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Membership due
Registration now due,
Please find forms to aid the membership process, then please
return to Simon Rutt with
membership fee.
Biggy membership form - RFU Registration form
The RFU form is only
required for new players.
Biggleswade Rugby & Squash
November E-News
1949 - 2009 Sixty Years of Biggleswade Rugby
This E-News is sent blind copied and
without graphics to club members, please forward on to anyone
interested. A further E-News will be sent in November with details of
events in December.
First XV Back in home league
action on Saturday
October 31st when it is St Neots turn to visit. Kick off will be 2.15pm as
we are now the clocks have gone back.
Second XV Sit
around the top of the Greene King Deuxieme Centrale League
after some very high scoring wins, next home game is on Saturday 7th November vs
St Neots
Colts Will compete in the
National Colts Plate competition after exiting to Cup to a narrow
loss to Saracens.
For updated Youth fixtures, see the
website Fixtures page as there have been some amendments recently.
Ammendment to previous E-News
The Minis have three away fixtures to Ely on Sunday
November 1st where they play Ely and Wisbech in a triangular fixture.
The following weekend, Sunday 8th November its away to
Ampthill and then on to Newmarket on Sunday November
15th.
Tour News
Biggy Minis Family Tour will
be heading for Caister from April 23rd to April 26th, staying at the
Caister Holiday Village. Opposition is confimed at North Walshan on
the Saturday and Wymondham on the Sunday. A £50 deposit will be
required soon! Details from Richard Boissieux.
U16s are on course to tour
Cork in Eire at the end of the season and take part in the Irish International Festival
of Rugby. Tour organiser is Martin Hall (07775 651339)
Colts have a number of
proposed destinations including Monetstruc (France) or Treviso
(Italy) Barcelona (Spain). If you have an opinion speak to Tour
supremo Richard Phipps!
The Tour will be open to all Colts including those away
at college!
Seniors 2010 Its Montesruc!
departing on Friday 21st May and returning on Monday 24th May and
playing Montesruc and eating lots of ducks. Speak to Pete Biernis who
is organising the tour.
New players wanted. All
of Biggleswade's Youth & Colts squads are small in number,
with the exception of the U14s. New players are needed to make sure the
squads have enough depth to see them through the season. The Rugby
Development Officers are currently working with local schools to try
and boost numbers. if you know anyone interested in playing Biggy
rugby, then we need to point them towards the relevant teams. See the
website for contact details.
Two great ticket offers!
Saracens vs South Africa
@ Wembley Stadium on Tuesday 17th November.
Adults £10 and Children under sixteen only £5. Tickets
will be on sale on the night but at more money.
The game is a 7.45pm start. The final deadline for ticket
applications is Friday 6th November.
Please contact Martin 01462 811242 (pm) martin.harwood6@btinterent.com
if you would like tickets. Strictly money with ticket order
with cheques made to Biggleswade
RUFC
Guinness premiership Finals
@ Twickenham on
Saturday 29th May 2010.
This sounds a long way off, but it will be a sell-out!
Tickets are priced at £35 Adults and £10 Juniors.The club
will receive a commission on tickets sold.
See posters up around the club, more details to follow in
the new year.
BiggyMini's Quiz Night. Saturday 21st November
There will be
a quiz night in aid of the Minis Tour. As part of the night there will
be a raffle so we are looking for offers of prizes etc. Entry will be
£5 per person, which will include light refreshments.
Remember, the more money raised will
go towards the Minis tour and tour kit.
Please see Mini's coaches or Richard
Boissieux for details.
RFU Grand Draw 2009-2010.
Its that time of the year again!
With a prize pool of £40K and a first prize of
£10,000 the RFU Grand Draw is a vital piece of funding for Biggy. We
get to keep 90p for every £1 ticket sold, which goes straight into improvements
and equipment for the club.
For example:
I book sold pays for a full pitch to be marked.
2 books sold pay for a Gilbert training ball
4 books sold pay for a First Aid Kitbag.
8 books sold pays for a Rugby Ready of TAG Coaching
Course.
Please support the RFU
Grand Draw as it help the club continue to provide and improve
facilities.
NEW in the Kit Store.
Exclusive red thermal undershirts printed with Biggleswade RUFC
on the sleeve. A great Christmas present at only £15 Youth or £16
Adults.
