SCOUT TROOP At 35 the Troop is now the largest it has ever been. The new entry numbered 15, of which four joined as Tenderfeet. These were soon invested and made good progress with their Second Class tests under Plews. The scouts with Second Class started on their First Class training with Map-reading, Tracking and Estimation all completed. We welcome I. L. Boyd as Assistant Scoutmaster, who prepared the scouts with their First Class Badge for taking the Pioneer Badge next term. On Monday evenings during the term 17 scouts took a course at the Fire Station for the Firefighter Badge and were all successful at the end. They were Blomfield Cantrell, Cooper, Dodd, Buckman, Jervis, Johnson, McIlroy, Martin, 'Phillips, Plews, Powell, Summers, Varley, Willis.
RUGBY FOOTBALL SCHOOL MATCHES v. DURHAM SCHOOL Played away on Wednesday, 13th October. Lost 14-17. In losing this all-important first school match, the School team never fulfilled the promise of the earlier club matches, and felt seriously handicapped by local conditions—very long, lush grass, heavy with dew—after practising on a dry fast surface. From the outset we were six points down in as many minutes (a penalty and a try), and throughout the match we had to endure the irritating spectacle of scoring only after Durham had established a clear marginal lead. For constructive rugby, the School had much the better of the game, but Durham claimed their successes mainly from individual opportunism, for which our back-row forwards were largely to blame. Clegg, moving left, twice sent Morris over for tries, both very similar, while Atkinson was at hand to complete another good movement and a third try. Emsley's conversion and Harding's dropped goal completed the score for the School, but still three points in arrears. The School did enough in this game to win any match, but yet committed more than enough mistakes to lose. Team : —Rawlings; Miers, Clegg, Morris, Duckworth; Harding, Emsley (Capt.); Donnelly, Hart, Martinson, Pickersgill, Hardman, Doyle, Boyd, Atkinson. v. BRADFORD G.S. Played away on Saturday, 16th October. Lost 3-13. Another very poor start—two converted tries to our opponents in the eighth and tenth minutes of the game. Thereafter the team can undoubtedly take credit for stemming what looked like becoming a flood-tide. Indeed, for a period of the second half the pack got well and truly on top, although one could never sense that this superiority would spread to the backs. A penalty landed by Emsley closed the gap, and much of the second half the game hung in the balance. 24
