owen Witchell 1 Man of the Match Brandon Savage
Squad: Brandon Savage (c), Finn Sutcliffe, Henry Hilton, Oliver Brian, Oliver Muscat-Baron, Owen Witchell, Thomas Georgiou, Henry Craven, William Adams Alex Huggon Honours even for Destroyers Game 1 Rishworthians 0 - 5 Cleckheaton
Man of the Match Matty Tooby
Game 2 Rishworthians 15 - 0 Cleckheaton
Man of the Match Tom Stott
Squad: Reggie Herd, William Harker, Matty Tooby, Carrick Keighley-Payne, Kian Sutcliffe, Zak Rush,
Well done to all the team this morning and especially to Liam Holgate on his successful debut for the team. Thanks to all the parents and coaches from both sides for making it an enjoyable occasion and to Simon Donaldson for taking charge of the team on the pitch. Grahame White Raiders win a good close game against a strong Cleckheaton side Rishworthians 15 - 5 Cleckheaton
This was a close game with the first try for the Rishworthian Raiders coming after a sustained period of pressure on the Cleckheaton line. The ball was recycled several times by a forward combination of Morgan Smithies, James McHugh and William Hilton, before scrum half Kallan Jamieson picked up a loose ball and darted over the line. Cleckheaton came back strongly though and would have scored twice but for some excellent defensive work from George Wright and Kallan Jamieson. Just before half time Cleckheaton almost levelled the score but knocked on right on the Rishworthians try line. As the ball spilled forward, the referee played a good advantage and the Raiders hooker Sam Puddephatt scooped up the ball and sprinted the length of the pitch to score a fine solo try. Half time Rishworthians 10 - 0 Cleckheaton
The second half saw Cleckheaton working the ball well and putting the Raiders defence under pressure allowing them to cross the line and pull a try back. Kian Stewart then broke free down the left wing for Rishworth, only to put the ball down short of the try line. His frustration with his mistake was quickly wiped off though, as a couple of minutes later Kian Stewart made an almost identical break down the same touch line to score a third Rishworthian try and secure the victory. Try scorers: : Jamieson, Puddephatt,Stewart. Man of the match Kallan Jamieson
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 Dave Puddephatt
Reds rip Cleck apart in 13 try blitz It seems like an ice age since a rugby ball has been thrown in anger, but after an 8 week lay off the weather god finally allowed us to have a game of rugby. Any signs of rustiness were very quickly dispelled with a wonderful display of powerful, attacking rugby which left the visitors shell shocked, and brought about 13 wonderful tries. The Reds 91 v 0 Cleckheaton
Within minutes of the kick off the Reds were attacking the Cleckheaton defence and a scrum won against the head on the Cleck 15 metre line gave Sam Bake the chance to battle through the defence and score by the corner flag. Jacob Bower converted. Thomas Sweeten has had a bit of a barren time lately in the try stakes but he made up for it today. His first try of the day saw him scythe through the Cleck defence and score unopposed. Bower converted. The Reds had obviously taken on board recent rucking training because they were all powerful in the breakdown, and when George Radcliffe picked up and gave the ball to Jack Davis, it gave ?Rhino? the chance to barge and bully his way through some inept tackling to increase the Reds lead. Bower converted. A lovely passing move from one side of the pitch to the other brought about the next try for Sweeten who finished off a great team try. Bower added the extra points. With only 10 minute gone the Reds were already 28-0 in front. Three more first half tries were still to come, and Sweeten scored his hat trick try after sustained Reds pressure in the Cleck 15. Jack Davis was the creator of the next try when he set off from half way and gained 20 metres before giving the final pass to, yes you?ve guessed it, Thomas Sweeten who scored the easiest of tries. The final try of the half went to scrum half Will McDonnell who picked up from a ruck deep in the Reds half and sprinted the length of the field to score in the corner. With Bower converting all three tries the score at half time was 49-0.
Half time Rishworthian Reds 49 - 0 Cleckheaton The Reds started the second half as they finished the first. Reds pressure from the kick off allowed Sweeten to score from first possession and take his tally to 5. Bower converted. Rishies were camped in the Cleck half and a from a scrum on the 5 metre line, Bake scrambled over the line. Bower converted. Strong powerful phases of rucking then allowed Davis to cross the whitewash from close range with Bower adding the extras. With the backs getting all the scoring glory so far, Thomas Cockroft at hooker got one for the hard working forwards who had gained the yardage to allow him to score, and with Bower converting the Reds were now leading 77-0. When the Rishies get the bit between their teeth there is no compassion for the opposition and no let up in the quest to score more points. From another scrum against the head in the Cleck 15, McDonnell spun the ball out to Bake who passed to Davis, looped round, received the ball back and then weaved his way passed 3 defenders to score his third try. Bower converted. Cleckheaton then had their only chance of the game to score when they managed to force the Reds back in to their in goal area. With panic setting in Cockroft had the presence of mind to touch the ball down and thus relieve the pressure. Will McDonnell scored the final try when he picked up from a ruck on Clecks 5 metre line, and in true scrum half style, spun out of a tackle, stretched his arm over the line and planted the ball down. Jacob Bower converted to take his own personal tally to 26 points. At the final whistle the Reds had won convincingly 91-0.
Thomas Sweeten (5), Sam Bake (3), Jack Davis (2), Will McDonnell (2), Thomas Cockroft.
Man of the match Thomas Sweeten
With so many tries being scored I confined myself to describing those, because if I had tried to mention every player there would be pages of my diatribe. So I do apologise if certain players have not been mentioned.
Redbacks improvement continues With the visit of Cleckheaton, who as well as being losing finalists in the West District festival and cruising through to the last 16 of the Yorkshire cup, had beaten the Red Backs 42-7 in the recent away fixture , we all thought this was going to be another long morning for the team . This would also not have been helped by the extended layoff since before Xmas, when the U12 recorded their great win against Huddersfield YMCA. However from the outset it was clear that, as a result of the excellent training on Friday evening complementing the dedication of Mick Bruce, this was a very different Red Backs team from the dark and depressing days of early season. Rishworthians 7 - 7 Cleckheaton
Straight from the kick off, Rishies pressurised Cleckheatons line and would have scored except or a sloppy penalty that was given away for handling in the ruck. For the next 5 mins , from the resulting kick , Cleckheaton put our line under pressure , but due to some ferocious tacking on Cleckheaton's well known huge No2, from Edward Denham, Jack Bruce and Elliot Craven , Rishies kept them at bay. When the ball was knocked on, Rishies won their scrum and James Stott cleared up field. The resultant chase pinned Cleckheaton on their line, after several phases where the pack and Myles Smithies (scrum half) drove forward, Edward Denham (Captain) drove over to take the lead. James Stott converted and the team reformed aware that Cleckheaton would be eager for a quick reply. Once again their familiar tactic of feeding the ball to the tall No2 came to no avail, as when necessary the Red Backs combined to ensure he had at least 2 players willing to take him down. Eventually though after another couple of sloppy penalties, they managed to break when near the line and crossed for a converted try. The game then centered, until half time, very much in the centre of the pitch, with both packs fighting hard to gain superiority. George and Issac Heron are now relishing every opportunity to go on long runs punching holes deep into their opponent's territory and a leg injury to Isaac was brushed off after threatening the wet sponge. The half finished on an injury to Jack Bruce when he once again stopped the Cleckheaton enforcer from making ground. Half time Rishworthian 7 - 7 Cleckheaton The Second half once again began with pressure from the U12's, runs from Myles and Elliot gained several yards and whipped the assembled parents into frenzy. We were now more than holding our own and even when Cleckheaton were yards from our line we did not buckle; defensive frailty had been resigned to history. The team were as one with vocal encouragement, all continually talking, after each move. Edward was again denied a try by a last ditch tackle pushing him into touch and the ball was cleared by the opposition. The Red backs nearly won it in the final minutes when Elliot crashed through the line and made a break, remarkably the Cleckheaton full back dived at full length and managed to bring him down and the ball was lost forward. Shortly after play was again halted due to a shoulder injury to George Heron and the referee called for time. All round an excellent performance and what a change to see the team unhappy not at a loss but at a draw Man of the match Edward Denham
Squad: Jack Bruce, James Stott, Max Dawes, Harry Hollingworth, George Heron, Isaac Heron, Edward Denham,
Your Reporter: Steve Dawes
Rishworthians v Cleckheaton Slideshow.
Effort Award: Owen Witchell
Top Tagger: Finn Sutcliffe
Both sides defences worked hard throughout the game to keep the opposition out. Unfortunately a momentary lapse in concentration from the Rishworthians defence allowed Cleckheaton to break away for an easy try. Rishworthians tried hard to break the Cleckheaton defence but it wasn't until the final play of the game that Nathan Donaldson managed to make a clean break down the left wing. However, with the try line beckoning, a thunderous tackle from the Cleckheaton defence sent him crashing into the corner post and into touch securing a narrow win for the visitors.
Effort Award Kian Sutcliffe
Top Tackler Corey White
Rishworthians tightened up their play in the second game making less errors and retaining more ball in the contact areas. Tries from Corey White, Kian Sutcliffe and Tom Stott gave the team a well earned victory against a strong running and hard tackling Cleckheaton side.
Effort Award Nathan Donaldson
Top Tackler Corey White
Toby Helm, Corey White, Tom Stott, Liam Holgate, Nathan Donaldson.
Rishworthian Under 10's were delighted to finally get a game in after the harsh weather at the start of the year. Hosting a strong Cleckheaton side the Raiders put in a fine team performance to come away with a 15 - 5 victory.
Effort Award James McHugh & George Wright
Best tackleGeorge Wright
Cons: Bower (13)
Effort Award Sam Bake
Best tackleThe defensive play was awesome by all 15 players so award goes to the team.
Dave Mc
Coaches Awards Elliot Craven, Harry Robinson
Jack Raby, Harry Wade, Myles Smithies, Harry Robinson, Sam Burford-Eyre, Elliot Craven.
Click here to view Cleckheaton website
Click on arrows to view more photos, click on photo to enlarge.
A tough morning's rugby for the Minis
Match report Sunday 28th February
Sandal is always one of the fixtures the minis look forward to. They are one of the top clubs in Yorkshire and there is an excellent relationship between the two clubs and as always it was a busy morning. So to compete well and provide a good level of opposition for Sandal is something we always strive to achieve.
The under 7's had two narrow defeats and under 8's continued their unbeaten run. The under 10's pushed Sandal A but went down 3 tries to 1 but found Sandal B to be a much more even encounter holding them to a draw. The under 11's found he going tough against their rivals the Sharks but just lost 28 - 35. The under 9's found Sandal a tough nut to crack losing both games and the under 12's development team struggled against a strong Sandal unit. A good performance all round considering we were only able to provide one side at each age group (Oh for the luxury of Sandal under 10's with 3 teams).
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Just over 20 Micros trained at Copley this Sunday. Several micros just turned 6 are performing well with the Young Guns and gaining valuable match experience ready for next season.
Sandal have the edge in two close games.
Earlier in the season The Young Guns travelled to Sandal and won one game and lost the other. However today Sandal inflicted two rare defeats on the Young Guns in two close fought and entertaining games. However both teams put up a great performance against one of the best teams in this age group.
Game 1 Rishworthians Whites 7 - 10 Sandal
Sandal led 4-3 at half time with the Whites tries coming from Rafe Dolan, Thomas Doyle and Gilion Smith. Rishworthians and Sandal exchanged further tries but Sandal pulled away towards the end. Rishworthians adding four further tries in the second half from Max Didgiunaitis, Toby Laurie (2) and Emma Mchugh. Sandal however ran in 6 tries to win the game.
Game 2 Rishworthians Maroons 6 - 8 Sandal
Sandal again led 4-3 at half time with the Maroons tries coming from Ted Grogan, Ben Gianotti and Jack Lumb. Rishworthians closed the gap on Sandal adding further tries in the second half from Max Didgiunaitis, Toby Laurie and Ted Grogan. But Sandal put in a strong finish scoring a further 4 tries to win the game.
Man of the match Emma Mchugh
Top Tagger Max Didgiunaitis
Effort Award Rafe Donlon
Scorers: Toby Laurie 3, Max Didgiunaitis 2, Ted Grogan 2, Jack Lumb, Rafe Donlon, Thomas Doyle, Gillion Smith,
Emma Mchugh, Ben Gianotti,
Whites squad Noah Mackrill, Ben Collins, Gilion Smith, Rafe Dolan, Toby Laurie, Emma Mchugh, Thomas Doyle and Max Didgiunaitis
Maroons squad Ted Grogan, Ben Gianotti, Bobbie White, Jon Baker, Jack Lumb, Emma Mchugh, Max Didgiunaitis and Toby Laurie.
Thank you to the parents/grandparents etc for their support
Darren Grogan
Meercats recover from early set back
The previous meet between the 2 teams had been the toughest of the season. Rishworthians came out on top on that occassion - but it had been a close run thing. With the harsh winter conditions over the past couple of months competitive outings had been few and far between for the home team and everyone was wondering whether they would be able to up their game and keep their unbeaten record.
Rishworthians 17 - 14 Sandal
Sandal totally dominated the first third. They came out strong, worked well as team and tagged with abandon to retain possession of the ball. It was a poor start from Rishworthians with Sandal managing to get 4 balls over the line before any reply. The home team went into the first break trailling 6-2 - and there were fears on the sideline that this could be our first defeat in 15 months. The 2nd third started slightly better with Oliver Brian getting a try over the line in reply to the first Sandal score of the period. Sandal kept the pressure up and Rishworthians were struggling to break ahead. The home team were tagging better but the Sandal defence was impenetrable. This all changed with the late arrival of Finn Sutcliffe (our man of the match). His presence seemed to galvanise the team into action and we saw more of the flair that we are used to. The end of the 2nd third saw 4 straight tries without reply for Rishworthians (supplied by Thomas Gerogiou 1 and Finn Sutclifffe 3). This meant they only trailled 8-9 at the end of the period. The parents on the sideline starting thinking victory could be within our grasp. The final period of the game was the most exciting yet. The Rishworthian team had worked out they needed to up their game to get victory against opposition the quality of Sandal. Sandal also felt what had looked like an easy win in the 1st period starting to slip away. Both teams wanted the win. Rishworthians dominated the final third but Sandal didn't give up without a fight. The home team kept up the pressure on the Sandal defence and made the most of errors made to get possession of the ball. The young Rishworthians gave good support to their players and turned the ball over well. The entire team kept focussed and refused to give up until the final whistle. They kept pushing for the line - and found it on 9 occassions to bring the final score in at 17-14 for Rishworthians. Tries: Thomas Georgiou 5, Finn Sutcliffe 5, William Adams 2, Oliver Brian 2, Reece Barraclough 2, Brandon Savage 1. Man of the Match Finn Sutcliffe
Squad: William Adams (c), Reece Barraclough, Henry Hilton, Henry Craven, Oliver Muscat-Baron, Oliver Brian, Brandon Savage, Finn Sutcliffe, Owen Witchell
Alex Huggon Sandal sinks the Destroyers Game 1 Rishworthians 15 - 20 Sandal
Man of the Match Carrick Keighley-Payne
Game 2 Rishworthians 0 - 50 Sandal
Man of the Match Corey White
Squad: Carrick Keighley-Payne, William Harker, Liam Holgate, Toby Helm, Zak Rush,
Thanks to Simon Donaldson for running the team on the pitch and to all the players and parents.
