Lichfield v Whitchurch - Sat 5th Oct

LICHFIELD v WHITCHURCH v WHITCHURCH

v WHITCHURCH

Saturday 5th October 2019, 3pm Saturday 5th October 2019, 3pm Saturday 5th October 2019, 3pm

LIC HFIE D RU FC L

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Welcome back to Cooke Fields for todays game, and I hope by the time you are reading this, England will of safely navigated their way through the pool stages of the RWC!!

After a sticky first couple of weeks we feel like we are starting to settle. Our performance at home to Stourbridge showed us that we are able to be more resilient and take games deeper, this was followed up by a rocket fuelled first 30 minutes against Sutton Coldfield where we looked sharp and clinical in the first period. Unfortunately this game fizzled out as a mixture of poor discipline and some very ‘Romain Poite’ referring killed it as a spectacle. Thank you very much to all those who travelled across last Friday.

Last weekend also two good results for our 2nd and 3rd XV’s, the style of rugby being played and the amount of players in both of those squads showed how healthy the clubs is at the moment and long may it continue.

Lastly, I would like to welcome our visitors today, Whitchurch. Under Scott Sturdy they have played a fast paced and highly attractive brand of rugby which should make for a great game out there on Cooke Fields today. Best of luck and thank you to all your supporters for the making the journey over to Lichfield today, we hope you have an enjoyable day with us Hemo

MIDLANDS 1 WEST Saturday 5th October, 3pm

LICHFIELD

V

WHITCHURCH

Kev Birt Stephen Gabbitass Rory Davis Harvey Wootton Matt Cowley Jon Doubleday Callum Turner Richard Burton © Sam Benson Luke Massey Tom Day Dan Rowlands Tom Penzer Adams Dave Gentle Paul Maxwell-Keys

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Mike Oakden Darren Blackhurst Steve Bloore Tom Wellsbury Matt Owen Abe Spragg Nathan Horton Jake Rees Tom Davies Ryan Horton Tom Thornton Henry Hockenhull Luca Owen-Youens Jake Dodwell Owen Stephens

Adam Clarke Jack Dace Charlie Milner

16 17 18

Tommy Hale Ian Hockenhull Jed Towers

The referee today is Leigh Francis, sponsored by David Arthur Opticians.

We wish him an enjoyable time at Lichfield RUFC.

MIDLANDS 1 WEST (Round 5 of 26) VICE PRESIDENTS’ DAY If you are going for the long haul (ie. the England game, the VP’s luncheon and then the 1st XV league game), we hope you’re enjoying it so far and, remember, pace yourself. If today’s live performance and result go well, part 4 will definitely be required in the bar afterwards!

The other club fixtures being played this weekend are as follows:2nd XV – league Derby (A) 15:00 3rd XV – league Whittington (A) 15:00 Sunday:Red team (women) – league Novos (A) 14:00 Green team (women) – league Kenilworth (A) 14:30 Colts XV – no league game CLUB UPDATE Club President, Barry Broad, has cajoled a long list of female and male members to be VPs over the last few seasons and their support of the club – in playing and non playing roles – is highly appreciated by the club. This is your chance to relax and enjoy each other’s company in these much admired surroundings. Have a good day.

League and other results from last weekend:1st XV – won at Sutton Coldfield 45-17 2nd XV – won (friendly) against Sutton 38-14 3rd XV – defeated Shrewsbury 45-15 Red team (women) – lost at home to West Park Leeds 15-26 Colts – lost away at Newport 12-43 MIDLANDS 1 WEST LEAGUE REVIEW We started the season with a massive turnover of players for the opening two weekends but then found the consistency in availability, which is so crucial, and as a consequence we have strung together consecutive victories for the first time since last December. In one way, the two games could not have been more contrasting. Against Stourbridge Lions, after a 3-3 half time score, 31 points

ensued, whilst last Friday (under the lights at Sutton Coldfield), 38 points were accrued in the opening forty minutes.

Our ability to score points has not been in question but our defence has been porous on too many occasions. The coaching team have been putting emphasis on better and more aggressive defensive tactics and, not only have we conceded less points in the last two rounds, some of the tries have come from solid work in the tackle. Four tries against Stourbridge and seven last weekend have given us ten welcome points and, we all trust, some well needed confidence.

It seems strange that both the men’s 2s and 3s have only been granted two league games to date; the 2s have lost both their matches against Syston and Nuneaton, whilst the 3s have won their two very comfortably. The colts suffered their first reverse last Sunday after a couple of bright performances in the opening fortnight, whilst there were very encouraging results for the under 16s through to 14s in a mixture of league and cup games last Sunday.

