Saturday 23rd October 2010Midlands 1 West

Old Laurentian RFC v Walsall RFC

Programme£2

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Welcome to Fenley Field Welcome to friends old and new to Fenley Field for the fifth home game of what is already proving to be an intriguing and competitive season. We are delighted to welcome Walsall RFC here today. We last met Walsall in the old Midlands 1 (now National 3 Midlands) back in the 2003/04 season. Also here today are Spartans 3rds, for a Warwickshire League 3 game – we are pleased to be welcoming

them as well. We are also pleased to welcome today’s match referees – Robin Oliver for the 1st XV match; and Hugh Smith, who will be taking charge of the 3rd XV league game. It’s good to be back in Midlands One, the level in the league structure to which we feel we belong. With four games won of the seven played so far, we have made a reasonable start. It could have been five from seven as we had every chance of beating Whitchurch here last month but failed to take the opportunities presented and went down to that penalty in the dying seconds. That was followed up with comfortable wins against Worcester Wanderers and Stratford before last week’s encounter against Sutton Coldfield, our toughest assignment so far. We came out of that with credit and were justifiably disappointed not to come away with a losing bonus point, as our second half performance had at least earned that. So we can face the rest of the season with confidence knowing that we are capable of holding our own with most of the teams in the league and, no doubt, will upset a few along the way! We are not going to repeat last season’s winning run of thirteen matches in present league company. For certain, though, you will see some attractive and compelling rugby played at Fenley Field and all the grounds we visit over the course of this season. Reiner Ferguson has been as busy as ever in continuing to take responsibility for house and ground maintenance and my particular thanks are due to him and the numerous club members who have worked hard to ensure that our facilities are in good order, with massive support, gratefully received, from John Tull and Hydrex. Enjoy the game and your day with us.

Bill Bill Wallis

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Today’s Visitors Walsall RFC

.Walsall RFC was established in 1922, just three years after OLs, and since the advent of leagues in the 80s has enjoyed consistent success to earn their status as one of the Midlands leading clubs below the top level of the game. The club crest looks very familiar, incorporating as it does Warwickshire’s bear and ragged staff as well as the

Staffordshire knot – perhaps our guests can explain the history behind this combination today. The arrival of the leagues and cups in the 1980's opened many doors for Walsall. Promotion to the national leagues was won in 1988/89 to be followed in 1994/95 with further promotion as champions of National Division 5 North. The following season Walsall gained promotion to National Division 3. Then disaster struck and Walsall filled the last relegation place after finishing fourth from the bottom. Season 2006/07 saw Walsall relegated to Midlands 2 West after 6 seasons struggling to hold on to Midlands 1 status. Last season they finished in third place in the league. League success has been matched by a very impressive record in cups and the club has won the Staffordshire Cup no less than ten times in the last twenty five years. The writer can confirm from direct experience, following a spell playing for Lichfield some years ago, that rivalry between the leading Staffordshire clubs is intense. In those days, as well as Lichfield and Walsall, the other two making up this band were Burton and Stafford. It didn’t matter what happened in the remainder of the fixture list, matches against the other three were the ones to win! So it would certainly have hurt Walsall’s pride to have lost their earlier league match to Lichfield by 27-28, in an encounter that was obviously very tight and tense. They arrive today in 11 position in the league, five below OLs but only five points behind.

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The clubs last met in season 2003/04, our one and only season in the old Midlands 1. We drew 25-25 at home but went down heavily, by 7-49, when we travelled to Walsall for the return fixture. All the signs suggest a close run affair today. Next 1st XV Matches

Saturday 30th October v Bournville (away), League, ko 3.00pm

Saturday 6th November v Southam (away) Warwickshire Cup, ko 2.15pm

Saturday 13th November v Banbury (home), League, ko 2.15pm

Who’s Who at OLs President Duncan Snook

Chairman Bill Wallis 01788 333043

Secretary Alan Willis 01788 813481

Treasurer Keith Baxter 01788 521950

Chairman, Playing Committee Colin Wiles 01788 811782

Fixture Secretary Mick Roberts 01788 574247

Commercial Manager Bill Wallis 01788 333043

House & Grounds and Gym Reiner Ferguson 01788 541295

Ladies Committee Chair Leah Hope 07810 341667

Membership Treasurer & 200 Club

James Melvin 07739 383225

Web Manager & Press Officer Ray Todd 01788 804220

Club Coaches Mark Palmer, Denzil Evans Chris Wade Neal Leeming Adam Mitchell

Griffin Club Pete Staines 01788 817401

Club Shop Leigh Fisher 01788 535472

Club Steward Chris Tew 07886 581613

Club Physio James Neal 07928 253414

Fenley Field, Lime Tree Avenue, Bilton, Rugby, CV22 7QT

01788 810855

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1st XV Match Report Midlands 1 West – Saturday 16th October Sutton Coldfield 31 - Old Laurentians 13

