Malone vs Old Belvedere 21 Jan '23

vs Old Belvedere

Saturday

21st January, 2023 Gibson Park, Belfast.

Encasing architecture

We are extremely proud to be supporting Malone RFC, who have played such a significant role in the rugby community both locally and nationally for over a century.

At this time, Walsin and Malone make a great team as both are aiming high; Malone on their rugby journey and Walsin experiencing unprecedented growth to become one of the largest facade companies in Ireland.

I have always had an interest in the sport, having played for my local club for many years and was delighted to be asked to get involved with Malone. Staff members regularly attend home and away games and there is a real buzz in the company around the club’s recent successes.

So far we have been delighted to play a small part in the club’s ongoing refurbishment programme and will continue to support Malone RFC as it goes forward.

Ian Sinclair, Managing Director,

Proud Sponsors of

Walsin Ltd.

Walsin Limited | Blaris Industrial Estate | Altona Road | Lisburn, BT27 5PU www.walsin.co.uk

Gibson Park, Gibson Park Avenue, Cregagh Road, Belfast. BT6 9GL Tel: 028 9045 7819 email: malonerfc@gmail.com web:www.malone-rfc.com

Executive Committee: Stuart Duncan Gerry Gibbons Mark Dowds Gary Brown David Heron Ken Campbell Gary Kirkpatrick Jonathan McAllister Michael Kearney Raymond Thomas

President: Gerry Gibbons Senior Vice President: Ken Campbell

Rugby Committee: Chair: Michael Kearney Vice-Chair: David Heron

Clubhouse and facilities: Mark Dowds

Secretary: Raymond Thomas Grounds: Gerry Gibbons

Programme and Social Media: Ken Campbell Advertising and sponsorship: Jonathan McAllister

Junior Vice President: Gary Kirkpatrick

Chairman: Stuart Duncan

Malone RFC proudly supports:

One and all,

Welcome to the first scheduled Energia AIL Match at Malone of 2023. We’re back into the proper running order and Old Belvedere are today’s opposition.

I extend a warm Malone Welcome to Frank Quinn and his accompanying officials. I also welcome the fans who travel with Old Belvo and thank them for adding to the day as they always do.

Just a couple of things to mention. One being congratulations to Angry Bryans on his 100th AIL Cap. Quite a record Andy Boy and one to be proud of ! Our North Belfast Man, now resident hereabouts is a stalwart of the side and always gives 100%. He’s a true Malone Man and even threw his lot into helping at the Kids Xmas Party. The smile on his face when caught on camera said it all ! Best of luck today AB and ‘Thank You’.

I further wish the U14, U16 and U18 Boys the best of luck at Meadowbank today in the Regional Finals.

Well done also to Emma Jordan and Hannah

Beattie on being selected for Ulster. The latter in particular, last time I was talking to her at the Club, feared the Big Egg she had on her forehead was there to stay. No, so normal service resumes.

Thanks again and again to all our sponsors. Very appreciative today of Kathy O’Connor from ‘Way to Beauty’ and our own Johnny Rowan from ‘Purpose Gym’ for taking tables at the lunch. It’s a hard station this month and time of year.

May I take this opportunity to remind all and sundry of the ‘Code of Conduct’. Quite simply ‘The Ref’s always right, even if he’s wrong.’ Without Officials the game couldn’t go ahead and I would ask that they are left free from abuse and criticism to get on with it. The same goes for travelling support who we’re always glad to welcome. I personally haven’t witnessed any issues with the Malone Support, have heard of no complaints and that’s the way we want to keep it.

Good Luck to Josh , Cavey and the Lads ! Up above………..

O L D B E L V E D E OUR VISITORS TODAY

Old Belvedere arrive at Gibson Park sitting in third place, looking down on opponents Malone, who sadly occupy the bottom spot.

Malone got no change out of Armagh in the two back to back games, losing both, but Belvedere made hay against UCC winning 19-61 away in Cork and backing that up with another emphatic win 5212 against the students last week.

In fact they hadn’t won an away AIL game all season until their pre-Christmas visit to Cork.

Malone will have to work hard today to reinstate the visitors’ losing away streak.

Old Belvedere Rugby Football Club, affectionately known as "The Lodge" was established in 1918-19 at a general meeting, held in Belvedere College. The first match was against Old St Marys at Beech Hill, Donnybrook, winning 6-0. The club played in the Dublin League. At the final meeting of that year, it was decided to enter senior rugby and open the club to sister Jesuit colleges and "to outsiders, who may wish to join us."