Also Biggy Hoodies are available to order. Email the kit
store via the website or see the message board for opening times.
Squash Club News. Work on
refurbishment of squash courts one and two started this week. The
ability to continue depends on getting Squash membership fees paid
as soon as possible. Please see Dave, there is a card reader at
the club for easier payment.
Full membership £70 per annum.
Remembrance Sunday 8th November.
Players and parents will be asked to observe a minutes silence at
11am on Sunday 8th November.
The club will also be represented at the town memorial
service, were a wreath will be laid on behalf of the
club. Senior club members are asked to attend and
represent Biggleswade Rugby Club .Please contact Mike Adams
on proactiveengineering@hotmail.co.uk or
via the club.
Improvements to the Clubhouse & Grounds.
Thanks to Derek Izzard for completing the work on the
soak-away at the back of the club, this will be of benefit to all who
use the club!
Following on from the Squash court refurbishment, the
fence and entrance is due to be replaced.
The 'Potton Posts' have been erected on Sheepwalk Middle
pitch and this pitch will be prepared for use shortly.
Thanks to W
J Kendall & Sons for cutting the bank around the
pitches, this will make rabbit control easier, the rabbit man reports
that numbers are much lower, last Saturday he only dispatched four in
a morning!
Also thanks to those U10s parents who have helped with
preparing their pitch on Saturdays and Sundays.
U7s to follow U8s at Saracens!
The U7s are to be the Guard of Honour at the Saracens vs Newport
Gwent Dragons game on February 7th. If any other age group wants to
take advantage of the discounted Saracens tickets, see the fixture
poster in the clubhouse and choose a home fixture!
Diary Date. February Half Term Saracens Premier
Rugby Camp more details to follow, click on www.saracens.com
and go to Rugby Camps for an idea of what the course covers!
This will be opened up to allcomers
including local schools and other rugby clubs.
Junior Vase Round 2
Biggleswade 8 Pinley 15
Biggleswade came
second by a short head when they played Coventry side Pinley in the
second round of the national Junior Vase competition. Several players were unavailable
including flanker Jonathan Hamilton so Biggleswade again had to make
changes. But the difference was just an interception try from a stray
pass.
Each side had a
chance for early points from penalties but both went wide. A second
long range effort from Graham Gadsby hit the upright and rebounded
into play. The Biggleswade scrum dominated the set pieces winning
strikes against the head and in the lineout. The two Toms Hill and
Farron won plenty of ball often straight to the scrum half Ross
Taylor. But despite several close calls there were no scores before
the break. Biggleswade played with the wind and the sun in the first
period so the lack of a score was a worry.
Pinley were
reduced to fourteen men when Pinley had a player binned for an
outrageous late tackle on Biggleswade’s fly-half Graham Gadsby after
he had kicked the ball. The restart penalty was from where the tackle
occurred and not from the spot where the kick landed. In a low scoring
game this would have been an almost certain three points for
Biggleswade.
Pinley started
the second half like a house on fire so Biggleswade did well to
contain them to a single try. This came from a five metre penalty
when Biggleswade expecting a kick at goal or into the corner for a
lineout were caught napping.
Graham Gadsby cut
the deficit with a well struck penalty but then disaster struck. A
floated pass in the three-quarter line was intercepted and despite
the brave efforts of full-back Tom O’Connor the try was scored under
the posts and converted. When Pinley stretched their lead with
further penalty things looked bad for Biggleswade. Despite the
urgings of scrum half Ross Taylor who as always was everywhere
spirits sagged.
Biggleswade went for
the youth card brining on Will Roake in the backs and Dean Bartlett
to pep up the forwards. It was the latter who after a good build up
in which the skipper played a hand with a well weighted chip over the
top Dean used his finishing skill learnt from years on the wing to
get over the line. After his heroics last week in the St Ives wind
Graham Gadsby’s conversion attempt went just wide. This left
Biggleswade needing a converted try which was just too much.
Team: J Caulfield
(D Tyson), K Marshall, A Fage T Farron. T Hill, A Claypole (D
Bartlett), D Nott, J Buttigieg, R Taylor, G Gadsby, D White R German,
N Thoday, G Drew (W Roake), T O’Connor,
Saturday there is
a home league match against St Neots who are second in the table with
three wins from four starts. They have put over fifty points on
Westwood and had narrow wins against Wellingborough OGs and St Ives.