Laurentians fought well throughout but came off second best when going down to a very good Sutton Coldfield outfit who remain in second place in Midlands One West after this win over the Bilton side. The home side took their scoring chances well when they were presented and defended strongly to keep OLs at bay when the visitors turned up the pressure.

After Denzil Evans had opened OL’s account with a penalty, they held the initiative for the first fifteen minutes but were struggling to satisfy a pernickety referee with their scrummaging. Following the third free kick awarded against them in quick succession Sutton moved the ball right and a kick through OL’s defence by Groom was followed up strongly by fellow centre Raistrick, who won the race for the touchdown. Poulton converted and the home side were ahead by 7-3.

OLs went back on the attack and after several phases of play launched Scott Wiles through the Sutton defence. But the move was halted by a high tackle on the full back and Evans kicked the resultant penalty to bring the score back to 7-6 after twenty minutes.

Sutton progressively increased the pressure on OLs and after thirty minutes, following the second of two penalty lineouts close to OL’s line, their forwards drove strongly to put number 8 Harper over for a try, Poulton converting for a 14-6 lead.

OLs pack were working well as a unit but the Sutton eight were now competing strongly and several strong drives by Laurentians didn’t produce the quick possession they needed to launch their backs effectively. But they were every bit the equals of their counterparts in the scrums, despite the referee’s frequent interventions. In his first full game for the 1st team, scrum half Luke Harris was performing tidily behind the pack and dealt very capably with some occasionally wayward possession.

Evans came close to setting up a try for his side after breaking blind in the Sutton 22 but the home side’s defence held out under strong pressure. Then Sutton struck decisively as half time loomed and after a clever kick downfield into empty space after OL’s Wiles was caught up in a maul, they worked the ball left for Miller to exploit some uncharacteristically poor tackling and go over. Poulton converted and Sutton reached the break with a comfortable 21-6 lead.

For the first fifteen minutes of the second period neither side gained the upper hand until Sutton struck once again when their lively scrum half Ward touched down to finish off a dangerous attack that again stretched OLs defensively and lifted the home side into what appeared to be a winning lead at 26-6.

/Continued overleaf

1st XV match report v Sutton Coldfield (continued) But OLs came back strongly and had the better of the closing stages, a prolonged attacking spell reaping its reward when Danny Murch put Chris le Poidevin in for a try after thirty minutes, Evans converting to reduce the margin to 26-13.

In the final minutes OLs attacked the Sutton line again, looking for the try that would give them, with the conversion, a losing bonus point. But a pass went astray as the line beckoned, Sutton won possession to work their way up field and outflank OL’s defence for Miller to go over just seconds before the final whistle.

A disappointing finish to a game in which the home side were worth their win, although OLs were entitled to feel that they should have come out of it with more. Three key players, prop Ollie Cowley, number 8 Carl Adams and fly half Denzil Evans, each had to retire early with injury, raising concerns about their availability for this weekend’s visit of Walsall. But on the plus side, it gave Danny Orr and Tom Gleghorn the opportunity to come on as replacements and make their first appearances for the team this season.