Raiders perform well against a very strong Sandal squad Rishworthians Raiders put in a really good performance against a strong Sandal squad with enough players for 3 teams on Sunday. Game 1 Rishworthians 5 - 15 Sandal A
In the first of two matches Sandal started well and secured plenty of possession. They scored two early tries before Will Symms drove over the line to get one back for the Rishworthian Raiders. A better second half display saw Rishworthians presenting the ball better at the ruck and securing more possession of the ball, with Tom Craven running the ball in well and making good yards. Sandal grabbed a late try to win 15 - 5.
Game 2 Rishworthians 5 - 5 Sandal B
The second game was a tight affair with both teams enjoying periods of sustained possession. Rishworthians controlled the ball better in the tackle than in the first game and didn't give away any turn over ball. Sandal opened the scoring before Raiders Scrum half Kallan Jamieson capped an inspired individual performance with a try to level the score. Raiders held on with some good defensive work from Toby Muscat-Baron, James McHugh and Morgan Smithies to earn a well deserved draw against very tough opposition. Try scorers: : Jamieson, Symms. Man of the match Kallan Jamieson
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 Dave Puddephatt
Sandal just edge out Reds in a Thriller The last time the Reds came up against the Sharks they were given a lesson in fast flowing rugby by the Sandal youngsters and came away on the wrong end of a 42-0 thrashing. At one point in Sundays game I feared that another similar whupping was on the cards, but thankfully I was absolutely wrong. The Reds 28 - 35 The Sharks
Having only managed to play one game since the middle of December the Reds were getting fed up with constant training and were eager to get on with a match at last. The snow disappeared, the rain stopped, and the ground at Hollas Lane was in fine condition for the welcome visit of the Sharks. The game set off at great pace from both teams with some strong tackles on both sides, but the Sharks managed to open the scoring after a few minutes with some slick passing that moved the ball from right to left across the pitch for the winger to touch down in the corner. The try was converted. The Reds however, came roaring back, and from a Sandal fumble from the kick off, the Reds gained yardage through some great rucking, and from 10 metres out, centre Thomas Sweeten took the ball at pace and glided through the opposition defence to score. Jacob Bower converted to level the scores. Some fine play from the visitors brought out some great tackles from the Reds with Sam Bake making a low tackle on the big Sandal forward and Charlotte Siddall making an important hit on the try line. The Sharks are very imposing when they attack and their passing game allowed them to score a further 3 tries. Rishies kept their heads, battled on, and out played their opponents in the rucks, with second row pair George Radcliffe and Jacob Bower securing the ball allowing quick easy ball for scrum half Will McDonnell. The Sharks almost increased their lead before half time with an interception on half way, but McDonnell tracked back and made a superb tackle to deny the score. At half time the score was 28-7 to Sandal and it appeared that the game was already over. Half time Rishworthian Reds 7 - 28 Sandal Call me pessimistic, but as we all know, in recent times when the Reds have gone behind they have succumbed to the pressure of losing and have never come back. Did I say never. I will now eat my words because the assembled throng were treated to a passionate fight back by the Reds. Jack Davis took the bull by the horns and made a number of yardage making his trade mark "Rhino" charges into the Sharks defence. A wonderfully controlled driving maul forced the Sharks defence back over their own line where Jonny Wheatcroft peeled off and scored the try. Bower converted. The Reds increased their score soon after when they had a penalty on the Sandal 15 metre line. Davis again took the ball and crashed through the defence to go over. Bower converted. The home team were now the dominant force, particularly in the rucks, with all the forwards impressing, but it was against the run of play that Sandal increased their lead with a converted try. The Reds maintained pressure and brought play to the Sandal line again, and from the base of the ruck McDonnell picked up and dived over. Bower converted to make the score 28-35 to the Sharks setting up a tense, nail biting final few minutes. The momentum was with the Reds and the Sharks were in disarray. The Reds forced another error from Sandal just inside their half and hooker Thomas Cockroft scooped up the loose ball and found himself with open ground in front of him. He set off with the line begging, the home crowd urging him on, but the quicker Sandal defender hauled him down inches short of the line. Greg Day, backing up, appeared to pick up and plant the ball down but the try was disallowed and the whistle blew to end the fight back. Tries: Thomas Sweeten, Jack Davis, Jonny Wheatcroft, Will McDonnell
Man of the match: Jacob Bower
Well done to both teams for producing a superb game of end to end thrilling rugby which as always was played to the spirit of the game. It was unfortunate that one team lost because a draw at the end would have been a justified result. Even in defeat this was an excellent result for the Reds because no other team in the last couple of seasons has put 4 tries passed the Sharks defence. At half time with the score 28-7 to the Sharks, the boys, and girl, could have been dead and buried, but it is a testament to them that their heads did not drop. They showed belief in themselves and their team mates, and impressed the coaches with the character that we all knew was there. Many thanks must go to our "part time coach", ex England and Saracens player, Chris Davis, who is head coach at Vandals. He took an effective training session on Friday evening and managed to instil a sense of confidence in the squad, which I am sure will see them through the rest of the season. The Sharks play Brods next week which will be very interesting.
Redbacks struggle against a strong Sandal team Rishworthians played hosts to a very experienced and well drilled Sandal team. Rishworthians 7 - 55 Sandal
From the kick off Sandal gave a display of fast free flowing rugby which saw them move the ball across the field with ease. Strong defense from Myles Smithies, Sam Burford-Eyre and Jack Bruce prevented Sandal from scoring early points. Sandal continued to dominate against Rishworthians and ran in four converted first half tries. Half time Rishworthians 0 - 28 Sandal Old Rishworthians worked hard in the second period with Harry Hollingworth and Harry Wade continuing to make good yards and with impressive performances from Edward Denham and debutante Cameron Lister both pulling off try saving tackles to keep Sandal at bay. With out any substitutions Rishwortians tired in the later stages of the contest which resulted in further scores for Sandal. The last word however did go the Rishworthians side, when a power full run from George Heron produced a try in the last minute of the game. The trusty boot of James Stott wrapped things up on what was a tough day for the Copley club. Man of the match Myles Smithies
Squad: Jack Bruce, James Stott, Cameron Lister, Harry Hollingworth, George Heron, Isaac Heron,
Your Reporter: Mick Bruce
Rishworthians v Sandal Slideshow.
Effort Award: Henry Hilton
Top Tagger: Thomas Georgiou
Man of the match Carrick Keighley-Payne should have opened the scoring with the first attack of the game but was unable to ground the ball after a fine run down the touch line. He did manage to score twice before half-time to give Rishworthians a 10-5 half time lead. The lead was short lived as Sandal scored two quick tries at the start of the second half to lead 15-10. Tom Stott then finished off a flowing Rishworthians move to touch down in the corner leaving the scores level. Sandal though continued to attack and just edged the win with a late score.
Effort Award Reggie Herd
Top Tackler Corey White
With the Rish team tiring Sandals strength in numbers showed. Sandal brought out their stronger players and Rishworthians struggled to prevent them scoring. All credit to the players for keeping going and battling hard against a very strong and fresher Sandal team.
Effort Award Thomas Stott
Top Tackler Matty Tooby
Tom Stott, Kian Sutcliffe, Reggie Herd, Corey White, Nathan Donaldson, Matty Tooby.
Grahame White
Effort Award Tom Craven
Best tackleToby Muscat-Baron
Cons: Jacob Bower (4)
Effort award: Jamie Highley
Tackle award: For some outstanding defence?.the team
Dave Mc
Effort Award Sam Burford-Eyre
Top tackler Cameron Lister
Harry Wade, Myles Smithies, Edward Denham, Sam Burford-Eyre, Elliot Craven, Max Dawes.
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Rishworthians host this seasons first 3 way tournament.
Match report Sunday 14th March
At a spring like morning warm weather, no rain and a dry pitch!!!!. Rishworthians hosted their first 3 way tournament this season with Keighley and Littleborough..
The under 7's held a strong Keighley side containing some under 8's to a draw in a 17 all thriller. The under 8's continued their unbeaten run. THe under 9's won one game and lost the second and the under 10's lost both games by a single try. The under 11's romped home against Keighley and the under 12's were off par and found the going tough at Huddersfield YMCA who fielded some under 13 players.
However an enjoyable mornings rugby in preparation for the Sandal Festival next Sunday.
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The Micros trained at Copley this Sunday. Several micros were missing with Mothers Day committments.Several Micros who have turned 6 are performing well with the Young Guns and gaining valuable match experience ready for next season.
Honours even in 17 - 17 Thriller
The Young Guns played out a 17 - 17 thriller against a strong and sporting Keighley outfit containing some under 8 players.
Rishworthians 17 - 17 Keighley
After an early exchange Keighley stormed into a 4-1 lead before Rishworthians found their rythmn with Max Digiunaitis and Ben Gianotti replying with a couple of superb tries, both side stepping several opponents before touching down. However Keighley struck again in the final seconds to end the first quarter 5-3 in front.
Rishworthians struck first in the second quarter with Ted Grogan outpacing the opposition from half way before Jack Lumb dazzled the opposition stepping off both feet to score again. Keighley struck back again with long range efforts before Emma McHugh and John Baker both showed excellent speed down the touchline to bring the quarter to a close with the scores 7-8 to Keighley.
The 3rd quarter started at a frantic pace and the crowd went wild as Ben Gianotti romped in at the corner to score his second and bring the scores level. A quick exchange of tries during which Max Digiunaitis scored his second was the prelude to a sustained period of Keighley dominance and only outstanding defence by Killion Smith and Ben Collins and 2 superb Bobbie White tries and a further 2 from the brilliant Max Digiunaitis kept Rishworthians in touch. The 3rd quarter ended 12 - 14
Ted Grogan and Jack Lumb picked up where they left off in the 4th quarter by dazzling their opponents with pace and power but Keighley showed fabulous tenacity striking back with 2 tries of their own. Super Max scored his 5th before Keighley struck again. Time was against Rishworthians but Toby Laurie had other ideas scoring 2 brilliant tries to bring Rishworthians back to within 1 try. It was then time for Rishworthians to defend for their lives and Rafe Donlon, Jack Lumb, Jon Baker and Emma Mchugh all made try saving tags. From the resultant breakdown Ted Grogan sped past the opposition to score the game saving try and tie the scores at 17 - 17.
This was a hugely entertaining game and credit goes to both sides for a tremendous effort from start to finish.
Tries: Max Digiunaitis (4), Ben Gianotti (2), Ted Grogan (3), Jack Lumb (2), Bobbie White (2), Toby Laurie (2), Emma McHugh, Jon Baker.
Man of the match Max Digiunaitis
Top Tagger Jack Lumb
Effort Award Ben Gianotti
Squad Killion Smith, Rafe Dolan, Emma Mchugh, Thomas Doyle,Max Didgiunaitis Ted Grogan,
Ben Gianotti, Bobbie White, Jon Baker, Jack Lumb and Toby Laurie.
Many thanks to all the parents and grandparents for providing such great support.
Neal Lumb
Meercats warm up for Sandal Festival
The Meercats were without a fixture earlier in the week as Keighley only have a combined 7/8's team and were scheduled to play our under 7's. However a late call from Littleborough looking for a fixture travelled to Copley to take on the Meercats. Unfortunately Littleborough were a little short on the player front on Sunday morning - bringing just 4 of their team to the fixture. Luckily Rishworthians were able to loan a few to ensure both sides got a good match and the Meercats had a good run out before the Sandal Festival.
Rishworthians 19 - 16 Littleborough
The first half started off quite evenly. Finn Sutcliffe was the first across the try-line for Rishworthians but Littleborough soon levelled the scores and so it continued for most of the first 3rd - with further tries provided by Brandon Savage, Thomas Georgious and Finn Sutcliffe again. Those Rishworthian players on the Littleborough side got behind their temporary team and helped them keep the pressure on. As the first 3rd drew to a close Rishoworthians managed to break ahead thanks to a couple of tries from Thomas Georgiou. The section ended 7-4 to Rishworthians. The second 3rd continued much the same as the first. Rishworthians managed to retain their lead - but were unable to extend it further as Littleborough held their defence. As well as the scorers from the first 3rd there were a couple of tries for Ethen Vaughan and an excellent run down the length of the pitch from Oscar Thomas-Rowe, one of the younger members of the Rishworthian squad, who was given the Effort award for his performance on the day. Rishworthians went into the final break leading 14-10. William Adams, our Man of the Match, was the first to score in the final section. Littleborough did not let up the pressure and continued nip on the heels of the Rishworthian side. Further tries from Owen Witchell and Billy Smith saw the final score come in at 19-16 to Rishworthians. Tries: Finn Sutcliffe 6, Thomas Georgiou 5, Brandon Savage 2, Ethan Vaughan 2, Oscar Thomas-Rowe 1, Willliam Adams 1, Owen Witchell 1, Billy Smith 1 Man of the Match William Adams
Squad: Oscar Thomas-Rowe (c), Brandon Savage, Owen Witchell, Henry Craven, Henry Hilton, Billy Smith, Ethen Vaughan, Finn Sutcliffe, William Adams, Haydon Faulkner, Thomas Georgiou. Alex Huggon The Destroyers enjoy a 3 way tournament Littleborough without a fixture this weekend joined in our scheduled fixture with Keighley to make up an enjoyable 3 way tournament today. Game 1 Rishworthians 30 - 10 Littleborough
Man of the Match Kian Sutcliffe
Game 2 Rishworthians 15 - 25 Keighley
Man of the Match Nathan Donaldson
Squad: Squad: Zak Rush, Toby Helm, Tom Stott, Liam Holgate, Matty Tooby, Nathan Donaldson,
Thanks to all the players and to Simon Donaldson for running the side on the pitch. Thanks also to the four players who 'volunteered' to play for Littleborough.