They lost by ten points to Rushden in the first league game of the
season at Rushden.
Colts make hard work of
it.
Brentwood 6
Biggy colts 14
After the benchmark match
last Sunday against Saracens, Biggy Colts made hard work of the
victory against Brentwood. On paper this should have been 30
point margin of victory, however after a bright start, the Colts proceeded
to make many mistakes in attack, losing the ball on several occasions
and taking the wrong option.
Indeed at 7-6 to Biggy
well into the second half, Brentwood could have stolen it, they
scored two penalties, but missed two others.
To be fair neither team
was allowed to get any rhythm, with the ref constantly stopping play
for the merest trifle, it did not make for a great spectacle. Biggy
were also down to 14 men for most of the match. It is also true to
say that there is a massive difference in this side when they come
into a match fresh and ready and haven't had the extra match the day
before .
However, it has to be said
this side, can still win when not at there best, as long as they
don't take that for granted in future matches. There are many teams
around that won't ever win , when playing at there
very best.
As far as the Biggy
scoring, they got an early try, after a break in the backs and a good
passage of passing allowed Worboys to run unheeded down the line, it
was converted by Hawkins. Brentwood pulled it back to 7-6 , before a
break allowed Bartlett to run through and score under the posts late
on. Matthews converted.
Biggleswade
AXV 15 – Thorney 19
A
converted try in the last minute of the game cruelly robbed
Biggleswade of victory in this hard fought contest.
With
their league fixture called off late on Thursday night, Biggleswade
finally found a fixture against Thorney, who fielded a first/second
team mix. Thorney are in the same league as Biggleswade First
Team so this was always going to be a challenge. Playing into
the strong, blustery wind in the first half, Biggleswade had to defend
hard for the first ten minutes as Thorney pushed them back into their
twenty two. However the defence was solid and eventually
Biggleswade won the ball back from the visitors and kept it tight to
work their way up the field. It was Biggleswade that scored
first when well worked backs move from a five metre scrum saw Martin
Cray break through the defence unchallenged to score under the posts,
which Rastrick converted. For the rest of the half, the ball
travelled back and forth up and down the pitch as both sides worked
to dominate the game. About twenty minutes into the game, Dave
Tysom was summoned to play for the first team so Biggleswade played
the rest of the half with fourteen men until Dave Howell made his way
over from the third team game at half time. Thorney were
finally rewarded when their backs passed the ball down the line.
Confusion in defence by Biggleswade gave Thorney an overlap
that their winger exploited, scoring under the posts. The
conversion was good and the sides turned round level at half time.
With
the wind behind them, the home side quickly set about drilling the
ball down into the opposition twenty two and it was Thorney that now
played everything through the hands to work their way back out.
However, constant pressure from Biggleswade resulted in a
penalty within kicking range and Rastrick slotted it through the
uprights to increase the lead. Biggleswade were awarded another
penalty shortly after, which Rastrick pushed just wide of the posts.
The game plan was working well for Biggleswade and a further
trip into the visitors twenty two resulted in another training ground
try when Ian “Robbo” Robinson picked up at Number 8 and went blind.
He drew his man and popped the ball out to James “Flash”
Gordon, who although being by far the smallest player on the field
barged his way through Thorneys’ much larger winger to score.
Rastrick missed the conversion but Biggleswade were now fifteen
points to seven ahead with fifteen minutes to go. Thorney upped
their game and started to dominate in open play. They worked
their way back up the pitch into Biggleswades twenty two and were
finally rewarded with their second try when their scrum half wriggled
his way over from a five metre scrum. The conversion went wide
leaving the visitors trailing by three points with three minutes left
to play. Biggleswade kicked off and put the catcher under
pressure, however, Robbo was alleged to have handled in the resulting
ruck by the referee and Thorney were awarded a penalty. They
kicked the ball up field for a lineout in Biggleswades twenty two,
which they won. The ball was sent down the backs and their
winger beat his man to score in the corner. An excellent
conversion by the Fly Half sealed Biggleswades fate and the visitors
snatched victory.