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Sundry Stuff Points Bonanza The three games played by OLs on 9th October yielded 189 points for and a mere 17 against on an afternoon when no less than 28 tries were scored by the boys in green, maroon and gold. Paul Amor topped the try scoring list with 5 as the thirds bulldozed their Leamington counterparts. The seconds swamped Coventry Welsh in their Warwickshire 2nd XV Cup tie and Jamie Brightwell went over for 4 touchdowns to add to the 2 he had notched on his seasonal debut the previous week. A mere 3 apiece were recorded by Grant Inch (1sts), Jeff Fowler and Howard Harris (2nds) and Ben Roberts (3rds), Ben adding 6 conversions for a personal tally of 27 points. Accolade for the top points scorer went to Danny Orr (2nds) with 33 points – Danny inexcusably missed one of the 15 conversions he attempted but made up for it by adding a try! It is reported that there was a flourishing trade in jugs, both at Leamington and Fenley Field. The try scoring feats, both individual and in total, must have come close to setting a club record for one afternoon’s games. Answers on a post card, please, to….. Grinch denied his hat-trick? Grant Inch must have thought that his hat- trick of tries for the 1sts would earn him the headlines, but the Rugby Observer denied him that (not to mention Messrs Amor, Brightwell et al!) The Observer seem to feel it necessary to make a point to us amateur hacks by changing a phrase here, adding a word or two there and generally meddling with reports submitted. So they opened the report of the Stratford game by crediting Troy Owen with a hat-trick

– and then adding the headline ‘Owen stars for OLs’. No question, Troy did star with 2 well taken tries, but Grinch grabbed the trio! As if to rub salt into the wound, they reported Grant’s third try thus: ‘…….allowed Inch to complete his hat-trick to complete the scoring for Newbold ‘(!!??) Bernai declines to join the try fest We quote another gem from the pen of Tim Chambers in his report of the 3rds game against Leamington: ‘….stand-in 6 Burnett found himself with the whole, clear 60 metres of try line in front of him and 10 short yards to cross it. In light of this scenario, quite why he chose to run directly into the only defender between him and the line will remain a mystery for as long as the game of rugby is played.’ What would the Observer have made of that? Probably that Burnie had run 60 metres to score! News on the injury front Simon Bayliss was scheduled to start training again this week after the hairline fracture in the leg that he suffered inside forty minutes of the first league game. We haven’t done too badly without our record breaking try scorer, but it will be good to have him back! Ben O’Riordan is making progress after his knee injury and is still a few weeks away from a return. But it might be some time before we see Matt Miller back in action as, subject to final tests, he has been diagnosed with Addison’s disease. Matt has started a course of steroid hormone replacement and the condition is controllable with regular medication. We wish Matt a full and speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him at Fenley Field before too long.

Calendar of Events, 2010/11

25th Sept. VP’s Luncheon, 1.00pm 5th Nov. Bonfire Night 4th Dec. Snail Racing Night 12th Dec. Ladies Committee – ‘Christmas Indulgence’ 24th Dec. Kids’ Christmas party 1st January Inter Club game and party 22nd January VPs Away Day to Stratford 19th Feb. Captains Day 12th March Sponsors Day 9th April Ladies day May (tbc) Club Dinner

Earlier Match Action Midlands 1 West - Saturday 9th October Old Laurentians 34 – Stratford upon Avon 17 Laurentians cruised to a comfortable victory against a Stratford side who never gave up on their task but who were outgunned in all departments by a thoroughly efficient performance from the Bilton side. Based on another dominant display by their pack, OLs kept the ball moving at every opportunity and the pace and passing skills of their backs regularly left Stratford defenders clutching at shadows. Wings Troy Owen and Grant Inch displayed clinical finishing to grab all five tries scored, Owen going over for two and Inch claiming a hat trick of touch downs. The wing men prospered from the dominance established by OL’s midfield trio of Denzil Evans at 10 and centres Danny Murch and Iain Wallis, who constantly threatened the Stratford defence with the ball in hand. And full back Scott Wiles gave a fine demonstration of his running skills, attacking from deep with pace and power. Inch started the move for the first try after fielding a kick deep in OL’s half and finding Wiles with a long pass infield, the full back scything through the first line of defence. Murch carried the move on strongly and when he was held the pack fed quick ball to Evans. With OL’s backs lined up on the left, he lifted a kick of pinpoint accuracy to the right wing, where Inch gathered the ball to go over for his first try, Evans converting for 7-0 after just six minutes. Minutes later, Evans added a penalty after Paul Willis stole a Stratford ball in the lineout and Stratford were caught offside scrambling back to cover. Then from a set scrum on half way after thirteen minutes, Evans dummied before delivering a perfect pass to Wallis at pace, The centre broke through two tackles before handing on to Owen, the left wing running in from the 22 to score and lift the lead to 15-0. Stratford were struggling for quality possession and OLs were dominating territorially and It took the visitors thirty minutes to penetrate OLs 22 for the first time, but they came away with a penalty kicked by stand off Jake White As half time loomed, a beautifully timed pass by Evans found Wiles at full pace and the full back carved through the defence to find Owen on hand, the wing sprinting over for his second try. Evans added the goal points for a lead of 22-3 at the break. Hooker Mark Todd was making a welcome first appearance of the season and had come through it well when he was replaced by Dom Hammond after ten minutes of the second half. With twenty minutes of the half gone, Luke Harris, on as a replacement for Richard Parker at scrum half, did a great job to retrieve poor possession and turn it into attack. The ball was moved sweetly to Owen and the wing made good ground before passing back inside where Inch gathered to go over for his second try, Evans converting for 29-3. Stratford hit back with a well worked try of their own, wing forward Neil Shepherd up in support to finish off a move down their left with a try, White’s conversion making it 29-10. But OLs hit back with a superb try that started from a quickly taken penalty deep in their 22. The ball was moved swiftly right where Scott Wiles scythed through the Stratford defence on a sixty metre run before giving the scoring pass to Inch for the winger’s hat trick try. Another ambitious counter attack attempt by OLs foundered when the ball went loose and was hacked over the try line for Stratford’s Shepherd to win the race for the touchdown and his second try, White converting to bring the scoring to and end and herald the final whistle.