Raiders lose two closly fought matches Rishworthians Raiders hosted a 3 way mini tournament with Keighley and Littleborough in two very tight games on Sunday. Game 1 Rishworthians 25 - 30 Littleborough
Their first opponents were Littleborough who provided stiff competition with a very physical side. Sam Puddephatt opened the scoring for the Rishworthian Raiders and scrum half Kallan Jamieson also got on the score sheet. Littleborough equalised though and the score kept see-sawing throughout the rest of the game. Kian Stewart broke free twice to score and Will Symms also scored following good work in the lineout from Nathan Hales who stole a Littleborough throw in. The game looked like ending in stalemate with the score at 5 tries each, but with the last play of the game Littleborough managed to bundle the ball over the line to snatch victory. Game 2 Rishworthians 5 - 10 Keighley
The second game versus Keighley was another extremely tight contest. Both sides ran the ball well but got held up in the tackle and struggled to recycle the ball from the ensuing maul. When the Raiders did go into contact and set up a ruck instead, they looked far more impressive. This was how they scored their only try of the game. Toby Muscat-Baron and Sam Puddephatt rucked over the ball as Tom Craven went to ground and presented clean ball. Scrum Half Jamieson passed to Kian Stewart who spun a pass out to George Wright on the left wing. Wright stepped inside and sprinted throught the defensive line to score a great try. Keighley came back strongly though and scored two tries late on in the game to steal the win. Despite the disappointing end result this was a very good team performance for Rishworthians, where phases of play demonstrated the hard work that has gone into training and reflected the improvements made during the season. Try scorers: Puddephatt, Jamieson, Symms, Wright, Stewart (2). Man of the match v LittleboroughSam Puddephatt
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 Dave Puddephatt
Reds run riot Rugby matches have been few and far between over the last couple of months but with a weeks worth of sunshine all was hunky dory for a match at Copley against visitors Keighley. All was set for a great morning, first team pitch, first team changing room, a proper referee (Glen not Hugh!!!!), and then one of those freaky incidents that ruins a players and teams season. Young Thomas Sweeten, wandering around on the pitch prior to warm up, suddenly dropped to the deck, having been tackled by a giant divot, and clutched his shoulder. He was rushed to hospital and it turns out that he has broken his collar bone and will be out for the rest of the season. We all send our best to Tom and wish him a speedy recovery. Back to the rugby. Keighley could only muster 10 players so we reverted back to a three man scrum, which meant George Radcliffe and Jacob Bower moved out of the second row and played in the centre. The Reds 89 - 7 Keighley
As in a couple of other games this season the Reds have been accomplished at the kick off return and today was no exception. With Keighley kicking off, the ball dropped in to the welcoming arms of scrum half Will McDonnell who set off down the left wing to score the opening try in the corner. Ten seconds on the clock. Jacob Bower made the conversion. The Reds have improved their rucking game recently and it showed again as they provided quick ball which allowed the ball to be thrown down the line to Tyler Snow on the wing who flirted with the touchline before crashing over from 10 metres to score his first try in only his second start for the club. Bower converted. The front row combinations of Lewis Hilton, Thomas Cockroft, Toby Gledhill and Jonny Wheatcroft, were causing havoc with the Keighley scrum, winning the ball against the head every time. One such scrum on half way saw good linking play between fly half Sam Bake and Bower before giving the final ball to Nathan Cooper who went over again in the corner. Bower converted to make the score 21-0. The Reds were now full of confidence and were throwing the ball around with aplomb. Lewis Hilton peeled off from a maul and with open field in front of him set off for the line only to be dragged in to touch by the covering defender. Wave after wave saw them again close to the Keighley try line and a lovely basketball pass over the Keighley defenders head from Cooper to Jamie Highley allowed the latter to stroll over unopposed. Bower converted. The next attack on the Keighley saw another try from 5 metres when McDonnell picked up from the ruck and snuck over the line. Bower converted. Rishies were dominating possession and using their superior power to out play the visitors in every department. Jonny Wheatcroft easily stripped the ball off a Keighley player in the tackle and his pop pass to McDonnell released the scrum half from half way who outpaced the defence yet again to score his hat trick try. Bower converted. Keighley to their credit did not give up and they were rewarded for their efforts with a try after a momentary lapse of concentration by the Reds. The try was converted and this score seemed to put a bounce in Keighleys step and ended the half with a bit more aggression in their play. Only strong tackles from Ollie Swales and Bower kept them from increasing their score. Half time saw the Reds leading 42-7. Half time Rishworthian Reds 42 - 7 Keighley A good searching kick from Bower at kick off was chased down by Cooper who made a couple of good tackles which allowed the players backing up time to get to the breakdown and then turn over the ball in the ruck. George Radcliffe picked up and dived over from one metre and Bower made the conversion. A long Keighley penalty kick saw them have a line out 5 metres from the Reds line but the ball was stolen by the Reds, and with no Keighley fullback in position McDonnell placed a clearance kick beyond the defensive line. The ball was chased down by Sam Bake who somehow managed to collect the bobbling ball and outpaced the Keighley defence to score a great try. Bower converted. A Keighley clearance kick then found Radcliffe in mid field who set off on a wonderful weaving run through the entire Keighley defence to score an exquisite solo try which was duly converted by Bower. The Reds had now set up base camp in the Keighley half and two further try attempts were ruled out, one for a knock on and the other a double movement. But the boys were undaunted and a further try came after the ball was fed down the line from right to left, Nathan Cooper taking the ball over the try line unopposed before selflessly passing in goal to a very surprised but grateful Jamie Highley!!! Its hard to believe but JB missed the conversion. Rishies increased their lead when McDonnell found space and broke free to gain 30 metres and his pop pass to Bake in the tackle saw them to the line. Keighley turned the ball over but then fumbled and quick thinking Thomas Cockroft plopped over the line from close range and planted the ball down. Normal service was resumed and Bower converted. With the score now 75-7 the Reds did not sit back and continued to surge forward causing Keighley to make mistakes. Another loose ball from the visitors was picked up by Cooper who sprinted in from half way and this time scored the try himself. Bower converted. With the ending getting ever nearer McDonnell put in another excellent clearance kick deep in to Keighley territory, who in turn returned with a poor kick, which was collected by Bower who managed to shrug off a couple of tackles as he made his way over the try line to score his first try of the season. He converted his own try and the final whistle came with a resounding win by the Reds 89-7. Tries: Will McDonnell (3), Jamie Highly (2), George Radcliff (2), Nathan Cooper (2), Sam Bake, Tyler Snow, Thomas Cockroft, Jacob Bower.
Man of the match: Nathan Cooper
With a few players missing from the game it was an excellent display from everybody. I can only imagine what damage Jack and Sweets would have done to the Keighley defence, and if it had been 12 a side.
Many thanks to Glenn for officiating, and not sending off young JB!
An under Par performance by the Red Backs gives YMCA an easy win After Rishworthians win in the home fixture with Huddersfield YMCA earlier in the season, the Redback's agreed to let Huddersfield field several U13's in their team and play on a full size pitch for the first time to try and even things up. These larger players proved in the end to add too much to Huddersfields strong team for the Rishies to counter, although several under par performances by members of the squad made it easer than it should have been. Huddersfield YMCA 45 - 15 Risworthians
Rishies started strongly with some excellent tacking by Sam, Edward and Jack Bruce and indeed had Huddersfield pinned back on their line for the first 5 mins , unfortunately this did not lead to a score and Huddersfield re-grouped to release their tall winger for a mazy run and he scored the first of his 4 tries . Heads could have gone down but Rishies attacked from the kick off and Sam, relishing the wide open spaces of the full size pitch, out ran several Huddersfield players to score our opening try; the conversion was missed by James Stott from a position way out on the wing. Huddersfield again finished two further converted tries despite some excellent tackling by Richies and some attacking ball provided by Myles from the scrum. The half time team talk was again one of missed opportunities and less than full input from the whole team. Half time Huddersfield YMCA 21 - 5 Rishworthians The 2nd half opened brighter for Rishies with several scrums turned over, but yet again lack lustre tacking allowed Huddersfield to cross the line again for two easy tries. Rishies tried to lift their game again with Edward, coming off of his wing, eventually rounding off some excellent forward play by Isaac and George to score a try. From the kick off, Rishies showed patches of what they can do with the ball being spun down the line on several occasions making use of the full width of the pitch, eventually after two penalties given for offside and hands in the ruck, George used his considerable size to pile over the line for a well deserved team effort try. In the latter half of the game several Rishies players tired badly , from their concerted efforts throughout the game , and without the rest of the team stepping up to fill the void, Huddersfield ran in two more un-answered tries . Full time Huddersfield YMCA 45 - 15 Rishworthians Man of the match Sam Burford-Eyre
Squad: Jack Bruce, James Stott, Max Dawes, Harry Hollingworth, George Heron, Isaac Heron, Edward Denham, Your Reporter: Steve Dawes
Rishworthians v Keighley and Littleborough under 10/11 Slideshow.
Effort Award: Oscar Thomas-Rowe
Top Tagger: Haydon Faulkner
Rishworthians loaned two players to Littleborough for an eight-a-side match. The Destroyers were always on top and went 15-0 up with tries from Carrick Keighley-Payne (2) and Tom Stott. Having tackled like Trojans a defensive lapse just before half-time allowed Littleborough to pull a try back. The second half was a very similar story. Kian Sutcliffe showed great determination to touch down twice followed by a score from debutant Jake Ellis who performed well throughout the morning. Again great defence from all the Rishworthians team until another late lapse allowed Littleborough to score at the death. Final score 30-10.
Effort Award Jake Ellis
Top Tackler Tom Stott
Too much lost possession allowed Keighley a win in this game. After conceding an early try man of the match Nathan Donaldson levelled the scores with a fine individual try. Several turnover balls and over-commitment of players to rucks and mauls then allowed Keighley to run in three tries before Nathan Donaldson scored again to leave Rishworthians trailing 20-10 at half time. The Rishworthians defence tightened up in the second half making it a much more even contest. Carrick Keighley-Payne scored Rish's only try of the half cancelling out an earlier try from Keighley. Final score 15-25.
Effort Award Jake Ellis
Top Tackler Tom Stott
Kian Sutcliffe, Jake Ellis, Reggie Herd, Carrick Keighley-Payne
Grahame White
Man of the match v KeighleyKian Stewart
Effort Award George Wright
Best tackleWilliam Hilton
Cons: Jacob Bower (12)
Effort award: Tyler Snow
Tackle award: Will McDonnell
Dave Mc
Effort Award Sam Burford-Eyre
Top tackler Sam Burford-Eyre
Jack Raby, Harry Wade, Myles Smithies, Harry Robinson, Sam Burford-Eyre, Elliot Craven, Cameron Lister.
Click here to view Huddersfield YMCA website
Click here to view Keighley website
Click here to view Littleborough website
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Rishworthians find the going tough at the Sandal Festival
Match reports Sunday 21st March
The Minis travelled to Sandal to attend their annual Festival regarded as one of the best in the county. The were some of Yorkshires top mini squads there so the standard of rugby was very high.
All the age groups enjoyed the day although we had no festival winners the under 8's were runners up and the under 10's were third in their group.
***New ***
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Under 6's The Micros
The micros trained his Sunday with yet another increase in numbers. This week the micros had 20 players enjoying a training session. Warren Doyle now has three coaches to help plus a number of parents willing to help whenever required.
The Young Guns find it tough at Sandal
Rishworthians v Ilkley
Pool Game 1 Rishworthians 5 - 1 West Park Leeds
Team: Bobbie White, Ted Grogan, Ben Gianotti, Joe Walsh, Toby Laurie, Jack Lumb, Dillon Hilton. Scorers: Bobbie White, Ted Grogan (2) Ben Gianotti, Jack Lumb Pool Game 2 Rishworthians 4 - 7 Otley A
Team: Emma Mchugh, Thomas Doyle, Ben Collins, Noah Mackrill, Jack Lumb, Ted Grogan, Joe Walsh Scorers: Ted Grogan (2), Joe Walsh, Jack Lumb Pool Game 3 Rishworthians 3 - 4 Sandal A
Team: Bobbie White, Ted Grogan, Ben Gianotti, Joe Walsh, Toby Laurie, Jack Lumb, Dillon Hilton. Scorers: Jack Lumb, Toby Laurie, Ted Grogan Pool Game 4 Rishworthians 3 - 6 Wetherby A
Team: Bobbie White, Ben Collins, Thomas Doyle, Ben Gianotti, Ted Grogan, Dillon Hilton, Toby Laurie. Man of the Festival - Ted Grogan
Festival Squad - Bobbie White, Ben Collins, Thomas Doyle, Ben Gianotti, Ted Grogan, Dillon Hilton, Toby Laurie, Jack Lumb, Emma Mchugh, Joe Walsh and Noah Mackrill. Thank you to the parents/grandparents etc for their support Runners up trophy for "Cats" and still unbeaten On Sunday Old Rishworthians travelled to Wakefield to take part in the Sandal mini's Rugby festival. The entire team were very much looking forward to the event and were excited to be playing some unknown teams. The hosts, Sandal, have been our toughest opposition all season, so everyone knew it was going to be a tough day, but the boys were up for the challenge. There were 2 pools of 5 teams - which meant 4 pool matches each - and then play-off matches between the winners and runners-up in each pool. A lot of rugby to be played - and a long day in prospect for all. Pool game 1 Rishworthians 6 - 3 Moseley (Touring side from Birmingham)
Pool game 2 Rishworthians 7 - 3 Bradford and Bingley Bees 3
Pool game 3 Rishworthians 3 - 3 Wetherby
Pool game 4 Rishworthians 2 - 2 Sandal A
Final Rishworthians 5 - 4 West Park Leeds
All in all a fantastic day was had by everyone. The boys played fantastically and in the true spirit of the game and Rishworthian Under 8's retain their unbeaten record (now nearing 18 months!). There are no individual awards this week as there is no way to single out the players and they all made an excellent contribution to the game and the fantastic result. Well done all!! Scorers: Finn Sutcliffe (8), Thomas Georgiou (5), Reece Barraclough (3), Oliver Brian (3), Henry Craven (2), Ethan Vaughan (1), Oscar Thomas-Rowe (1) Squad: Finn Sutcliffe, Oliver Muscat-Baron, Oliver Brian, Henry Hilton, Henry Craven, Billy Smith, Brandon Savage, Ethan Vaughan, Reece Barraclough, Thomas Georgiou, Oscar Thomas-Rowe, William Adams, Haydon Faulkner Man of the Match: William Adams
Great performance by Depleted Destroyers squad With players missing through injury, illness and other commitments Rishworthians were up against it from the start with just enough players to raise a team. With coaches not allowed on the pitch it was left up to the players to organise themselves which they did very well ably led by captain for the morning Kian Sutcliffe. Every single player gave their best throughout the morning and into the afternoon and were a credit to themselves and the club. Pool Game 1 Rishworthians 20 - 0 Wetherby B
Pool Game 2 Rishworthians 5 - 20 Bradford and Bingley Bees
Pool Game 3 Rishworthians 0 - 35 Sandal
Pool Game 4 Rishworthians 10 - 20 Dinnington
As I pointed out at the end of the game although man of the matches and other awards are given for the games the event was more about the players coming together and playing as a team. So to those players who don't often get a mention, namely William Harker, Toby Helm, Zak Rush, Liam Holgate, Matty Tooby, Reggie Herd, remember that without you there wouldn't be a team. Without a team there would be no man of the match or other awards proving that everyone has an important role to play in the continuing success of the team and in helping others achieve those awards. Thanks again to all the parents for their continued support and to Simon Donaldson for leading the coaching staff on the day.
Raiders come close as "Runners up" at the Sandal Festival Rishworthian's Under 10's put in a fine performance at the Sandal festival at the weekend, qualifying for the 'B' Final after finishing runners up in their pool matches. Game 1 Raiders 5 - 0 Sandal B
In the second half the Raiders applied more pressure on the Sandal defence and managed to recycle the ball in the ruck far better than the home team. Callum Bell and James McHugh were first to every breakdown and this commitment paid off as Sam Puddephatt got across the try line to score the only try of the game and give the Raiders a well deserved 5-0 victory.
Game 2 Rishworthians 10 - 5 West Park Leeds
Game 2 Rishworthians 15 - 5 Bradford and Bingley Bees
Game 3 Rishworthians 0 - 10 Wetherby
Runners up play off Final Rishworthians 0 - 25 Sandal A
Despite the defeat in the final, the Raiders played with real determination throughout the festival and showed real signs of improvement, both as individual players and as a squad. Man of the Festival: 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, Kian Stewart, George Ackroyd, Connor Friend Depleted Reds struggle at Sandal Festival With four regular experienced players missing from the squad and another only available to play 2 matches the Reds arrived at the Sandal Festival with some inexperienced players and the odds stacked against them. The task became even more difficult when we found out our group opponents for the day. It was agreed by all that we had been placed in the hardest group?THE GROUP OF DEATH?.with Otley, West Park Leeds, York and touring team Moseley.