The first senior match was against the now defunct club, Merrion. The first game in the Leinster Senior Cup took place against Wanderers on March 17 1920 and was lost 0-3.

Kevin Barry played on the 2nds in that first season. The arrest and subsequent execution of Kevin Barry, the internment of other players, including the Captain, the loss of the ground in Beech Hill the move to an inferior pitch in Vernon Avenue, and loss of key players during the transition all contributed to

Old Belvedere hero Tony O’Reilly playing for the Barbarians. O’Reilly played 29 times for Ireland and also represented the British and Irish Lions in ten test matches. His total of 38 tries for the Lions on two tours remains a record.

the demise of the original club which folded before the commencement of the 1922/3 season.

The club was reformed as a junior club in April 1930, restricted to past pupils of Belvedere College and a new ground was leased in Ballymun.

The first trophy won was the Metropolitan Cup in 1936 and retained in 1937. These results encouraged the club to apply for senior status which was duly granted for the season 1937/38.

in 1940 Old Belverere recorded its first win in the Leinster Senior Cup 11-6.

In December 1946 an Old Belvedere selected side abeat a New Zealand Services team 12-6 and it remained the only defeat of a New Zealand representative side in Ireland until the famous Munster win in 1978.

The 70's and 80's were lean years for the 1st XV, although junior rugby remained a strong component of the club. Old Belvedere decided to become an Open Club in 1976. Television pundit, Tom McGuirk and St Mary's centre, Gary O'Hagan were the first two non Belvederian players. An International Sevens Tournament commenced in 1971 and was played on the final Sunday of the Leinster Season. The tournament often attracted crowds of 15,000 to watch such teams as Loughborough College, London Welsh, Harlequins, London Irish and Richmond play top class rugby in a festival atmosphere.

The ground lease in Anglesea Road was

acquired in 1944 but the first match was not played until February 1949, such was the amount of work required to level and drain the pitches. In June 1949, the old stand in Croke Park was acquired from the G.A.A in exchange for a strip of land required to build the Cusack stand and a superior view of "foreign" games was enjoyed by spectators in Anglesea Road until the demise of the stand in a fire in 1993. The concrete terrace that exists today dates from 1958. The present pavilion was opened in 1962 and the old bar and ballroom were replaced in 1995 after the 1993 fire.

The modern playing era for the club commenced in 1993 when the club, coached by Donal Spring and captained by Mervyn Feely won the Leinster and All Ireland Floodlit competitions and the Leinster

League, thus gaining promotion to Division 2 of the All Ireland League. The 90's also saw the introduction of the Ladies team.

1st Division status was gained in 1995 and lasted for 3 years. The club again gained promotion to the 1st Division in 2007 and finished top of Division 1B in 2010.

In all, Old Belvedere has won 19 Senior trophies and 65 Junior trophies; 14 players have been capped for Ireland most recently Jack Conan, and six others were war-time internationals. 12 players have been overseas tourists with Ireland. Two members have had the honour of being President of the IRFU (Paddy Madigan and Barry Keogh). Karl Mullen and Des O'Brien have captained and managed the Lions respectively.

MALONE RFC CODE OF CONDUCT

Code for Players - General

•Play for enjoyment and become part of the rugby family.

•Respect the "Game of Rugby" and play within the laws of the Game.

•Accept the referee's decision and let your captain ask any relevant questions.

•Play with control. Do not lose your temper.

•Always do your best and be committed to the game, your team and your club.

•Be a "good sport". Applaud all good play whether by your team or the opposition.

•Respect your opponent. Treat all players as you would like to be treated. Do not "bully" or take advantage of any player.

•Rugby is a team sport so make sure you co-operate with your coach, teammates and members of your club.

•At the end of the match thank your opponents and the referee for the match.

•Always remember that you owe a duty of care to your opponents. Tackle hard but fairly, do not intend to hurt your opponent.

•Winning and losing is part of sport: Win with humility - lose with dignity.

•As part of the team it is important that you attend training regularly, listen to your coach and help your team.

•As a team sport it is important to understand that all members are important to the team!

•Remember you are representing your team, club, family and the Game of Rugby.

Code for Spectators

•Be on your best behaviour and lead by example. Do not use profane language or harass referees, players or coaches.

•Applaud good play by the visiting team as well as your own.

•Show respect for your team's opponents. Without them there would not be a match.

•Condemn the use of violence in all forms at every opportunity.

•Verbal abuse of players or referees cannot be accepted in any shape or form.

•Players or referees are not fair targets for ignorant behaviour.

•Encourage players to play by the Laws of the Game.

•Spectators can contribute to the enjoyment of the event and all involved.