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President Duncan Snook

Life Vice Presidents Grantley Jenkins, Pete Higgs, Mike Lewis, Geoff Morris, Mike Pawsey, Ray Roberts, Terry Wooton,

Vice Presidents Nigel Appleby Pat Dunn Dave Lennard Rob Smith

Jason Barnett Dave Eales Jim Lewis Stuart Smith

Simon Bayliss Tim Fawcett Richard Lightowler Vic Smith Jnr

Keith Baxter Steve Faulkner Mike Linnell Vic Smith Snr

Malcolm Blair Reiner Ferguson Kevin Mahon Pete Staines

Dave Boe Mick Field Dom Marsella John Stimpson

Antony Borton Keith Finch Dave Mcateer Phil Stimpson

Arnie Bottomley Alan Foster Terry Merriman Bob Sunerton

George Boulton Peter Fox Jim Middleton Geoff Thomas

Simon Bracken Mark Gallagher Ian Myers David Thomson

Matt Brinklow Lionel Gardner John Murphy Keith Tilley

Anthony Burborough Stuart Gleghorn Graham New Ray Todd

Adrian Canale-Parola David Hannah William Nolan Suzette Tonks

Jerry Cahill Keith Harris Andre Nutter Peter Trewren

Malcolm Cashmore Stuart Harris Wayne Oliver John Tull

Dean Cobley Simon Heeley Ian Parker George Underwood

Stuart Coburn David Hicks Clive Pawsey Martin Valentine

Barry College Chris Hine Mark Pawsey Chris Wade

Brian Cockerill Richard Hirons Phil Pawsey Mike Wade

Roger Cole Richard Hughes Nick Phipps Mike Walker

Kevin Cossar Peter Jenkins Darren Price Murray Walker

Tom Costello Arwell Jones Spencer Pritchard Bill Wallis

Jim Darcy Ash Jones Brian Rigg Geoffrey Walton

Richard Curtis Gareth Jones Mick Roberts Dave Watson

Toby Davidson Jonathon Jones Bill Robinson Mick Warwick

Paul Dempster Peter Jones Rod Ross Chris White

Michael Denny Roy Jones Pat Scannell Scott Whyment

Graham Devine Geoff Kendall Peter Shillingford Colin Wiles

Adam Dougherty Sean Kerrigan Will Seager Alan Willis

Andy Dougherty Dave Lane Graham Shorthose Mark Wilson

Maurice Dougherty Simon Lawler Paul Simpson

Stu Dowsett Simon Leech Dave Smith

Saturday 23rd October, 2010

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Nick Phipps 14 Grant Inch

Jim Darcy 13 Danny Murch

Simon Bracken 12 Iain Wallis

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Cottons Accountants 10 Denzil Evans

Roger Cole 9 Ricky Reed

The Merchant’s Inn 1 Ollie Cowley

Martin Valentine 2 Mark Todd

Dave Eales 3 Chris Le Poidevin

Tom Costello 4 Tom Gleghorn

Arwel Jones 5 Paul Willis

Stuart Gleghorn 6 Glenn Todd (capt)