But the guys that were there on Sunday all played to the best of their abilities and put in great performances in all the matches. Game 1 Rishworthians 5 - 5 Otley From the off the Reds forced an error from Otley and Jack "Rhino" Davis made his first charge of the day at the defence but was held short. Jamie Highley put in a timely tackle on the left wing but Otley opened the scoring when the ball was flung across field for the winger to crash over in the corner. The Reds came back strongly and Will McDonnell was released down the wing but was tackled inches from the line. Tyler Snow also had a forage down the wing but he lost the ball in the tackle. Rishies line out was good and with some excellent mauling they had the most of the possession and territory, but failed to break through the Otley defence. In the second half the Reds maintained pressure in the Otley half with strong runs from McDonnell and Sam Bake, and they were eventually rewarded when a rolling maul found them over the Otley line where Jack Davis planted the ball down. Both defences then cancelled each other out and the game finished 5-5. Game 2 Rishworthians 0 - 10 West Park Leeds WPL had beaten the Reds in the Yorkshire Cup and they brought that form in to this match. Were it not for some try saving tackles from McDonnell and Jacob Bower WPL would have scorched in to the lead. The did manage to score from a ruck close to the Reds line and then increased their lead from a nice passing move to go in at the corner. The Reds fought back with some great rucking and mauling and almost scored on a couple of occasions when Will McDonnell was held short of the line and Thomas Creasy was forced in to touch twice yards from the line. We also managed to get a rolling maul over the line only to be repelled by a strong WPL defence. The Reds continued to attack the WPL defence with Ollie Swales returning the ball from defence and darting runs from McDonnell, Bake and George Radcliffe. Some loose passes and defiant defence stopped the Reds from crossing the whitewash. A plus for the guys was that they also kept West Park Leeds from scoring as well. Game 3 Rishworthians 15 - 20 Moseley (Touring side from Birmingham) Touring team Moseley gave the Reds a fright when they scored within the first minute of this encounter, but the Reds hit straight back with a jinking run from Will "Dodger" McDonnell brought the play to the Moseley 5 metre line. From the ensuing ruck the ball was fed to ?Rhino? Davis who barged over to score. Rishies took the lead after strong rucking and backs interplay released McDonnell who cut through the defence. Moseley levelled the score after sustained pressure near the Reds try line and went over after poor defence from a 5 metre lineout. Moseley looked like taking the lead when they broke down the right wing but another try saving tackle by McDonnell banged the winger in to touch. At 10-10 at half time it looked like any ones game but Moseley took the initiative in the second half scoring two further tries, due in part to quick hands and some tired Reds tackling. The Rishies guys were still strong in the ruck and from a turnover ball McDonnell somehow managed to struggle through tackle after tackle before stretching over the line to make the final score 15-20. Game 4 Rishworthians 15 - 30 York Another game of end to end drama with each team swapping tries. First score went to the Reds after McDonnell picked up from the base of ruck from 5 metres. York replied with a try down the wing, only for the Reds to win a scrum against the head which released McDonnell on a silky run and from the tackle George "Ripper" Radcliffe barged over. From the restart, a moment of hesitancy allowed the chasing York player to collect the bouncing ball and go over unchallenged. York managed to score twice more before half time to lead 10-20. With tiredness now showing the Reds allowed York to increase their lead to 30-10. The final word did however go to the Reds. With seconds to go York fumbled the ball on half way. McDonnell scooped it up and sprinted for the line leaving the chasing pack behind him, and making the final score 15-30. Players of the festival:
Well done to all the players for turning up on the day and putting on an excellent performance against some quality sides. Three of the four games could have gone either way so lets not be so downhearted. Lets get it out of our system next week at YMCA and then regroup for the Selby Festival. A difficult but spirited display by the "Redbacks" at Sandal Festival. The U12's travelled to Sandal and put on some spirited displays against 7 , very well drilled and experienced teams , the opposition in every match also had the luxury once again of a bench full of subs and some extraordinarily large U12's ! Game 1 Rishworthians 0 - 15 Otley Playing against a team that they had not previously met, the Redbacks started well with some spirited tackling from Edward Denham, Sam and George Heron especially. Despite an early try the Redbacks held their own in defence and only allowed an extremely talented Otley back line to cross a further two times. Game 2 Rishworthians 0 - 10 Pocklington Defending against several very large backs the Redbacks had one of their best performances with crunching tackles from Max, James and Edward. Sam Burford-Eyre also enjoyed several mazy runs, but the Redbacks were undone by two tries from a very large U12 in the back line who managed to break some rare under par tackling. Game 3 Rishworthians 0 - 20 West Park Leeds This game against opposition that always play very well proved to be a game too soon for the Redbacks who were now tiring . Two early tries deflated the team and apart from some last ditch tackles by Cameron and Myles the score would have been higher. That being said the squad tried their best and welcomed the final whistle and a rallying team talk from Mick Bruce and assembled parents, for one last push prior to the lunch break and an opportunity to regroup and rest. Game 4 Rishworthians 0 - 0 Skipton Well what a turn around 10 mins can make, Rishies had the best of this encounter and George Heron was unlucky not to score from 3 pile driving runs from successive penalties. Myles was pushed into touch right by the try line also. All in all an excellent all round team performance. Game 5 Rishworthians 0 - 15 Moseley In the final game before lunch, the Redbacks put up a spirited display against a touring Midlands side , With Max Dawes struggling with a back injury received in a warm up exercise the team stepped up to the plate and had several attacking opportunities , but each time Moseley managed to clear with excellent kicking. As the team tired they managed to run in 3 tries. The lunch break was welcomed as an opportunity to refuel and rest. Game 6 Rishworthians 0 - 10 Bradford and Bingley Bees Another well drilled side proved too strong for the spirited Redbacks, once again Edward, George and Jack Raby showed brave tackling skills and with Harry Wade continuing a festival long display of excellent hooking, the score was kept to only 2 tries.
Game 7 Rishworthians 0 - 20 Sandal With the final game of the day, Mick took the opportunity to move a few players round to rest some very tired forwards. With Cameron moving into the scrum, the Sandal team took two early tries, we then lost Sam to a very bad nose bleed and the 12 remaining players were again exposed to excellent passing moves letting in two further scores. Squad Jack Bruce, James Stott, Max Dawes, George Heron, Isaac Heron, Edward Denham, Jack Raby, Harry Wade, Myles Smithies, Harry Robinson, Sam Burford-Eyre, Cameron Lister ,Jack Hirst
Man of the Tournament - Edward Denham
Rishworthians under 7s travelled to Sandal for their first taste of festival rugby. The Under 7s section was split into two groups with Rishworthians pooled against - Otley A, West Park Leeds A, Sandal A and Wetherby A.
Rishworthians controlled the first half with tries from Bobbie White, Ted Grogan and a dazzling long range effort from BenGianotti. Rishworthians continued with their good work in the second half running in tries from Jack Lumb and a further try from Ted Grogan. West Park never gave up and their efforts were awarded with a try in the final minute.
Rishworthians were behind 4 - 1 at half time with the only try of the half coming from Ted Grogan. Rishworthians looked a different team in the second half following an inspirational half time team talk from coach Neal Lumb. Joe Walsh scored from the re start after Noah Mackrill's initial break. Otley hit back with a try before Jack Lumb slipped through the middle of Otley's defence with some neat footwork. Otley replied with two further tries before Ted Grogan finished off the scoring after backing up Thomas Doyle's break.
Rishworthians and Sandal A took part in a very entertaining game. Jack Lumb's direct running resulted in Rishworthians first try following Sandal A's earlier try. A further try by Sandal was matched by Toby Laurie's long range try to make the half time score at 2-2. Sandal A scored two further tries before Ted Grogan made the score 3 - 4. Rishworthians finished the game attacking Sandal but couldn't make the pressure count.
Rishworthians led at half-time 3 - 2 with first half tries from Ted Grogan (2) and Bobbie White. Wetherby A hit back in the second half with 4 unanswered tries as Rishworthians began to tire.
Effort Award - Noah Mackrill
Top Tagger - Jack Lumb
Captain Finn Sutcliffe was the first scorer of the match and scored 5 of Rishworthians 6 tries. Both teams were fairly evenly matched in the first half - and it was hard to see where the break would come. Rishworthians came into the second half determined to win and started to edge ahead. There was some good tagging from Oliver Brian, Thomas Georgiou and Billy Smith but they were never able to turn over possession of the ball to take advantage of the pressure they were placing on Moseley. In the last play of the match Oliver Brian seized the ball from Moseley and ran the length of the pitch to get the final try.
Rishworthians dominated the first half of the seond match. Thomas Georgiou broke the score with the first of his 3 tries of the game. Henry Craven was then able to capitalise on disorientation in the Bees camp to break through the defensive line and score Rishworthians 2nd try. There was some excellent defensive play from Haydon Faulkner and Oliver Muscat-Baron that meant Bees went into the 2nd half without having scored. Reece Barraclough was the man of the second half and made it across the try line 3 times - supported by good feeds from Oliver Muscat-Baron and Oscar Thomas-Rowe.
Wetherby were an unknown quantity for Rishworthians and turned out to be worthy adversaries. Oscar Thomas-Rowe was the first to score with a fabulous dodging run through the opposition. Wetherby kept the pressure on and quickly matched the score. Both teams entered the second half tied. Finn Sutcliffe was quick to score for Rishworthians and scored 2 tries in the second half. However, Wetherby never let the team stay ahead for long and managed to match the Rishworthian try count. There was excellent tagging support from William Adams, Ethan Vaughan and Henry Hilton. A sprinted tackle on a Wetherby player by Brandon Savage a few feet from the line kept Wetherby from pulling ahead but Rishworthians were just not able to maintain any lead made. The final score ended up as a draw.
It all came down to the final pool match against Sandal. The winner of this match would go through to the final for the overall Under 8's trophy. The players thought it would be a tough match before they started - and they were right. Both teams were desperate for the win and they all played with great passion. The teams were so evenly matched it was difficult for anyone to break through the defensive line on either side. Sandal were the first to score but Oliver Brian made it across the try line before the half-time whistle - so the score remained even. The second half continued much the same as the first. Sandal were able to make it across the tryline first but this time Ethan Vaughan got the reply in for Rishworthians. Despite desperate attempts from both sides neither team was able to break ahead - so the match ended a draw. This meant that Sandal made it through to the final on points (having won all their 3 previous matches).
The Rishworthian team lined up at the start of this final match determined to take home some silverware following their previous 2 draws. Henry Craven was the first across the try line for Rishworthians but West Park were quick to get 2 back in succession. Rishworthians went into the second half trailling by 1. The parents on the sidelines waited not so patiently to see whether Rishworthians would be able to pull together for a final push. Thomas Georgiou got the first try in the second half (his first of 2 in the half). Finn Sutcliffe also pushed across the line, coming back from a rather nasty ankle injury sustained in the Sandal match, to bring the teams even. The spectators waited with nervous anticipation as the seconds ticked by. However the young Rishworthians never lost their focus and were able to take advantage of a West Park error to help Oliver Brian over the line to score the winning try. Rishworthians were therfore awarded runners-up medals.
Effort Award: Oliver Brian
Top Tagger: Thomas Georgiou
Man of the match Nathan Donaldson opened the scoring for Rishworthians showing great pace to beat the Wetherby defence. Further scores from Matty Tooby and Carrick Keighley-Payne gave Rishworthians a deserved 15-0 half-time lead. The defensive line again held tight in the second-half to prevent Wetherby scoring and Nathan Donaldson added a fourth try for Rishworthians. This was a great all-round team effort particularly in defence with a memorable try saving tackle coming from Nathan Donaldson who chased an opposition player half the length of the field before taking him down a metre short of the line.
Man of match Nathan Donaldson
Tackler of match The team
Effort award The Team
Rishworthians defence again worked hard against a much stronger Bees side and were able to keep Bees out until just before half-time when the Bees took a slender 5-0 half-time lead. Carrick Keighley-Payne produced his best defensive performance of the season with some crunching tackles. Another fine try early in the second half from speedster Nathan Donaldson levelled the scores at 5-5. Man of the match Kian Sutcliffe continued to drive into the opposition but Rishworthians found it difficult to break down a determined Bees defence. As legs began to tire Bees finally managed to break down the Rishworthians defence and scored three quick tries late on to give them a 20-5 victory.
Man of match Kian Sutcliffe
Tackler of match Carrick Keighley-Payne
Effort award The Team
By now Rishworthians nine players were beginning to find the going tough against bigger squads with fresher legs. This was a fair result against a very strong Sandal side who scored the try of the morning against us. However it was the never-say-die attitude of the players which was most pleasing in this game. The players continued to drive into the opposition, tackled aggressively and heads were held high when they could so easily have gone down. A great battling performance.
Man of match Carrick Keighley-Payne
Tackler of match Nathan Donaldson, Matty Tooby, Kian Sutcliffe
Effort award Zak Rush
It has to be said that Dinnington had the largest players we have come up against this season - by a country mile! However size isn't everything and it was the speed and guile of man of the match Nathan Donaldson which enabled him to touch down twice in the first half to give Rishworthians a deserved 10-0 half-time lead. Carrick Keighley-Payne continued to lead the defence with some aggressive tackling but half-time substitutions for Dinnington brought on fresh legs and eventually Rishworthians brave efforts in defence were overcome and Dinnington ran in four second-half tries. Nathan Donaldson again showed his improved defensive skills with two more superb try saving tackles.
Man of match Nathan Donaldson
Tackler of match Carrick Keighley-Payne
Effort award Toby Helm, Reggie Herd
Grahame White
The Raiders kicked off the day with probably their best performance against Sandal B. Rishworthian's dominated possession in the first half and almost took the lead through Sam Puddephatt who was just bundled into touch by some desperate Sandal defence. The Raiders missed another chance soon afterwards when they failed to exploit a huge overlap down the left wing. A couple of simple passes would have resulted in a try but instead they were held up and at half time the game remained scoreless.
The second match against West Park Leeds was another close encounter. Rishworthians found it more difficult to find any continuity in attack and the game was a more scrappy affair. Raiders fly half Kian Stewart scored a breakaway try and Connor Friend ran in a second with a low drive through the WPL defence. The Raiders conceded a late try but were deserving 10 - 5 winners.
The third match against Bradford & Bingley Bees saw the Raiders gain more control in the forwards again, with some good team rucking to tie in the opposition. Gaps appeared out wide and scrum half Vinny Maude managed to move the ball quickly away from the ruck to exploit the space. Kian Stewart and Sam Puddephatt both crossed the whitewash and Stewart bagged a second score when he shaped up to pass to the right before straightening his run and bursting through the defensive line. The game finished 15 - 5 to the Raiders to set up a final pool clash with an unbeaten Weatherby side.
This match was a bruising encounter against a physical side. Toby Muscat Baron and Callum Bell and Vinny Maude worked hard in defence and fly half Tom Craven made some good breaks with the ball in hand. Weatherby had the edge though with one outstanding player who scored a try in each half to secure the win and set up a clash for Rishworthians against Sandal A in the runners up play off final.