Captain
Rastrick commented after the game. “I am totally gutted that we lost
in the last minute of the game but am extremely pleased at the way
the boys worked, particularly against a side that on paper should
have beaten us quite convincingly.”
Biggleswade:
Tysom, Daisley, Burke, Flack, Jones, Hewitt, Price, Robinson, Gordon,
Rastrick, Young, Peat, Cray, Bedford, Bishop, Howell.
Colts go so far , but fail
against Sarries
Biggy Colts
8
Saracens Colts 10
What a performance by
Biggy Colts was the order of the day after an incredible match at
Langford Road.
Normally these sides would
never meet each other at this level and indeed Sarries turned up in
there black coach and there numerous officiators to take on the
Bedfordshire side.
A great supporting side
turned up and they weren't disappointed by the way the Biggy side
played throughout the whole match.
From the start Biggy
hammered into Sarries and essentially tried to stop them playing
there normal running game. The Forwards were immense and the
defensive qualities of the Fly half and centres stopped any chance of
them getting round our wings for the whole match.
Sarries, however , were
10-0 up at half time, a bit luckily with a penalty that came off the
post and a converted try that was down to errors after a Sarries line
out. Biggy certainly deserved more from the first period.
The second half was
dominated, somewhat surprisingly by Biggy as they pounded the Sarries
line . Biggy tried route one through the forwards all the time. They
were rewarded with eight points, a penalty by Matthews and a crashed
try by the dominant Nott, but if they had got the ball out on a few
occasions, they would surely have been rewarded with more and the
victory.
When Sarries did break
with there fluent players, Biggy defensive qualities held them up.
An unfortunate neck injury
10 minutes from time to a Sarries player, I understand he is alright
at the time of writing this report, meant the the match was switched
to Pitch 2. A couple of injuries caused Biggy to lose there momentum,
Sarries defended and the game was gone.
The Colts now move into
the National Plate tournament in December. Head coach Stan Matthews
was proud of the boys afterwards stating that they are now
becoming a team and he couldn't have asked for anything more from
them.
It was difficult for him
to pick a man of the match. as there were so many heroes out there,
however he did so that if the pack had not dominated up front and
slowed there play down, then they might have run circles around us.
So it goes to the whole pack.
If there is something to
work on then maybe it is a bit more execution in offence, if that had
happened on Sunday, we might well have been in the third round.
Finally a special thanks
to the boys that didn't get on or had little time on the pitch who
supported the team vigorously throughout. You subs are just as
important as the guys on the pitch.
Midlands East (South) A
St Ives 12 Biggleswade 24
Biggleswade made
it two wins on the trot with a comfortable victory away from home
.There were five changes from the week before with three colts unavailable
because of a Sunday cup match. Matt Smith is sidelined for two weeks
after being concussed last time.
On a cold
afternoon St Ives scored first and last but in between it was all
Biggleswade. Playing down the slope in the first period Biggleswade
were rocked by an early score from the home team. A stray pass was
scooped up by a St Ives three-quarter for a soft try and conversion.
Biggleswade’s
forwards and backs combined well and there were several promising
moves. It was burly Tom Ruffle who  finally found a way through the St Ives
defence for a try under the posts. Graham Gadsby added the two points
for the conversion to make the scores all square. But having had
slope advantage it did not look enough.
Adam Fage came on
for Dave Howell at prop making the scrums even more solid. Hooker
Karl Marshall claimed four strikes against the head which stand in
number eight James Buttigieg exploited to good effect. He was well
supported by the backrow of Andy Claypole and Jonathan Hamilton who
scored Biggleswade’s second try.
After the break
with the fresh wind helping them up the slope Graham Gadsby put
Biggleswade in the lead with a well str5uck penalty from the ten
metre line. Another attempt from a similar distance just went wide.
Biggleswade stretched
their lead after another good kick from Graham Gadsby that put the St
Ives defence under pressure. A crash
ball with fast hands of the centres & quick support play
made for an easy run in by flanker Jonathan Hamilton. From the restart taken well by Tom Hill
Biggleswade threatened to stretch their lead. With Russell German
making big inroads into the St Ives defence when the ball went wide
it was winger Gareth Drew who finished the move of with his second
try in successive weeks. Graham Gadsby adding the two points.