Electrical Testers 7 Andy Coleman

Ray Roberts 8 Carl Adams

16 Garrie Reeve

17 Dan Volkman

18 Luke Harris

Midlands One West

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Liam Lloyd 9 Ian Bradshaw 1 Jimmy Scott 2 Jody Lane 3 Alex Woodward 4 Nick Field 5 Rob Tierney 6 Ben Nilsen 7 Rod Dickson 8 Mark Reeves 16 Dan Boulger 17 Tim Hucknall 18

In charge of today’s game is Robin Oliver, of the Warwickshire Society.. We extend a warm welcome to him, along with our thanks for taking charge of the game.

As always we expect you to treat him, and his decisions, as you would expect to be treated yourself.

For OLs Physio: James Neal

Touch Judge: Gary Thompson

League Tables Midlands 1 West

Team P W D L PF PA PD BP Pts Dudley Kingswinford 7 7 0 0 241 77 164 3 31 Sutton Coldfield 7 6 0 1 261 122 139 5 29 Old Halesonians 7 5 0 2 209 160 49 7 27 Bournville 7 5 0 2 231 108 123 3 23 Old Laurentians 7 4 0 3 163 127 36 3 19 Lichfield 7 4 0 3 205 224 -19 3 19 Whitchurch 7 4 0 3 114 101 13 2 18 Camp Hill 7 3 0 4 154 172 -18 4 18 Nuneaton Old Eds 7 3 0 4 132 195 -63 3 15 Worcester Wanderers 7 3 0 4 133 147 -14 2 14 Walsall 7 2 0 5 208 207 1 6 14 Stratford Upon Avon 7 2 0 5 173 204 -31 5 13 Banbury 7 1 0 6 114 250 -136 2 6 Leamington 7 0 0 7 89 333 -244 1 1

Today’s League Fixtures

Dudley Kingswinford v Lichfield

Leamington v Camp Hill

Nuneaton Old Eds v Banbury

Old Halesonians v Bournville

Old Laurentians v Walsall

Stratford Upon Avon v Whitchurch

Worcester Wanderers v Sutton Coldfield

The Midlands One Scene Dudley Kingswinford continue to lead the way and maintained their 100% record against Camp Hill last week, but only by the narrow margin of eight points. Camp Hill had travelled to Lichfield the previous week and come away with a win – they could prove to be the dark horses of this league. Sutton Coldfield stay in second spot after their bonus point win over OLs; and keeping third place are Old Halesonians, who came away from Walsall with the win points. Bournville leapfrogged OLs to move into fourth place after their comfortable looking success over Nuneaton Old Eds. But Whitchurch suffered their second defeat in succession, going down at home to Lichfield, a good win for the Staffordshire side The previous week Whitchurch had suffered a reverse at Worcester Wanderers, but the latter slipped to a slightly surprising defeat at Stratford last weekend. Stratford are beginning to put some daylight between themselves and the bottom two, who met in a basement battle last Saturday. Banbury came through that encounter against Leamington for their first win this season, leaving the Spa men as the only side without a win and with just one bonus point to their name so far.

League Results – 16th October Banbury 38 v 22 Leamington

Bournville 39 v 13 Nuneaton Old Edwardians

Camp Hill 13 v 21 Dudley Kingswinford

Stratford upon Avon 24 v 6 Worcester Wanderers

Sutton Coldfield 31 v 13 Old Laurentians

Walsall 17 v 27 Old Halesonians Whitchurch 15 v 27 Lichfield

League results – 9th October

Dudley Kingswinford 58 v 0 Banbury

Leamington 8 v 74 Bournville

Lichfield 23 v 37 Camp Hill

Nuneaton Old Edwardians 31 v 28 Walsall

Old Halesonians 26 v 29 Sutton Coldfield

Old Laurentians 34 v 17 Stratford upon Avon

Worcester Wanderers 15 v 5 Whitchurch

Top.Points Scorers, Season 20010/11

All teams (10 points and above)