With tiring legs, Rishworthins dug deep but struggled from the outset against a very well organised Sandal team. Coach Dave Puddephatt rotated the squad to ensure everybody got to play in the final but despite some committed tackling by George Wright and winger Kallan Jamieson, Sandal were too strong and managed to run in 5 unanswered tries.
Effort: Callum Bell and James McHugh
Man of Steel: Vinny Maude
Tries: Kian Stewart (3), Sam Puddephatt (2), Connor Friend.
Thomas Cockroft for his play in the forwards.
Sam Bake for organising the inexperienced back line.
Will McDonnell for his all round play and efforts throughout.
Effort award: Oliver Marshall, who had come in at the last minute and impressed with his attitude.
Tackle award: Will McDonnell for his constant tackling and at least half a dozen try saving tackles.
Dave McDonnell
Your Reporter Steve Dawes
Sandal Festival Slideshow.
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A mixed Sunday for Rishworthians.
Match report Sunday 28th March
A spring like morning warm weather, clocks on summer time, no rain and a dry pitch!!!!. Rishworthians were due to have a training session before the Easter break and prepre for the Brods Festival. However Huddersfield YMCA and West Leeds were without games and our squads prefered to play a match rather than train. So Sunday ended up a mixed morning with some teams training and others involved in matches. In the matches all teams taking part recorded victories.
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The Micros trained at Copley this Sunday. Several micros were missing with the start of the Easter Holidays. Another Micro joined in with the under 7's and played well. There are several micros who have turned 6 and are performing well with the Young Guns and gaining valuable match experience ready for next season.
Young Guns morning ends up even
The Young Guns made the short trip to neighbours Huddersfield YMCA to fulfil a fixture which had been postponed earlier in the season due to bad weather. The squad only had 9 players this week with players missing due to Easter holidays but managed two games of tag rugby, with both side winning a game each and the overall final score finishing at 15 - 15.
Game 1 Huddersfield YMCA 8 - 9 Rishworthians
Rishworthians success came in the first game. Jack Lumb opened the scoring for the young guns after Ben Gianotti's initial break before YMCA responded with two tries. Rishworthians hit back with tries from Jack Lumb and Ted Grogan before YMCA scored a further two tries to lead 5 - 3 at the break.
Rishworthians quickly levelled the scores at the start of the second half as Jon Baker and Bobbie White added to the Young Guns score. Ted Grogan added two tries to match a further two from YMCA before Rafe Donlon dodged through the YMCA defence to touch down on the try line. YMCA added another try and the game looked to be tied but Thomas Doyle pounced on a mistake from YMCA to score the match winning try.
Game 2 Huddersfield YMCA 7 - 6 Rishworthians
As with the first game, the teams were evenly matched with YMCA winning this game by one try. Man of the match Jack Lumb was unstoppable in attack for Rishworthians scoring four of the Young Guns six tries. YMCA led 4 - 3 at half time with Rishworthians first half tries from Ben Gianotti and Jack Lumb 2.
The teams matched each other try for try in the second half with Jack Lumb scoring two further tries and Bobbie White scoring her second try of the morning. William Boon made an impressive debut for the Young Guns after moving up from the micros section.
Tries: Ben Gianotti, Ted Grogan 3, Jack Lumb 6, Bobbie White 2, Jon Baker, Rafe Donlon, Thomas Doyle.
Man of the match Jack Lumb
Top Tagger Bobbie White
Effort Award William Boom
Squad Bobbie White, Thomas Doyle, Ben Gianotti, Ted Grogan, Jack Lumb, Rafe Donlon, Killian Smith, Jon Baker and William Boom.
Many thanks to all the parents and grandparents for providing such great support.
Darren Grogan
Meercats go into Easter break unbeaten
The "Cats" were due to train this week but a call from West Leeds looking for a game tempted the squad to have a run out before the Easter break. Missing a few players due to the holidays left the squad with just 8 players
Rishworthians 15 - 13 West Leeds
Henry Craven was the first to score. He took a quick pass just off the try-line and popped the ball over to give Rishworthians their first point of the match. West Park came back in reply shortly afterwards - and so it continued for the rest of the first half, Rishworthians never seeming able to get ahead before West Park equalised. Finn Sutcliffe made a marvellous run for the try-line from the centre-pass to score his first of 4 tries in the half. Henry Craven optimised a turnover ball and made a full length run from the opposing try-line to score for Rishworthians. This meant the home team were now 2 ahead and had a bit of breathing space. Brandon Savage also scored 2 tries in the first half. Rishworthians ended the first half leading 9-7. The second half continued much as the first. West Park never let Rishworthians break too far ahead and the home team had to stay focussed in order to avoid mistakes that might hand the ball to the opposition. William Adams and Oliver Brian were the try scorers for Rishworthian in the second half scoring 4 and 2 respectively. The rest of the Rishworthian team equipped themselves admirably and the final score was 15-13 to Rishworthians. Scorers: William Adams 5, Finn Sutcliffe 4, Henry Craven 2, Brandon Savage 2, Oliver Brian 2 Squad: Finn Sutcliffe (c), Oliver Brian, Brandon Savage, Henry Craven, Emma McHugh, Haydon Faulkner, William Adams, Reece Barraclough Man of the Match Oliver Brian
Alex Huggon Raiders enjoy runaway victory! The Raiders were due to train this week but a call from West Leeds looking for a game tempted the squad to have a run out before the Easter break. West leeds travelled short but with good numbers the Raiders were able to lend players to West Leeds. The Raiders ran in 9 tries against West Leeds to record their biggest victory this season. Rishworthians 45 - 5 West Leeds
The game started well with the Raiders producing quick ball from successive rucks to draw in the opposition. Scrum half Vinny Maude was then able to move the ball wide where centre Callum Bell found space to score 3 tries within the first 5 minutes. Nathan Hales enjoyed several good runs for Rishworthians and it took 3 West Leeds defenders to bring him down. Fly Half Tom Craven capitalised on West Leeds getting sucked in around the tackle and helped himself to 2 tries. West Leeds scored their only try of the match when on-loan Rishworthian Raider Kallan Jamieson spotted a gap down the blindside and sprinted through to score for the visitors just before half time. Half Time Raiders 25 - 5 West Leeds Raiders prop Toby Muscat-Baron was devastating at the breakdown in the second half. He secured plenty of possession with the assistance of Morgan Smithies and the backs enjoyed plenty of time and space to attack the West Leeds defence. Sam Puddephatt scored a try and then slipped a pass to set up winger Will Symms for a simple score. Symms then capped off a fine individual performance with a second try. Hooker Sam Puddephatt looked set to score a second try in the corner but a try saving tackle from Kallan Jamieson for West Leeds stopped the Raiders top scorer in his tracks. A fine team performance by Rishworthians was rounded off as winger George Ackroyd crossed the whitewash to secure a 45 - 5 win. Tries: Bell (3), Symms (2), Craven (2), Puddephatt, Ackroyd. Man of the matchWill Symms
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 Dave Puddephatt
Depleted Reds in a 10 try romp With the holiday period taking its toll the Reds were planning to train this Sunday but near neighbours Huddersfield YMCA suggested they fulfil a fixture which had been postponed earlier in the season due to bad weather.
So the Reds made the short journey to YMCA with only 8 players. After some pondering by the YMCA coaches it was decided that we would play 8 a side with YMCA having 4 rolling subs. Huddersfield YMCA 0 - 66 The Reds From the kick off the Reds returned the ball in to YMCA territory and from some excellent rucking Jack "Rhino" Davis exploded through the defence to open the scoring. Jacob Bower converted. From the restart George "Ripper" Radcliffe returned the ball this time and from another strong ruck scrum half Will "Dodger" McDonnell took the ball, side stepped the defence and cantered over. Bower missed the conversion. Another powerful run from deep by Jamie Highley brought play to half way where Sam Bakes delayed pass set Thomas Creasy away. He was tackled just short but Davis backing up picked up and scored the try. Bower converted to make the score 19-0. The Reds were in total control of the game and were able to score at will. Another good run by Creasy from half way this time saw him outpace the YMCA defence to score. Bower converted. YMCA could not cope with the pace of the Reds back line and McDonnell scored his second when he took the ball from the ruck in midfield and sprinted for the line. Bower converted. McDonnell scored again moments later when the powerful pack of Bower, Radcliffe and Ollie Swales won a scrum against the head and he dodged through the defence. Bower hit the post with the conversion when the strong wind caught the ball. The next Reds player to stretch the YMCA defence was Sam Bake. With the forwards turning the ball over at the ruck it was thrown out to "Sizzler" Bake who ran in from 40 metres. Bower converted. Further pressure from the Reds brought the game up to the home sides 20 metres and McDonnell took the ball from the ruck and had the line at his mercy only for the YMCA referee to blow for half time and deny the try. At half time the score was 45-0 to the Reds. Half Time Huddersfield YMCA 0 - 45 The Reds Before the second half got under way the referee requested that a further score of 20 points for the Reds would be the end of the match. This was achieved within 5 or 6 minutes of the restart. The second half was only minutes old when McDonnell returned the ball 50 metres deep in to the YMCA half and from the ruck fly half Bake went in at the corner. Bower converted. From the restart McDonnell again managed to take the ball to the opponents try line where he selflessly passed to Bower on his shoulder who finished off and then converted his own try. The final act of the game was another solo try from Creasy who screamed down the left wing to score at the corner flag. Bower made his final conversion and the game came to an early end with the score 66-0. Tries:Will McDonnell (3), Thomas Creasy (2), Jack Davis (2), Sam Bake (2), Jacob Bower.
Man of the match: Ollie Swales making his debut at hooker
Effort Award: Henry Craven
Top Tagger: William Adams
Effort Award Toby Muscat Baron & Nathan Hales
Best tackleKallan Jamieson
Cons: Jacob Bower (8)
Effort award: Thomas Creasy
Tackle award: Ollie Swales
Dave Mc
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Rishworthians v Keighley and Littleborough under 10/11 Slideshow.
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Rishworthians grab 2 trophies at the Brodleians Festival
Match reports Sunday 11th April
The Minis were invited to Brodleians inaugral Festival and had a great day with all teams reaching a final and the under 10's and under 11's coming away with some silverware. It was a great festival, well organised and helped by some perfect sunny weather. THere were 3 trophies up for grabs at each age group, the cup for outright winners, the plate for losing finalists and the bowl for winners of the 3rd and 4th placed knock out.
***New ***
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Under 6's The Micros
The micros trained this Sunday although numbers were down with some players still away on Easter holiday.
The Young Guns were without a game.
Rishworthians v Brodlians
Rishworthians under 7s were due to play Brods under 7's at Copley. However one of the under 8's teams withdrew from the festival at the last minute so their under 7's made up an extra BaaBaas side. The Young Guns without a game had a training session and a game of tag with the elder micros.
Unbeaten record goes as "Cats" lose in Festival cup final
Rishworthians Under 8's put in a stirling effort on Sunday as they finished runners up in the cup competition. They won all their pool games, beat Moortown in the semi final only to see their hopes dashed in the final against West Park Leeds.
It was a great day, the sun was shining, spirits were high and the team were ready and raring to go.
Pool Game 1 Rishworthians 4 - 2 Brods Bronco's
The first pool match was against the home side - Brods Bronco's. Old Rishworthians dominated the first half, not letting Brods get anything over the line. Reece Barraclough and Oliver Brian were the scorers Brods got their act together in the 2nd half and managed to get a couple of tries in - but just weren't able to catch Rishworthians. Tries came from William Adams and Thomas Georgiou.
Pool Game 2 Rishworthians 8 - 6 Hull Inians
The Hull side were an unknown quantity - never having been faced by Rishworthians before. They were a good side and Rishworthians had to work hard for their victory. The first try came from Thomas Georgiou, after a quality dodging run from William Adams which saw him tackled just before the try line. Owen Witchell was also unlucky to get tagged just shy of the try line but good backing up from Rishworthians meant that the ball was converted into a try with ease. Thomas Georgiou scored a further 5 tries and other scorers were Oliver Brian and Billy Smith.
Cup semi final Rishworthians 6 - 4 Moortown
After having won both of their pool games Rishworthians lead Pool B as they made it through to the semi-final of the cup against Moortown. Oliver Brian was a key tagger in this game and Rishworthians were able to turn the ball over a couple of times. William Adams had a fantastic game with some great running and excellent side stepping as he made it over the try line 3 times. Thomas Georgiou was the other scorer of the match.
Cup Final Rishworthians 5 - 7 West Park Leeds
Rishworthians knew that the final was going to be a hard fought match - having only closely beaten the opposition at their last meeting. Brandon Savage was the first across the try line to take Rishworthians ahead. West Park soon got one back to bring it all square - 1 all. Finn Sutcliffe then made it across the line after following up on William Adams as he dodged his way through the opposing team. Again West Park got one back and then were able to turn over the ball to bring them ahead for the first time. William Adams made it across the line shortly before the half-time whistle to bring the scoreline even.
As they entered the 2nd half Rishworthians were desperate to pull back out in front, however West Park put up a strong defence and managed to turn over the ball which coupled with a penalty for off-side against Rishworthians meant they were able to get 3 tries without reply. The task now facing the Rishworthian side was now phenomenal but they pulled out all the stops for the final minutes of the game. Finn Sutcliffe and Oliver Brian pushed for the line and got a try apiece. Time was ticking away but a draw was still possible. Unfortunately, West Park put up a brilliant defence right up until the final whistle. A turned over ball and try in the closing minutes of the game put West Park just too far ahead to Rishworthians to catch.
Final score West Park 7, Rishworthians 5.
All in all it was a great day of Rugby. The boys played extremely well and all those watching were exceptionally proud of the effort they put in. Congratulations on a well earned 2nd place.
Scorers: Thomas Georgiou 10, William Adams 5, Oliver Brian 3, Finn Sutcliffe 2, Brandon Savage 1, Reece Barraclough 1, Billy Smith 1,
Squad: Brandon Savage, Owen Witchell, Billy Smith, Henry Hilton, Henry Craven, Oliver Brian, Reece Barraclough, Finn Sutcliffe, Thomas Georgiou, William Adams
Alex Hugon
Great performance by Destroyers to reach Bowl Final
With Huddersfield YMCA failing to turn up the 4th team in the pool became a Barbarians side with players provided from other competing clubs. The Destroyers qualified for the knock out stages of the Bowl competition and reached the final but injuries to key players gave Moortown the Bowl title.
Match 1 Old Rishworthians 10 West Park St Helens 10
This was an even contest throughout with Rish taking an early lead through Nathan Donaldson. West Park hit back with a try either side of half-time to take a slender 10-5 lead. With time running out Tom Stott's fine support play paid off with a late match saving try.
Man of the match Kian Sutcliffe
Tackler of match Matty Tooby
Effort award Tom Stott
Match 2 Old Rishworthians 15 Leodiensians 10
Man of match Nathan Donaldson
Match 3 Old Rishworthians 5 Barbarians 10
With West Park St Helens and Rish both finishing on 3 points West Park took second place on tries scored leaving Rish in third place to play in the Bowl semi-final. Man of match Kian Sutcliffe
Bowl Semi-final Old Rishworthians 10 Old Brods 5
Man of match Nathan Donaldson
Bowl Final Old Rishworthians 5 Moortown 25
Man of match Carrick Keighley-Payne
Squad : William Harker, Toby Helm, Zak Rush, Kian Sutcliffe, Corey White, Carrick Keighley-Payne, Nathan Donaldson, Matty Tooby, Liam Holgate, Tom Stott Thanks to all the players and parents for an excellent day of rugby. The lads were a credit to themselves, their parents and the club.