•Be proud of your club and the Game of Rugby

Delighted to continue our association with Malone

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Andy Bryans

Club stalwart Andy Bryans reaches his 100th All Ireland League game today for Malone.

You may think that Andy has been around for a while, but he started his Malone career as a 5year old in our mini rugby section, in a team that also included James McAlister, Shane Kelly, Connor Kelly, Daryl Maxwell and Gareth Millar to name but a few. All are still playing or coaching in and around the first team squad.

Andy attended Boy’s Model School and played youth rugby at Malone until third year, when he transferred to RBAI where he went on to become a Schools’ Cup winner in his Lower Sixth year. Andy then went on to represent Ulster Schools and Ulster Under-19s. His 100th game would have come up sooner but for his time in Scotland. He studied at Edinburgh University and worked for a while in Great Britain before returning to Belfast. Since then, Andy has been a constant fixture in the 1st XV and was rewarded with a game for the Ulster A team vs Leinster.

The congratulations of everyone at Malone go to Andy on reaching the milestone of his 100th All Ireland League game - and we wish him many more - a Malone man through and through! As a footnote to Andy’s time in Malone’s mini rugby section, 12 of today’s squad came through our mini and youth sections - Ricky Greenwood, Lawson Porter, James McAlister, Sam Green, Ben Hallliday, Adam McNamee, Patrick Fullarton-Healey, Daryl Maxwell, Shane Kelly, Jack McMurtry, Rory Campbell and Andy Bryans.

Ulster U-18 Girls

Well done to Katie McAllister, Mia Ferguson and Megan Creighton, who have been selected to represent Ulster in the upcoming Under 18s Interprovincial series.

The girls have been working in an extended squad since October in preparation for the Inter pros and the final squad will continue training at Cookstown and Newforge before taking on Leinster, Munster and Connacht at the IRFU High Performance Centre in Dublin on Sunday 12th and Thursday 16th February (games to be confirmed).

SUPPORTING MALONE RUGBY CLUB

Proud to be Malone Mini Rugby main sponsor

Schools rugby outreach

Our continuing rugby outreach to schools across the area and the success of the programme is not only seen with the continued interest in the game but also by the outreach workers themselves. Both Zach Shore and Ryan Lindsay have been working with various primary and post primary schools across the local area, introducing the game to a new audience and raising standards among those who are no strangers to the sport. The programme is going down well so far, and as it continues we hope to see some of the new players making their way to Malone to continue their rugby journey and also that the outreach programme will continue and grow

over the coming years. Here Ryan Lindsay tells us how the programme has affected him.

“ For the last few months I’ve been coaching rugby at a number of different schools across Belfast inlucing Our Lady and St. Patricks, Knock, Lagan College and St. Genevive’s High School. I’ve been working with a number of different age groups, both boys and girls and I’ve been impressed with the eagerness to both learn and play the game of rugby across the board. For me personally it has been a great experience for both developing my coaching skills as well as meeting a variety of new people.”

Ryan Lindsay with the girls of St. Genevive’s

St. Genevive’s girls in action.

After the disappointment of the losing to a last-minute score to Armagh a couple of weeks ago, we are looking forward to being back at home this afternoon.

Old Belvedere themselves are in fine form, scoring well over 100 points in their back-to-back games with UCC and we are looking forward to thechallenge. The week has been disrupted by the weather, but we have been able to use Campbell College to train and we want to thank Gareth Fry for facilitating this.

Under the leadership of Gareth Millar and David Heron the 2nd XV continues to improve with good wins over Queens and Rainey in January. Over the Christmas period we had 10 teenagers in the starting line-up against Ballynahinch.

Bringing the youngsters through and growing the senior squad has been a goal for us this season and these recent performances will only bode well for the club in the future. I would like to congratulate Andy Bryans on his 100th All Ireland League appearance for the club. He has played his rugby here at Malone from the Minis and he epitomises everything which is great about this club. He is loyal, hardworking and has been an important player on and off the pitch for several years now. Congratulations AB!

Proud sponsor of Malone RFC

Malone RFC is proud to support

The Children’s Cancer Unit Charity depends entirely on public donations and the support of our generous fundraisers.

All year round, our families, friends and supporters organise events and activities - from coffee mornings to gala balls, sponsored skydives to cookbooks, fun runs to 32 marathons in a row - all in aid of the Children’s Cancer Unit.

Donations can also be made online via our website at www.childrenscancerunit.com/support-us

We could not continue to assist the work of the Children’s Cancer Unit without your support. Please get in touch if you would like to help.