Player Tries Convs Pens Drops Tot Pts

Denzil Evans 0 14 15 0 73 Ben Roberts 6 12 4 0 66 Danny Orr 3 16 1 0 50 Grant Inch 7 0 0 0 35 Jamie Brightwell 7 0 0 0 35 Gary Hammond 7 0 0 0 35 Troy Owen 5 0 0 0 25 Howard Harris 5 0 0 0 25 Paul Amor 5 0 0 0 25 John Bean 1 0 5 0 20 Jeff Fowler 3 0 0 0 15 Alex Smith 3 0 0 0 15 Rich Foxon 3 0 0 0 15 Steve Pike 0 7 0 0 14 Danny Murch 2 0 0 0 10 Dom Hammond 2 0 0 0 10 Ricky Reed 2 0 0 0 10 Marc Owen 2 0 0 0 10

Recent Photo Action Stratford, Coventry Welsh and Sutton Coldfield

Glenn Todd in the lineout, v Stratford

Troy Owen touches down against Stratford

One of Jamie Brightwell’s four v Coventry Welsh

Danny Orr kicks a goal v Coventry Welsh

Luke Harris attempts a charge down v Sutton

Coldfield

Danny Murch hands on to Jabba for his try at Sutton

Photos by Ray Todd

You can see all of the OLs photos by visiting www.raytodd.jalbum.net

The Local Scene Rugby Lions must win the games against their fellow strugglers in National 2 North to stand a chance of survival this season, but went down 7-35 to Morley last weekend, one of the group at the bottom end of the league. Today they entertain Kendal, another must win game for them, followed by an away fixture at Harrogate, two more of the basement clubs. Nuneaton lost a 36-53 thriller at home to a Fylde team without Jason Robinson, who only turns out in home games for the Lancashire club. The scene is set for a real battle on November 13th when Nuns entertain Lions! Nuneaton play Manchester before then so could face Rugby having already overtaken them in the table. Hinckley remain without a win and are second from bottom of the parallel league, National 2 South. Their upcoming fixtures don’t offer much hope of breaking this sequence. In National 3 Midlands, Kenilworth broke their duck with a first win for the season, coming through 30-17 against Sheffield Tigers on 9th October. But they came unstuck in the Warwickshire derby last weekend, Broadstreet taking the win points with a 35-22 success. The victory propelled Street to the top of the table as Longton lost their 100% record at Luton on the same day. n Midlands 3 East (South) the top two clashed when Long Buckby met Rugby St Andrews on 9th October, Buckby claiming the win points with a 19-5 success, Buckby stay on top but the loss pushed Saints down to fourth spot. Two weeks ago, Newbold lost their home game against league leaders Upton on Severn in Midlands 3 West (South), going down by 14-27 to slip to sixth place. The national cups took over for clubs from level 7 down last Saturday and Newbold progressed to the third round of the Senior Vase with a 19-5 success over Northampton Casuals, who lie towards the bottom of Midlands 3 East (South). Rugby St Andrews travelled to Yardley and District in the same competition and despite being held 33-33 after extra time, were awarded the win as the away side, both teams having registered an identical scoring pattern. Also in the Senior Vase, Southam went down at home by 9-10 to Bedford Swifts, a result which clears the way for our Warwickshire Cup clash with them on November 6th. In the Intermediate Cup, 2nd round, the big surprise was a very rare defeat for Dunlop, who travelled to Aston Old Edwardians and lost 28-6. Lutterworth travelled to Old Saltleians in the same competition and went down by 10-6 – Old Eds and Salts are currently first and second in Midlands 2 West (North), both with 100% league records. Barkers Butts rather lamely pulled out of their tie against Stoke on Trent in the Intermediate Cup, but they didn’t benefit as the reinforced second team they sent to play OLs seconds still went down heavily – see James Melvin’s report of the game in this programme.

Seasons Past – 2003/04 The second in a series of flashbacks, this week featuring 2003/04

League Action OLs were competing in the ‘old’ Midlands One (now national 3 Midlands) in 2003/04 but chose the worst possible time to win promotion to that league with four teams being relegated to it from National 3. We were probably the only club in the league that didn’t harbour an ambition to be promoted to the national leagues. The club only succeeded in winning two league games all season, beating Luton (the only side to finish below us) and Kettering (the shock of the season, as they were riding high in second place at the time!) The other result of note was a 25-25 draw with Walsall, on October 4th 2003, the last time that today’s opponents visited Fenley Field. We had three goes at beating Broadstreet, twice in the league and once in the Warwickshire Cup, but failed in all three. The last was a narrow 7-11 defeat in the final league game of the season. Bedford Athletic finished as champions.and Kettering as runners up. The Personalities Geoff Walton was President and Mick Warwick was Chairman in 2003/04, Alan Willis was in his umpteenth year as Secretary and Dave Longrigg was Treasurer (as well as being a regular in the 1st XV). Ricky Reed was 1st XV skipper, Ted Wallis held the reins of the 2nds (although he was called into action for the 1sts very regularly) and Stuart Burnett was 3rd team captain. The coaches were Stu Birch and Gary Teasdale.