Raiders win the Festival Plate! Rishworthian Under 10 squad enjoyed a successful day at the Old Brodleians junior rugby festival winning the plate competition.
Pool Match 1 Rishworthians 15 - 15 Lymm
Pool Match 2 Rishworthians 10 - 5 Yarnbury
Pool Match 3 Rishworthians 30 - 0 Barbarians
Cup Semi Final Rishworthians 10 - 25 Brods
Plate Final Rishworthians 20 - 5 Hull Ionians
Man of the Festival: ??
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, Kian Stewart, George Ackroyd, Connor Friend, Patrick Smallman Reds take the festival plate Brodleians held their first minis tournamentfor 12 years on Sunday, hosting sides from u8 through to u12 in what was a well organised and friendly atmosphere blessed by bright sunshine and even brighter rugby. Pool Game 1 Rishworthians 5 - 5 West Park Leeds
The second half saw ORRUFC with the slope,the forwards battled in midfield and won most ball, but despite excellent breaks by Jamie Highley and Jacob Bower Rishies were unable to score further and the game ended tied at 5 all. Pool Game 2 Rishworthians 20 - 15 Yarnbury
The U11's now showed great character and played as they train , putting on a fantastic display of team rugby that had the assembled parents bursting with pride and screaming with excitement. Using the slope advantage the pack drove to the Yarnbury line, spurred on by a storming drive from Thomas Cockroft the pack set up a ruck from which Will McDonnell was able to score. 10 - 15. Now the u11's really began to force the pace, with Jack Davis making a trademark Rhino charge at full tilt. Thomas Cockroft capitalised on the break and drove 20m to the line leaving Yarnbury bodies in his wake. 15 - 15. As the clock ticked down an inspired Rhino charged through the opposition like a man possessed to finish in the corner and take the Rishies through to the semis 20-15. Semi -Final Rishworthians 10 - 20 Brods
The second half was again close and edgy, and the Brods were able to find a way through twice more to extend their lead to 20-5. But the U11's were not yet beaten, and a storming individual try from Jack Davis gave the visitors some hope before the clock finally ran out. Rishies 10 -20 Brods. In the end the score reflected the closeness of the game, and Rishies can take a lot of heart from a superb team performance and look forwards to meeting the Brods again. Plate Final Rishworthians 35 - 0 Hull Ionians
Hull Inoians were losing steam and Rishies capitalised in the second half with Jacob Bower scoring after a strong catch and return by Charlotte Siddal 20 - 0. Toby Gledhill showed good hands playing at 13 and made some incisive breaks before Will McDonnell took to the air to score from a lineout, 25-0 . Sam Bake again ran through what looked like the entire Ionians team to touch down in the corner and Oliver Marshall ran strongly to seal the victory with his first try for the club in the final moments, 35 - 0. A fantastic afternoons rugby with all team members contributing to a fine performance and bringing home silverware to Copley. Tackle Award Charlotte Siddall
Brods Festival Slideshow.
Leodiensians looked as though they expected to win this game. Nathan Donaldson had different ideas and gave Rish an early lead with another fine run. Leos briefly levelled before Carrick Keighley-Payne scored to give Rish a 10-5 half time lead. Nathan Donaldson scored another great try after the break and Rish looked in the driving seat at 15-5. Leos bounced back to score again and only a fantastic try saving tackle from Nathan Donaldson prevented them earning a draw.
Tackler of match Tom Stott/Carrick Keighley-Payne
Effort award Matty Tooby
A transformed Barbarians side (unrecognisable to that which had lost heavily to both other teams in the pool) took an early lead and led 5-0 at half-time. Another score early in the second half and things didn't bode well for the Rish team who were beginning to look tired. Yet another score from Nathan Donaldson gave Rish a glimmer of hope but they were unable to break down their stronger opponents.
Tackler of match Kian Sutcliffe
Effort award Team
For much of this match Brods were the better team. Two break-away tries against the run of play gave Rish a fortuitous 10-0 half time lead. Brods hit back with a try in the second half but weren't able to break down a stubborn Rish defence.
Tackler of match Tom Stott/Nathan Donaldson
Effort award William Harker
Having lost narrowly to Moortown in the opening game of the season a tight final was expected. However this was not to be as Rish struggled with injuries to 3 key players resulting in two of them leaving the field in the second half leaving them a player short. A strong running and skilful Moortown side scored 25 points without reply before Carrick Keighley-Payne bulldozed his way through and looked certain to score. Unfortunatley he was unable to ground the ball but soon made up for this with scoring Rish's only try of the game from close range.
Tackler of match Carrick Keighley-Payne
Effort award Team
Thanks to Simon Donaldson for his invaluable help coaching once again.
Grahame White
Sam Puddephatt scored a typical breakaway try to open the scoring with Tom Craven and Kian Stewart adding more tries. Defensive lapses though following the re-start cost Rishworthian's dearly as Lymm eventually pulled level. In a very well contested match the Raiders believed they had won the game in the dying seconds when Kian Stewart weaved his way through the Lymm defence to score a forth try, only to have it disallowed by the referee.
The second game against Yarnbury was another well contested affair.. The scoreline would have looked healthier for the Raiders had some confusing pitch markings not led to one try being grounded short of the actual tryline and a second score being ruled out as the player crossed the dead ball line! Connor Friend bulldozed his way over the correct try line to score for the Raiders though and Patrick Smallman scored a long range try with a fine solo run. Some excellent defensive work by George Wright on the left wing thwarted several strong Yarnbury drives, before they got a late consolation try.
A Barbarians team were the next opponents who were made up of players from other teams to replace Huddersfield YMCA who had dropped out. In the first half a disjointed performance by the Raiders struggled to secure the ball from set pieces and scrum half Vinny Maude was often left exposed at the ruck. A quick team re-shuffle at half time bolstered the scrum and the second half was a very different story. Nathan Hales was impressive at the ruck, clearing out several Barbarian players at once. This set a solid platform for the back division and Callum Bell ran in 2 tries, Morgan Smithies and George Wright both crossed the whitewash and hooker Sam Puddephatt also helped himself to 2 tries. The Raiders ended up 30 - 0 winners.
The Raiders were then pitched against a strong Brodleians team in the cup semi-final. A very close first half saw Rishworthians take the lead through a Sam Puddephatt try. Brods hit back though and pounced on a loose Rishworth pass to level the score and followed this up with another try. Kian Stewart scored just before half time to make the score 10 - 10 at the break.
With the advantage of the downhill slope in the second half and the benefit of huge home support, Old Brodleians put in a dominant performance to score 3 unanswered tries. Their backs moved the ball wide extremely well and deserved the 25-10 victory.
Undaunted by their setback, the Raiders were pitched against Hull Ionians in the final of the Plate competition. Tom Craven and Vinny Maude both put in outstanding performances in defence and Callum Bell managed to secure plenty of possession from rucks and mauls. This allowed the speed men to take advantage of the tiring Hull Ionian legs, with Kian Stewart and Patrick Smallman both scoring two tries each and secure a 20 - 5 victory for the Rishworthian Raiders.
Effort: ??
Man of Steel: ??
Tries: Kian Stewart (4), Sam Puddephatt (4), Patrick Smallman (3), Callum Bell (2),Connor Friend, Tom Craven, George Wright, Morgan Smithies.
Rishworthians U11 squad was almost at full-strength and set about West Park Leeds with great enthusiasm despite having to work hard uphill in the first half. The pack absorbed the early pressure and a blindside break from Sam Bake almost resulted in a try for Charlotte Siddall. West Park came back strongly with the slope advantage but Will McDonnell was able to capitalise on some strong rucking to race through a thicket of players and touchdown for the first try. West Park Leeds quickly struck back to level the scores at half-time 5 - 5.
It was the second match versus Yarnbury that saw the U11's at their best. Despite a hard forward battle in the first game the pack had almost no rest and were straight back in action, facing the familiar slope and an unfamiliar opposition. An early drive by the excellent pack took play to the Yarnbury line where Sam Bake was able to find the corner, 5-0. Yarnbury then switched on the pace, and using slope advantage to open up gaps in the Rishies defences were able to score three times before the half ended 5 - 15.
Rishies faced the Yorkshire champions Brods in the semi final.With Will McDonnel injured the team shuffled Jamie Highley to scrumhalf and Jacob Bower to Full-back. The Brods took an early lead through excellent back play, but then Rishies struck back through George Radcliffe who dazzled the crowd with a fantastic catch and return try from halfway.Superb! The Brods kept coming and were again pressing on the flanks when Charlotte Siddall stepped up to execute the tackle of the tournament and deny a certain try.The Brods were finally able to cross the line again before half time. Brods 15-5 Rishies.
The final match was against Hull Ionians for the plate. Again the U11's gave a fantastic team performance and played some scintillating team rugby. First Sam Bake ran through a maze of players,then another Bake Davis combo saw Sam over for a second.Thomas Cockroft continued the strong forward play to score another, 15-0 to Rishies at half time.
Effort Award Lewis Hilton
Men of the Tournament Thomas Cockroft and George Radcliffe
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Another good performance from the Minis
Match report Sunday 18th April
This Sunday was a bit of a mixed bag. With Selby pulling out of the original fixture alternative games were sought. The under 11's enjoyed a great day at the prestigious Driffield Festival while the under 7's, 9's and 12's travelled to Cleckheaton to make up a three way. Cleckheaton's original fixture should have been a 3 way with Sandal and West Leeds but Sandal decided to go to the Driffield Festival. So we took Sandals place in the Cleckheaton 3 way. The micros under 8's and under 10's decided to train.
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Just over 20 Micros trained at Copley this Sunday. Several micros just turned 6 are performing well with the Young Guns and gaining valuable match experience ready for next season.
Young Guns good form continues.
The Young Guns welcomed Cleckheaton to Copley for their first competitive game of tag rugby in 2010. Both teams were able to field 2 sides.
Game 1 Rishworthians 11 - 6 Cleckheaton u7's
The Young Guns recent good form continued with a comfortable win over Cleckheaton's under 7's. Bobbie White led the Rishworthians attack from the start scoring the first try of the game after Toby Laurie and captain Ben Collins created good field position. Cleckheaton responded with a try of their own before Ted Grogan found space on the edge of Cleckheaton's defence to score Rishies second try. The score was soon 3 - 1 to Rishworthians when Joe Walsh dodged his way through to Cleckheaton's try line. Cleckheaton hit back with a try of their own before Ben Gianotti blazed through to score after backing up Emma Mchugh from the restart. Jack Lumb and Will Boom had put in a big defensive effort to repel Cleckheaton's attacks when Rafe Donlon popped up to score Rishworthians fifth try. Bobbie White finished off the first half scoring to give Rishworthians a 6 - 2 half time lead.
Cleckheaton rallied with a try at the start of the second half but were unable to stop Ben Gianotti scoring his second try of the game shortly after. Felix Jackson was next on the score sheet with a try on his debut after stepping up from Rishies micro section. Cleckheaton showed great team spirit scoring three further tries before Killian Smith finished of a break from Noah Mackrill to score in the corner. Joe Walsh then added his second try by bulldozing his way to the line. The final try of the game was scored by man of the match Bobbie White as she completed her hat trick.
Man of the match Bobbie White
Top Tagger Jack Lumb
Effort Award Ben Gianotti
Team: Bobbie White, Ben Gianotti, Ted Grogan, Jack Lumb, Rafe Donlon, Killian Smith, Joe Walsh,
Emma Mchugh, Felix Jackson, Noah Mackrill, Toby Laurie, Ben Collins and William Boom.
Scorers: Bobbie White 3, Joe Walsh 2, Ben Gianotti 2, Rafe Donlon, Felix Jackson, Ted Grogan, Killian Smith.
Game 2 Rishworthians 9 - 9 Cleckheaton under 8's
The Young Guns were pitched against Cleckheaton's under 8s in the second game of the morning. This was probably the young guns biggest test of the season and it is credit to the team spirit that they matched their older opponents try for try throughout the game. Rishies teamwork, backing up and industry proved to be a match for Cleckheaton's bigger and faster players. Jack Lumb put in the man of the match performance as he hounded Cleckheaton in defence and still had enough energy to score 4 tries. The half time score was 5 - 5 with first half tries from Jack Lumb 3, Bobbie White and Rafe Donlon. Second half tries were scored by Ted Grogan, Jack Lumb, Toby Laurie and Bobbie White.
Man of the match Jack Lumb
Top Tagger Ted Grogan
Effort Award The whole team
Team: Bobbie White, Ben Gianotti, Ted Grogan, Jack Lumb, Rafe Donlon, Joe Walsh, Emma Mchugh and Toby Laurie.
Scorers: Jack Lumb 4, Bobbie White 2, Rafe Donlon, Ted Grogan, Toby Laurie
Game 3 Rishworthians/West Leeds Baabaas 12 - 7 Cleckheaton u7's
Old Rishworthians successfully combined with West Park Leeds to take the spoils against Cleckheaton's under 7s. Felix Jackson pipped Killian Smith for the man of the match award, the effort award went to Noah and Will Boom was top tagger. Ben Collins captained the side.
Man of the match Felix Jackson
Top Tagger Will Boom
Effort Award Noah Mackrill
Team - Killian Smith, Felix Jackson, Noah Mackrill, Ben Collins and William Boom
plus 3 players from West Park Leeds
Scorers - Killian Smith , Felix Jackson , Noah Mackrill , Ben Collins and William Boom
plus 7 from West Park Leeds.
Thank you to the parents/grandparents etc for their support
Darren Grogan
Meercats Training session.
The under 8's decided to have a break from competitive games and run a training session instead.
Back to the basics for Destroyers
Game 1 Rishworthians 20 - 20 Cleckheaton
Old Rishworthians got off to a good start with Nathan Donaldson scoring early on to give Rish a 5-0 lead. Cleckheaton then fought back with three unanswered tries to give the home side a 15-5 lead. Tries either side of half time from Kian Sutcliffe and Corey White levelled the scores at 15-15. Both sides continued to play attacking rugby Cleckheaton edging ahead at 20-15 before Nathan Donaldson scored his second try of the game to level the scores at 20-20.
Man of the Match Kian Sutcliffe
Effort Award The Team
Top Tackler Carrick Keighley-Payne
Game 2 Rishworthians 10 - 40 Cleckheaton
Cleckheaton were on top throughout this game retaining most of their ball at the rucks and stealing too many balls from the Rish players. First half scores came from Nathan Donaldson and Corey White. Lots of work still to be done on the basics.
Man of the Match Nathan Donaldson
Effort Award Matty Tooby
Top Tackler Toby Helm
Squad: Matty Tooby, Carrick Keighley-Payne, Toby Helm, Liam Holgate, Zak Rush, William Harker, Kian Sutcliffe, Reggie Herd, Corey White.
Thanks again to Simon Donaldson and to all the parents for their support.
Grahame White
Raiders run a training session
The under 10's decided to have a break from competitive games and run a training session instead in preparation for their tour to Scarborough when they take part in the Scarborough Festival.