In the women’s section, the Red team couldn’t quite cope with West Park Leeds’ all court game and they are in the unusual position of only having one win from three.

The Green team have a 50:50 record from the first two rounds.

Next men’s 1st XV HOME game is on 19 October at 15:00 hrs against Dudley Kingswinford. Next week, we are away at Droitwich, their ground is in Hanbury Road, Droitwich (WR9 7DU). Both start at 15:00 hrs.

WHITCHURCH After a number of seasons in the national leagues, Whitchurch gradually dropped down back to this grade nearly 20 years ago and even lost that status three years ago. Immediate promotion returned them to level 6 last season and, after a slow start, they rose up the table with ten victories in the 2nd half of the season. They started this campaign with three straight defeats – admittedly these included unbeaten Dudley Kingswinford and Kenilworth – and selection headaches, however, they got off the mark with a 60-10 mauling of Kidderminster last weekend. We welcome all their players and officials back to Cooke Fields.

SOCIAL Annual bonfire & fireworks – Friday 1 November at 18:30 Christmas banquet/luncheon – Saturday 7 December

Another warm welcome to you all and on behalf of the club I would like to extend that welcome to referee Leigh and to our opponents Whitchurch, whom we wish good luck in the contest today. Having not started the season as we would have liked in terms of results, we did show at times glimpses of a performance we know we are capable of. This was shown in our previous two games where we were able to perform for longer periods of the game, and get the results we wanted.

Now it is all about completing an 80 minute performance, where we play from the very first minute until the last. It’s about being patient and controlling of the game. Being physical and united in defence. Being clinical and ruthless in attack. We hope you all have an enjoyable and entertaining afternoon.

Charlie

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A MESSAGE TO ALL MINI JUNIOR MEMBERS FROM THE CHAIRMAN REGARDING PITCHES As all members are aware, the club continually struggles for pitch space on Sundays when many of the Mini-Junior teams are scheduled to play at home. There is no option to purchase additional land adjacent to the club, therefore some teams have for many years had to play ‘offsite’ or away from Cooke Fields (primarily at either KE School or DMS Whittington) on certain weekends.

At short notice, over the summer, the club was given an option to use Darnford Park, which is immediately attractive due to its proximity to Cooke Fields. Darnford is also a more flexible and cost-effective space for the club than either KES or DMS Whittington. The club would be remiss not to explore the options it provides and is therefore trialling its viability over the coming weeks. We seek members support during this period.

Due to their pitch size and configuration requirements Darnford is better suited to the U9-U12 age groups. For those involved with these age groups, rest assured it is not a season long move away from the club. Darnford will only be used when sufficient space is unavailable at the club. Lichfield RUFC will always strive to ensure as many teams as possible are at the club each week.

From the limited experience to date, the club has already understood the following areas of concern: • •

•

Access: Parking is at a premium at Darnford. There is a small car park and some on street parking is available but please consider parking at the club and either walking or car-sharing up to Darnford. Also please ensure the access gate is left clear at all times in case emergency vehicles ever need to use it (the Club/Coaches do have keys).

Dogs: Dog mess is a risk at many venues the children play and pitch inspections should happen wherever, regardless. The club does understand that it is a public park where dogs are more prevalent, so until the public are more aware of the clubs use of the park, extra vigilance is needed by all. The club intends to give age groups playing at Darnford, rope and possibly net barriers to deny loose dogs access to the playing area. Signage will be placed at the park on match/training days to make owners aware that the park is being used for junior sport. Due to the usage agreement, permanent barriers and signage are not possible.

Facilities: Toilet and refreshment facilities are in the progress of being organised and will be available soon. The fact we can do this is an advantage over KES and DMS Whittington, where these facilities are either limited or not even possible.

As a club we want as many children as possible playing each week and this can only be achieved with some level of off-site play and any off-site venue has its own pros and cons. We ask members to be patient whilst we evaluate Darnford and would appreciate any feedback throughout the process. We reiterate that Darnford will only be used as and when necessary.

More age groups will use the pitches at Darnford Park over the next few weeks. Please consider their suitability (particularly in relation to those at KES & DMS) and then provide any feedback via your age group coaches or managers.

The club understands that our use of Darnford Park could have been better communicated and we hope this letter goes some way to address that. It is our intention to keep members informed of the progress more regularly over the coming weeks and we expect to be able to make a final decision before the end of October.

Yours sincerely, on behalf of Lichfield RUFC Paul Massey Club Chairman

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