The season was the first (and only!) in which we charged for entry at the gate (as distinct from just selling programmes) and Malcolm Blair organised this. The Players The regular 1st XV half backs were Ricky Reed and Denzil Evans, with Dave Middleton standing in for Reedo on a number of occasions. Outside them you would regularly have seen Iain Wallis, Ade Cleaver, Matt Brown, Dave Wallis, Grant Inch, Shane Betts and, towards the end of the season, that arch finisher Charlie Turney. Gary Hammond was a permanent fixture at hooker and, according to the records, played with 11 different props, Jason King being the most regular. Paul Willis and Lawrence Sherriff locked the scrum for most of the season and the normal back row was Chris Wade, Dave Longrigg and Gary Smith, Carl Adams coming into the picture as the season progressed. In all, some 46 players appeared in the 1st team. The Points Scorers Denzil Evans finished as leading points scorer with 151 – no mean feat in such a season. That poacher supreme, Dave Longrigg topped the 1st XV try list with 8, closely followed by Shane Betts, with Gary Hammond in third – he hasn’t lost the knack either! Charlie Turney finished as the club’s leading try scorer with 18, spread between the three teams – Charlie has always known where the line is!

More Stuff Sutton on the make? On arriving at Sutton Coldfield’s ground last week, we were asked to shell out £4.00 each for a programme. Fair enough, we thought, but a bit pricey – and there wasn’t much of it! Then reading the small print at the bottom, we spotted: ‘Members £2.00, Non-members £4.00’ For the last bit, read ‘Visiting Supporters’!

If you want a job doing…….! If you were near the OL’s technical area during the game against Whitchurch, you may probably have heard Dave Longrigg’s magisterial tones asking everyone else there to ‘go and clear that dog shit near the 22 line, would you?’ In turn, everyone ignored him. So in the end Plummy was left with one option – do it yourself!

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2nd XV Match Report Warwickshire League 1 – Saturday 16th October Old Laurentian 2nd XV 42 - Barkers Butts 2nd XV 0 The second team kept up their unbeaten start to the season putting in their best performance so far. Having pulled out of the scheduled 1st team Intermediate Cup game against Stoke-on-Trent, Barkers sent a strong team to Fenley Field and gave Laurentians their sternest test of the season, with the match being much tighter than the scoreline might suggest. OL’s started very brightly, with the second row of Edwards and Ette clearing rucks well, enabling the home team to penetrate deep into the opposition 22, drawing a penalty for killing the ball. This was kicked into the corner and the pack powerfully drove over the line, with Hammond showing all his experience to get his hands on the ball to touch down, converted by Roberts. The powerful Barkers front row were making OLs work hard in the scrums and it was a further quarter of an hour before the next score came. Roberts calmly slotting a close range penalty. Barkers best move of the game saw the ball smartly played through the backs, spreading the ball only for the winger to drop the ball in the act of scoring. After this, any further opportunities were snuffed out with some excellent defending. Richard Foxon made an eye-catching return to the side, playing at number eight in his first start of the season. The opposition weren’t keen on tackling the barrel chested Laurentian who produced a powerful run to touch-down shortly before half time. With the conversion missed, the half-time score stood at 15-0. The second half saw the home team step up the pace. Man of the match Reeve was solid in the scrum and showed up well in open play, although wasted an opportunity to score when he pulled the ball back despite being over the line. Smith once again showed his pace in the openside position, streaking away from close to the halfway line to touch down under the posts for a converted try. Roberts looked very dangerous, beating defenders each time he ran the ball back from the fullback position, but had to share ten minutes in the sin-bin with a Barkers player after trying to separate some of the bigger boys. Ted Wallis and Jamie Brightwell both looked classy in midfield, with the latter scoring from a perfectly timed run. The conversion was scored by Pike, who frequently showed a cultured right boot, chipping the ball behind the Barkers defence. Continuing where he left off in the first half, Foxon picked up the ball from the base of the scrum, diving over in the corner as defenders shifted out of his way. This was followed by a score out wide for Lampard, who had previously shown good composure to clear his lines well. With five minutes to go, Foxon completed his hat-trick. A set move was arranged with scrum half Reed, only for the 8 to ignore the instructions to cross the line. The most pleasing aspect of the game was the clean-sheet, achieved following some hard work in defence and the side looks capable of causing problems for any second team in the county. Report by James Melvin