REDS REACH "SALVER" FINAL AT DRIFFIELD FESTIVAL
Festival fever has hit the under 11?s camp with 3 festivals in as many weeks, Brods last week, Driffield just gone and Telford next week. The Reds travelled the 70 odd miles to Driffield with few expectations but came away with heads held high and a couple of decent scalps under our belt including both of the Yorkshire Cup finalists. With 16 clubs invited we were in the company of some of the best quality teams in Yorkshire and Humberside, and our group pitted us against Malton, Pocklington and York.
Pool Match 1 The Reds 0 - 5 Malton and Norton
Malton were an unknown quantity to the Reds, having only played against them once before in a rushed 5 minutes half time display at Leeds Carnegie. Malton came out of the blocks and inflicted some early pressure on the Reds but our guys were up to the task and defended valiantly with strong tackles. The Reds settled and made good ground of their own, taking play up to the Malton 15 metre line where Will McDonnell took a quick tap penalty and the ensuing phases put the Malton defence under pressure. Half time came with the Rishies confidence on the rise.
Unfortunately the Reds defence was called in to action early on and it took big hits from McDonnell, Charlotte Siddall and Jacob Bower to stem the tide. Malton did however open the scoring when they managed to get to the Reds line and just managed to snuck over. It looked as though McDonnell was going to level the scores when he took another quick tap in his own half and screamed down the right wing before been bundled in to touch yards from the line. Malton would have scored again in the dying seconds but for a superb tackle on the goal line by Jack Davis making the forward spill the ball. Full time was called with Malton winning by a slender margin.
Pool Match 2 The Reds 5 - 0 Pocklington
The second game pitched the Reds against Pocklington. This side beat our friends Sandal in the Yorkshire Cup semi final and lost to the Brods in the final. So the Reds faced another tough opponent.
A good long kick off from Jacob Bower gave our quick boys time to engage the Pock defence from the off and Sam Bake made his mark with a big initial tackle. Both teams played good rugby but I must say that the best one on one tackles came from the Reds with full back Jamie Highley, McDonnell, Bower and Bake making thudding hits. Rishies were not in awe of their opponents and had most of the possession with ?billy burglars? Thomas Cockroft and George Radcliffe ripping the ball in the mauls. The Reds ruck often under performs but today was working wonders allowing quick ball to the backs. Pocklington were impressive when coming forward and it took some resilient Reds defence on the goal line to keep them out just as the whistle blew for half time.
Pocklington started the second half at pace and it took 2 try saving tackles in 20 seconds from scrum half McDonnell to keep them out in the corner. The Reds got back in to the groove and centres Jack Davis and new boy James Robins, running strong and straight, made the hard yards in to the Pocklington 15 metres. Attack after attack upon the Pocklington try line was repelled but with seconds ticking away Will McDonnell picked up from the ruck and dived over the line, 5-0 to the Reds. Players and families in raptures at a wonderful result.
Pool Match 3 The Reds 30 - 0 York
York is another team that has beaten us twice this season, at Land Rover and Sandal festivals. But not today.
Early York pressure was dealt with by the Reds and they then found themselves driving up field to the York line, where they won a scrum and fed Sam Bake who darted through the pack to score. A battling run from McDonnell was continued by Ollie Swales who went over the line only to be held up. The score was increased when ?Rhino? Davis piled over for 10-0. A good return from the restart by Bake allowed Bower to pick up from the ruck but could not manage to go over and there was no further score up to half time.
In the second half the Reds were brimming with confidence and with a scrum won in midfield Sam Bake jinked right, then left, and right again, turned the defence inside out and scored a great solo try. York could not deal with the Reds physicality and this was proven again when Davis barged through the defence from 20 metres to score his second. Will McDonnell was next on the score sheet with a searing run from deep in his own half leaving the defence with no chance of ever catching him. The final nail in the York coffin came from a penalty 5 metres from the York line. A cry from the sideline, ?put a big guy in the corner? was heeded by the scrum half who put the not so big guy Toby Gledhill in at the corner to make the final score 30-0.
With 2 wins out of 3 the Reds came second in their group and were then placed in the semi final of the second tier trophy, the Salver. And guess who we got, our local neighbours, Yorkshire Cup winners Old Brods.
Salver semi final The Reds 5 - 0 Brods
The Reds started the game brightly and played some good hard rugby. But the Brods are not Cup winners for nothing, and they can throw the ball with ease from one side of the field to the other stretching the Reds defence in the process. Strong double tackling from the Reds kept the Brods from their jinking inside runs, but with the first half coming to a close the Reds had to defend a Brods 5 metre penalty heroically on their own line.
The second half began with the front row of Lewis Hilton, Thomas Cockroft and Toby Gledhill winning a scrum against the head which set up the backs for another attack. Brods came back strongly and again had the Reds on their own line, but a superb clearance kick from in goal by McDonnell sent the ball in to touch on the Brods 15 metre mark. The feeling in the crowd was that one score could win this game and how right we all were. A clearance kick from the Brods scrum half was charged down by Bake and the Reds recovered the ball. From the ruck McDonnell picked up, sprinted right and dived in at the corner. The referee ended the match straight away and the Reds had beaten the Yorkshire Cup holders.
Salver final The Reds 5 - 10 Melbourne
The final saw us up against Melbourne, who were a touring team from Derbyshire.
Rishies came out of the traps with intent and had soon gained ground deep in to Melbourne territory. From a phase in midfield Sam Bake threw a glorious dummy before gliding through a gap and passing to his half back mate McDonnell who took the move to the 5 metre line where Bower continued the move but was bundled in to touch. The Reds had possession and territory but could not capitalise. An impressive rumbling maul drove the Red to the try line and we all thought that James Robins had scored but was ruled held up. The score did come after another drive to the line. McDonnell picked up from the scrum and dived through the smallest gap to score.
I don?t know what the Melbourne coach said to his players but they came out for the second half a changed team. They attacked from the off and Bower was called in to make a try saving tackle. They tried the same move again and this time managed to cross the line to level the score. Melbourne crossed the whitewash a further 2 times but firstly knocked on over the line and were then held up. The pressure was now intense and the Reds were becoming tired. Will McDonnell had to make another try saving tackle 2 yards from the line but Melbourne won the game in the final second when Rishies fumbled the ball over their own line and a Melbourne player pounced on the ball. Final score 10-5 to Melbourne.
Tries: Will McDonnell (4), Jack Davis (2), Sam Bake (2), Toby Gledhill.
What started as a nervous opening turned in to a superb day for all assembled. We were very unlucky to lose against Malton and in the final to Melbourne, but the highlights of the day were wins over both Yorkshire Cup finalists without a try against us. This was a very prestigious tournament and I personally think that we showed ourselves to be a team to be reckoned with. Out of the 16 teams on show we came 6th. The guys should be very proud of each other because they showed a lot of bottle and proved to themselves that they can compete with the best of them. Lets do it all again next week at Telford.
A day of mixed fortunes for the Redbacks
After the recent training ground injury which resulted in a broken arm for Max Dawes, the U12's were again without any subs against two sides that had the luxury of replacements. That being said they put up an excellent fight in both games against Cleckheaton and West Leeds.
Cleckheaton 21 - 0 Rishworthians
The game started well for the Redbacks with some early pressure on the Cleckheaton line, and some neat passing was demonstrated by the whole back line, unfortunately some sloppy handling resulted in several knock-on's and before long the U12's found themselves pinned back on their own line.From a strong scrum the opposition released our Nemesis, their large back Kia who broke several tackles to score a converted try. Once again from the kickoff Rishies played far and away the better rugby with several forward drives, being turned into running rugby by the excellent Myles releasing Sam and Elliot on powerful runs, these were repelled by Cleckheaton and close to half time Kia again went on one of his powerful runs and scored another try which was converted. Half time Cleckheaton 14 - 0 Rishworthians With just 10 minutes rest, next up were West Leeds. From the kickoff Rishies surged towards the line , George and Issac driving hard , from several messy knock on's Harry Wade ( now becoming a very adept hooker) struck against the head several times and eventually Sam released once again by Myles sprinted clear to give Rishies a well deserved lead . The Redbacks were firing on all cylinders and it took several clearing kicks to release the pressure on the West Leeds line, each kick was excellently caught by James who ran it back each time, and demonstrated excellent skill with one excellent reverse pass to Cameron which was unlucky not to produce a try. Close to half time some sloppy tackling once again gave a chance to West Leeds and they ran the ball in and converted the score. Full time Cleckheaton 21 - 0 Rishworthians West Leeds 7 - 14 Rishworthians
With just 10 minutes rest, next up were West Leeds. From the kickoff Rishies surged towards the line , George and Issac driving hard , from several messy knock on's Harry Wade ( now becoming a very adept hooker) struck against the head several times and eventually Sam released once again by Myles sprinted clear to give Rishies a well deserved lead . The Redbacks were firing on all cylinders and it took several clearing kicks to release the pressure on the West Leeds line, each kick was excellently caught by James who ran it back each time, and demonstrated excellent skill with one excellent reverse pass to Cameron which was unlucky not to produce a try. Close to half time some sloppy tackling once again gave a chance to West Leeds and they ran the ball in and converted the score. Half time West Leeds 7 - 7 Rishworthians As Mick said at half time if they don't score we don't lose, and Rishies stood true to their word, excellent tacking by every member of the team broke up some early West Leeds pressure and gave the impetus to Rishies. With excellent forward driving George was able to pick up the ball and drive towards the West Leeds line, with the pack supporting him he crashed over for another try which James Converted. Despite giving a away several penalties for over exuberant tackling and use of the opponents scrum cap as a tacking aid , the Rishies held firm and recorded another well deserved victory and left the field to a wealth of applause. Full time West Leeds 7 - 14 Rishworthians This morning's rugby was so close to yielding a double Victory and demonstrates how far the team have come in just one Season together and despite some ling layoffs due to the inclement weather, all bodes well for next Season and also YMCA next Sunday. Man of the match Harry Robinson
Squad: Jack Bruce, James Stott, Harry Hollingworth, George Heron, Isaac Heron, Edward Denham,
Your Reporter: Steve Dawes
Driffield Festival Slideshow.
Effort Award James Stott
Tackling Award Myles Smithies
Jack Raby, Harry Wade, Myles Smithies, Harry Robinson, Sam Burford-Eyre, Elliot Craven, Cameron Lister
Click here to view Driffield website
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Under 11's win Telford Festival.
Match report Sunday 25th April
Sunday was one of the most successful days so far for Rishworthians Mini and Junior rugby. The under 16's won the Yorksire Bowl, the under 11's won the Telford Festival and the under 10's were runners up at the Scarborough Festival. Meanwhile back at base camp Copley the under 8's, under 9's and under 12's played Huddersfield YMCA in a hastily rearranged fixture after Huddersfield YM's fixtures were cancelled.
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The Micros held their last training session of the season Copley. Several micros have enjoyed playing with the under 7's this season and are performing well with the Young Guns and gaining valuable match experience ready for next season.
Young Guns Training
The Young Guns decided to train this morning
Meercats in control
The "Cats" were due to work on contact training this Sunday but a call from Huddersfield YMCA looking for a game tempted the squad to have a run out before the end of Season.
Rishworthians 14 - 7 Huddersfield YMCA
Old Rishworthians under 8's dominated the match from the start. Brandon Savage was the first to score getting the home team off to a flying start. Huddersfield levelled the scores but then came 5 more from Rishworthians (from William Adams, Billy Smith and Oliver Brian). Finn Sutcliffe showed great tenancity in chasing down tags and the first half ended 7-2 to Rishworthians. Brandon Savage was once again the first to score after the break and further tries came from Owen Witchell, Finn Sutcleffe, Thomas Georgiou and Oscar Thomas-Rowe. Huddersfield rallied in the closing minutes of the game but the gap was just far too large - the final score was 14-7 to Rishworthians. Billy Smith got Man of the Match for his lightening fast reflexes and Haydon Faulkner got the effort award. Scorers: William Adams 3, Billy Smith 3, Brandon Savage 2, Oliver Brian 2, Finn Sutcliffe 1, Oscar Thomas-Rowe 1, Thomas Georgiou 1, Owen Witchell 1, Squad: Billy Smith (c), Brandon Savage, Finn Sutcliffe, Oliver Brian, Haydon Faulkner, Owen Witchell, Henry Hilton, Reece Barraclough, William Adams, Oscar Thomas-Rowe, Thomas Georgiou. Man of the Match Billy Smith
Alex Huggon Destroyers just edged out in an excellent game Rishworthians had a good turnout of 14 players including two newcomers, Jake Haynes and Thomas Raistrick, who were making their debuts. This allowed Rishworthians to give 4 players to Hudderfield YMCA to even up the number of players on each side. Rishworthians 45 - 50 Huddersfield YMCA
The second half really belonged to one player on the Rish side. Debutant and man of the match Jake Haynes scored a further 5 tries to take his total for the match to 6 with an outstanding display of evasive running. Both teams contributed to an excellent half of rugby with some of the best passing moves seen this season. In the end the result was of minor significance compared to the overall teamwork of both sides. Man of the Match - Jake Haynes
It was great to welcome Jake Haynes and Thomas Raistrick to Rish. Both players settled in really quickly. It was also good to see Alfie back again after the finish of the football season. Thanks also to Corey, William, Reggie and Alfie for playing for the opposition and for competing so well against their teammates. Squad: Reggie Herd, William Harker, Matty Tooby, Carrick Keighley-Payne, Kian Sutcliffe,
Finally thanks to Simon for coaching and to all the parents for their continued support.
Raiders so close as Runners Up at Scarborough Festival Old Rishworthians Under 10's capped off a successful season by going on tour to compete at the Scarborough RUFC Festival at the weekend. Day 1 Game 1 Raiders 5 - 5 Manchester
Day 1 Game 2 Raiders 0 - 20 Stockport
Day 1 Game 3 Raiders 20 - 0 Scarborough
Day 2 Game 4 Raiders 5 - 0 Manchester
Day 2 Game 5 Raiders 0 - 15 Stockport
Day 2 Game 6 Raiders 10 - 5 Scarborough
Day 2 The Final Raiders 0 - 15 Stockport
The Rishworthian Raiders played superbly well though throughout the festival. Each of the 16 man squad played their part and contributed to the team's overall success. Tries: Stewart: 2, Bell: 2, Puddephatt, Wright, Ackroyd, Jamieson Man of the festival 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 Dave Puddephatt
Reds win Telford Festival The under 11's tour got underway last Friday teatime with a trip down to Telford for their Festival on Sunday. After 2 days of wining and dining there were some tired looking parents and coaches at breakfast on Sunday. The kids however were obviously fresher than parents because they played 6 games of rugby, winning 5 and drawing the other, making them winners of the Telford Festival. The format was based on a league with the obvious winner being the one with the most points. Twelve minutes for the match, no half time. Game 1 Reds 15 - 0 Newport
Game 2 Reds 20 - 0 Sandbach
Game 3 Reds 5 - 0 Chaddersley Corbett
Game 4 Reds 45 -v 0 Burntwood
Game 5 Reds 5 - 5 Telford
Game 6 Reds 30 - 0 Shrewsbury
Tries: Nathan Cooper, Sam Bake(8), Jack Davis (5), Will McDonnell (5), Oliver Marshall, Jacob Bower (2), Thomas Cockroft, Oliver Swales. With Telford winning four of their games and drawing against us, all eyes were on their last match against Newport. After a hard fought game, and with the Rishies contingent on the side lines with fingers crossed, Newport beat Telford which meant that the Reds had won the tournament having gone through unbeaten. After each game every opposing coach made a point of letting us know how impressed they were with the attitude, skill and quality of the team, particularly in our rucking. That was confirmed by the proud Cheshire cat smiles from all the coaches and parents at the end. Well done guys. After playing some wonderful, intelligent, skilful rugby you deserve to be crowned as CHAMPIONIES!!!!!!CHAMPIONIES!!!! I know it was said on the coach on Sunday but I would just like to have it in print "A very big thank you from all the kids and parents to Julie the Tour Leader, Rob the Fines Master, and all the chaps that worked so hard in the kitchen, for making such a memorable under 11's tour".
Red Backs go down in a close game In this return match with Huddersfield YMCA, the U12's got their first taste of Rugby on the full 1st team pitch with a Match Referee. In the corresponding fixture at YMCA they had been on the wrong end of a 45-15 defeat, but this time the result was much closer as the U12's were assisted by a few members of the U13's squad as YMCA had done previously and had asked to do again this time. Rishworthians 15 - 17 Huddersfield YMCA
Half time Rishworthians 0 - 7 Huddersfield YMCA
From the kick off Rishies began a period of intense pressure against the YMCA pack and they were held up several times close to the line. Eventually the pressure paid off and Harvey crossed to thunderous applause, the very difficult conversion was unfortunately missed. We then let our concentration dip for the next short period allowing YMCA to cross the line twice in succession luckily the conversions were missed. Mick decided that several members of the team were finding the heat and full pitch hard work and decided to swap 3 players for several with fresh legs. This stemmed the tide and resulted in a more positive start from the restart , James Stott ran the ball back powerfully several times from high kicks and managed to produce one his trademark reverse passes to Cameron who brought the ball in excellently away from the line before being tackled. After another period of sustained pressure YMCA were penalised for hands in and George drove over for the first of his two tries. Unluckily James' very difficult conversion dropped just short. Again YMCA cleared there lines with a high kick, James caught the ball and released Harvey who made good ground, when he was tackled he managed to offload to George who finished an excellent team move. James was unable to provide a score equalling conversion from another very difficult position out wide. The referee then blew for time, for what may be the final match of the seasons for the U12's in which they have come on leaps and bounds see you in September.
Squad Jack Bruce, James Stott, Harry Hollingworth, George Heron, Isaac Heron, Edward Denham,
Man of the match George Heron
Rishworthians at Telford Festival Slideshow.
Rishworthians at Scarborough Festival Slideshow.
Effort Award: Haydon Faulkner
Top Tagger: Finn Sutcliffe
Rishworthians started well and opened the scoring through Tom Stott after a fine break by Nathan Donaldson. Huddersfiled YMCA came back strongly though and scored three tries, two of them coming from Rish player Corey White, to lead 15-5. Two fine tries from Nathan Donaldson and an opening score for debutant Jake Haynes put Rish back in the lead at 20-15. Corey White then added another against his teammates to level the scores 20-20 at half time.
Top Tacklers - Kian Sutcliffe, Corey White
Effort award - The team
Zak Rush, Toby Helm, Corey White, Tom Stott, Liam Holgate, Nathan Donaldson, Jake Haynes, Thomas and Alfie.
(If anyone can help me with Alfie's surname or a phone number it would be appreciated)
Grahame
A tough opening match against Manchester ended in a 5-5 draw with winger George Wright scoring a fine solo try for the Raiders.
The second game against a well drilled Stockport RFC ended in a 20-0 defeat.
Rishworthians bounced back though by beating the home side Scarborough 20-0 with two tries from Callum Bell and one try each for Kian Stewart and Kallan Jamieson.
Day two of the festival opened with a crunch match against Manchester. The teams were well matched and on equal festival points after the first day of competition. A bruising physical encounter developed with both teams putting in some big tackles on their opposite number. Kian Stewart showed real class for the Raiders to break through the defensive line and score the only try of the game, securing a 5-0 win.
A second match against Stockport unfortunately ended in a 15-0 defeat, as they cruised through to the final remaining unbeaten.
Old Rishworthians had to get a victory in their final pool match against Scarborough to secure a place in the final. Sam Puddephatt showed a great turn of speed to score in the corner for the Raiders. The hooker then went on another run selling outrageous dummies before slipping a pass to winger George Ackroyd who finished off the move with a try in the corner to secure a 10-5 win and set up an appearance in the festival final against Stockport.
Another bruising encounter saw both teams enjoy spells of possession. Stockport had the physical advantage in the forwards but the Raiders players never took a step backwards with Morgan Smithies, Toby Muscat-Baron and James McHugh all magnificent in defence. Stockport scored a try late in the first half to take a narrow lead at half term. The second half was another tight affair. Kian Stewart made some good breaks for the Raiders but couldn't breach the defence and in the end, Stockport rumbled over for 2 second half tries to gain a 15-0 victory.
Effort Award James McHugh
Man of Steel Morgan Smithies
The Reds are usually slow starters at tournaments but pre match talks got the guys in to top gear from the off. Rishies put Newport under early pressure and Nathan Cooper from full back sneaked through a gap to open the Reds account. Newport came back at the Reds but we were stronger in the maul and George Radcliffe and Thomas Cockroft, up to their usual tricks, were ripping the ball of the opposition. Rishies increased their lead from a maul on the Newport 20 metres, when the ball was fed out to Sam Bake who jinked over the line. The final score went to the Reds after good hands down the line brought play to the Newport line. From a Reds penalty Jack Davis barged through to make the score 15-0. A good opening win.
As in the first game the Reds took early play in to the Sandbach half and stayed there for quite a while. From a line out the Reds controlled a driving maul for 5 metres before the ball was taken by scrum half Will McDonnell who dived down the blindside to score in the corner. The Reds were dominant and a scrum against the head was fed out to Bake who, after a weaving run, increased the score. Sandbach could not cope with the pace of the Reds back line and McDonnell scored again after outpacing the defence from half way. Rishies were putting on a display of rucking that impressed the Sandbach coaches and after some flowing phases of play Bake finished off the match with another zigzagging run through the defence for a 20-0 win.
This was a more difficult game to the other 2 but the Reds did open the scoring through Sam Bake who found the pace from half way to go over the line. Chaddersley put the Reds under pressure and they had to tackle like demons to keep them from scoring. Chaddersley did manage to go over the line but were ruled to be held up. It appeared that Will McDonnell had made the game safe after a 50 metre run down the touchline to score a great try, but was ruled out after the touch judge said that his foot just touched the line. The Reds held out to the finish for a hard fought 5-0 triumph.
This game turned in to a Reds try fest with the white wash being crossed 9 times in 12 minutes. The first try came courtesy of a powerful Reds scrum from which the ball was fed to Davis who again powered over. Bake increased the lead with another try after some great rucking produced quick ball. The game then went like this. Restart return by Oliver Marshall to score. Restart return by Jacob Bower to score. Restart return again by Marshall, pass to Bower to score. Suddenly the score was 25-0. Burntwood were not the best defence ever and were exploited further with another driving maul to the line where hooker Cockroft dived over the line. Two further tries came from Davis before Bake finished in style with another run from midfield. 45-0.
The home team had some big forwards in their side and had been using their size to power through teams. Pre-match game plan was hit ?em hard and low. The guys did just that and it allowed Will McDonnell to set off from half way to outpace the defence to score. One of the big Telford forwards did manage to cross the Reds line to level the score and a further Telford try was disallowed when McDonnell managed to get himself between the ball and the ground. Telford were now pounding the Reds line but the guys defended with guts and determination and managed to keep them out to the end. Superb defence by the whole team working together.
The final match was reminiscent of the Burntwood game with the Reds in total control throughout. Fly half Sam Bake got the scoring started with another weaving run cutting through the defence. From the restart McDonnell returned the ball with a scorching run down the left wing before cutting inside to outdo the full back and touchdown. After a "Rhino" charge from Davis, Bake was again fed the ball from the ruck, and after an outrageous dummy dived over the line. Excellent passing play brought the Reds again to the Shrewsbury line and from 5 metres McDonnell side stepped the defence to put the ball down. 20-0. From a penalty the ?Sweets? set move came in to play. With the ball going from one side of the pitch to the other McDonnell fed Bake and his final pass to Ollie Swales on the wing gave him the easiest of scores next to the flag. Perfectly executed. Prop Greg Day had been busy all day and after he gained good yardage in Shrewsbury?s 20, Davis picked up and finished off to make a final score of 30-0.
Dave Mc
The honours were even after 10 minutes of the match with some excellent defence shown by both sets of Players; excellent driving by the forwards led by George Heron resulted in a few opportunities for Jake to release the backs with good ground made by both Harvey and Sam. As the half wore on the YMCA scrum half was able to spread the ball wide to their very tall winger who evaded several weak tackles to cross the line under the post, allowing an easy conversion. The Redbacks managed to keep YMCA out for the remainder of the half and were helped when one of the oppositions backs decided that another accepted way for scoring a try was to slam dunk it into the ground American Football style , the referee disallowed the try to laughter from all of the parents both home and away.
Your Reporter Steve Dawes
Jack Raby, Harry Wade, Harry Robinson, Sam Burford-Eyre, Cameron Lister , Harvey Keighley-Payne,
Alex Ratcliffe, Ben Coup, Jake Sturman
Effort Award Cameron Lister
Tackle award Harvey Keighley-Payne
Click here to view Huddersfield YMCA website
Click here to view Telford website
Click on arrows to view more photos, click on photo to enlarge.
Click on arrows to view more photos, click on photo to enlarge.
A quiet Sunday for Rishworthians.
Match report Sunday 2nd May
Bank Holiday and last week of the season produced a quiet Sunday mornings rugby at Copley. Moortown were unable to provide opposition for our under 7's, 8's, 9's and 12's. The under 10's and 11's were able to play fixtues against Moortown an both age groups recorded wins.
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Tune into 96.7 FM Tuesday 6-8pm to hear our match reports
Raiders end their season on a winning note
Old Rishworthians Under 10's finished off a successful season with a 20 - 10 win against Moortown.
Rishworthians 20 - 10 Moortown
A tight first half saw very little difference between the two sides. The game was fast and hard fought with both teams putting in some big hits on the opposition. The Rishworthian Raiders' only score in the first half came from a great team effort. Two quickly rucked balls were passed wide by fly half Tom Craven, who found winger Sam Puddephatt who finished off the move to open the scoring. Moortown responded though with a try to level the score at half time.
Half Time Raiders 5 - 5 Moortown
In the second period, the Raiders enjoyed periods of sustained possession with the forward partnership of Morgan Smithies, James McHugh and Toby Muscat-Baron securing plenty of ball from set pieces and at the breakdown. Craven managed to move the ball wide earlier than in the first period and winger George Wright received the ball in space to step his way past the Moortown defence for two tries. Connor Friend made lots of yards with some determined running and Kallan Jamieson weaved his way left and right to add a forth try for the Raiders.
Moortown scored a late consolation try but the Raiders looked good for their 20-10 victory.
Tries: Wright (2), Puddephatt, Jamieson.
Man of the matchConnor Friend
Effort Award George Wrigt
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
Dave Puddephatt
Reds win in season Finale
Well here we are at the end of another season. It only seems 2 minutes ago that we were getting hammered at the Land rover Challenge and now we are playing the last game of the season, at home. Yes at home. This is our first game at home since we played Sandal in that epic at the end of February, and after the success over the last few weeks it was only fitting that we ended the 2009-2010 campaign with another winning display in front of a sizeable partisan crowd. With only 2 teams at home this weekend we were honoured to be able to play on the first team pitch against Moortown.
Rishworthians 28 - 14 Moortown
With Moortown taking the kick off, the Reds returned the ball in to opposition territory and put Moortown under early pressure with some good phases of rucking which saw Jack Davis released on a barging run over the try line, only to be ruled as held up. Disappointing but a promising start. The Reds maintained pressure with a strong presence in a series of scrums on the Moortown 5 metres. It was from one of these scrums that released the ball through four sets of hands out to Oliver Marshall on the left wing, who dragged two defenders with him as he managed to get over the line to touch down. Jacob Bower converted for the opening lead of 7-0.
Moortown came back strongly and used there two decent forwards to effect. But the Rishies youngsters were up to the task and made some terrific one on one tackles through Sam Bake, Will McDonnell and Jacob Bower in particular. A well disciplined phase of Reds rucking brought play up to the visitors 15metre line where scrum half McDonnell seemed to have gone over for another try, but unseen by this coach, he had the ball knocked from his grasp before the line. The Reds were rewarded from a scrum won against the head 5 metres from the Moortown line. The combination of McDonnell to Bake to Davis saw Jack dive over the line for a definite try, and with Bower converting the lead was now 14-0.
Moortown almost scored with a run down the touchline but were denied by another well executed tackle by McDonnell banging the player in to touch. The Reds again sustained a bit of pressure from Moortown on their own line but a 50 metre clearance kick by McDonnell was chased down by the Reds wave of players who managed to recover the ball and send Davis over for his second try. Bower converted. Moortown did manage to penetrate the Reds defence when their best player managed to squeeze over from a 5 metre penalty, and with the successful conversion.
Half Time Rishworthians 21 - 7 Moortown
During the match Moortown were very good at their passing game but their running game was not impressive. With ball in hand they ran sideways back and forth across the pitch allowing the Reds guys to step up in a line and stop any forward momentum. A typical run by McDonnell brought play deep in to the visitors territory, and with an offload in the tackle to Thomas Cockroft, a try looked on the cards, but the defence was strong and he was kept out. Another 5 metre Moortown penalty gave them another try when they crashed over to score. With the conversion taken the Reds lead was shortened to 21-14.
From the restart Bower put a beautiful kick in to the corner next to the flag giving a line out to Moortown. From the line out the opposition scrum half saw his clearing kick charged down by Bower, and with the ball bobbling close to the try line Davis scooped it up and scored from 1 yard out. Bower converted. The Reds pack have been awesome over the last few weeks and they continued in the same vein winning scrums against the head and crashing in to the rucks giving good ball for the back line to launch attacks against the Moortown defence. A Reds penalty sent Davis crashing in to the defence, continued on by McDonnell who offloaded to Bake who crossed the line but dropped the ball in the act of scoring. Moortown also crossed the whitewash again but it was their turn to be denied when they were ruled held up. A great Moortown kick similar to JB?s, again put the Reds under late pressure, but more defiant defence on the line kept them out. This was the last play of the match and at the final whistle the Reds had won a hard fought game 28-14.
Tries: Jack Davis (3), Oliver Marshall
Cons: Jacob Bower (4)
Man of the match: Toby Gledhill
Effort award: Jacob Bower
Tackle award: Sam Bake
It looked at one point as though this was going to be a barren season for silverware, but with us winning the plate at Brods, and the cup at Telford, it has turned in to another successful season. We were also only one try away from winning the salver at Driffield. The win on Sunday also saw us pass the 1,000 points tally again.
This years stats are: Played 40, Won 23, Drawn 3, Lost 14
Many thanks again from all the coaches to parents and families for your support throughout the season, and we hope to see you all for another successful campaign in 2010/2011 as under 12?s. Have a good summer, and it will be the new season before you know it.
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Old Rishworthian RUFC Ltd are Registered under the Industrial & Provident Societies Act 1965 No. 29834R