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2nd & 3rd XV – Fixtures & Results

2nd XV + - 3rd XV + - Sept 4 F Wellesbourne A 35 10 TBA Sept 11 L Newbold II A 25 10 TBA Sept 18 L Earlsdon II H 47 17 TBA Sept 25 F Leicester Lions III H 37 15 TBA Oct 2 L Stratford II A 22 17 Shipston III H 15 20 Oct 9 Cov Welsh (Wks Cup) H 96 0 LeamingtonIII A 52 0 Oct 16 L Barkers Butts II H 42 0 Harbury II A 10 21 Oct 23 F Nuneaton Old Eds II A Spartans III H Oct 30 L Leamington II H Kenilworth III H Nov 6 F St Andrews II A Newbold III H Nov 13 L Broadstreet III A Nuneaton Old Eds III H Nov 20 L Spartans II H Sutton Coldfield III A Nov 27 TBA St Andrews III A Dec 4 L Newbold II H Earlsdon III H Dec 11 L Earlsdon II A Nuneaton Old Eds III A Dec 18 F Keresley II H TBA Dec 26 INTER CLUB GAME Jan 8 L Stratford II H Kenilworth III A Jan 15 L Barkers Butts II A Spartans III A Jan 22 L Leamington II A Harbury II H Jan 29 F Keresley II A St Andrews III H Feb 5 L Broadstreet III H Shipston III A Feb 12 L Spartans II A Leamington III H Feb 19 F Nuneaton Old Eds II H Newbold III A Feb 26 F Rugby Welsh I H Southam III A Mar 5 TBA Dunlop II H Mar 12 TBA Earlsdon III A Mar 19 F Leicester Lions III A Sutton Coldfield III H Mar 26 F St Andrews II H TBA Apr 2 TBA Southam II H Apr 9 TBA Apr 16 TBA Apr 23 TBA

Key: League (Warwicks 1 or 3) = L; Friendly = F; Warwickshire 2nd XV Cup = W, Clonmell Cup = C

1st XV – Fixtures & Results Date Result

Month Day

Opponents

Venue

Type + -

September 4 Leamington H L 26 5 September 11 Nuneaton Old Eds A L 10 31 September 18 Old Halesonians H L 33 22 September 25 Whitchurch H L 6 8 October 2 Worcester Wanderers A L 41 13 October 9 Stratford H L 34 17 October 16 Sutton Coldfield A L 13 31 October 23 Walsall H L October 30 Bournville A L November 6 TBA November 13 Banbury H L November 20 Camp Hill A L November 27 Lichfield H L December 4 Dudley Kingswinford A L December 11 Nuneaton Old Eds H L December 18 Old Halesonians A L December 26 INTER CLUB GAME January 2011 8 Whitchurch A L January 15 Worcester Wanderers H L January 22 Stratford A L January 29 Sutton Coldfield H L February 5 Walsall A L February 12 TBA February 19 Bournville H L February 26 TBA March 5 Banbury A L March 12 Camp Hill H L March 19 TBA March 26 Lichfield A L April 02 TBA April 9 Dudley Kingswinford H L April 16 Leamington A L April 23 League Play-offs L April 30 League Play-offs L May 7 League Play-offs L

Referees’ Signals Explained    

Failure to bind fully Intentionally collapsing ruck or maul                  

Joining a ruck or maul in front of the back foot and from the side

Diving to ground near tackle

              

               Tackler or tackled player not rolling away Tackler not releasing tackled player

To help you to understand the decisions made by referees we show a selection of the signals used by the official to illustrate those decisions. Space permitting, we will include a further selection in future programmes of the 46 different signals defined by the IRB – heaven knows how the refs remember them all!