After battering
away at a sturdy Biggleswade defence, St Ives finally got over for
another try in one of their rare visits to Biggleswade’s “22”. This
was shortly before the end of the game. Man-of-the=Match nominated by
the St Ives coach was Tom Ruffle. The result sees Biggleswade up to
fourth place in the seven team league after four matches. The top
four join the B league top four after Christmas for home and away
fixtures.
Team: C Avison, K
Marshall, D Howell (A Fage), T Farron (R German). T Hill, A Claypole
J Hamilton, J Buttigieg, R Taylor, G Gadsby, D White T Rolfe (J
Daisley), N Thoday, G Drew, N Edenborough.
Saturday there is
a home game in the second round of the Junior Vase competition. The
visitors are Coventry side Pinley who play in Midlands 4 West
(South). They are mid table with one win from three starts.
Biggleswade
AXV 41 – Cambourne Exiles 0
This
could have been a much higher scoring victory but a combination of
effective changes to their game plan by Cambourne and failure of
Biggleswade to stick to their own saw fifty minutes in the middle of
the game with no score. Ian “Goona” Jones took on the familiar
Captains duties for the injured Mark Rastrick.
Biggleswade
started the stronger and within five minutes the formidable Andy Peat
crossed the Cambourne line for what should have been his first of
three tries, however, it wasn’t to be as the defender managed to
dislodge the ball from Peat’s arm just as he ran in under the
posts. It wasn’t long before Peat crossed for a second time,
this time making sure he held on to the ball securely. Steve Bishop
took on kicking duties this week and kicked the first of his three
conversions. During the next fifteen minutes, tries came thick
and fast with scores by Andy Burke, Thom O’Connor, James “Flash”
Gordon and a second for Andy Peat. Then, for no apparent
reason, Biggleswade stopped running at the opposition and started to
kick the ball away. Defensively Biggleswade never looked like
they would leak a score but poor decisions at the wrong moment and
sloppy handling meant that the home side didn’t look like scoring anymore
themselves either.
At
half time, several substitutions were made to try and change the
dynamics of the game. Andy Peat moved into the centre to
replace Martin Cray, Tony Bedford came onto the wing for Kyle Loan,
Ian Flack moved to Prop in place of the injured James Caulfied, Pete
“Bod” Boyd came into Number 8 for Andy Peat and Simon Perks came on
for Flack. These changes made little difference and the second
half started in much the same way the first had finished.
Cambourne, to their credit, put Biggleswade under more and more
pressure and spent a significant part of the next thirty minutes in
the Biggleswade twenty-two. Solid defence by Biggleswade kept
them out but they came close to scoring on several occasions.
With
ten minutes to go, the home side finally rallied and started playing
again. Some strong running by Thom O’Connor and Andy Peat took
Biggleswade into the Cambourne twenty-two and great support play from
the forwards saw Andy Burke in for his second try. From the
kick off, Biggleswade again made strong surges into the visitors half
and were rewarded for their efforts with a try for Hooker Jonny
Pearson. Andy Peat had the final say of the game when he
returned a failed kick to touch, smashing his way into the Cambourne
defence, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake finally to be driven
into touch in the Cambourne twenty-two.
Although
happy with a win, sidelined Captain Mark Rastrick said he was
disappointed that the score line wasn’t much higher. “We need to
find our oppositions weaknesses and attack them with our strengths.
Today we failed to do that for a large proportion of the game.”
This
weekend, Biggleswade AXV travel to Cantabrigians for Round 6 of the
competition. Having lost to the top four teams in the league
their season hasn’t exactly got off to a flying start but that
doesn’t mean Biggleswade can afford to be complacent.
Biggleswade:
Burke, Pearson, Caulfield (J), Flack, Jones, Peace, Caulfield (B),
Peat, Gordon, Bishop, Young, Sewell, Cray, Loan, O’Connor, Perks,
Boyd, Bedford.
 
Biggleswade Under 13s
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Congratulations
Graham and Claire
On the birth of
Freddie James Place
Brother to Charlie
15/10/09 – 9lb 14
Mother and baby doing well
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 as featured on www.greenekingrugby.co.uk
GK
Deuxieme Cup - First
Round (21/11/09) - Cheshunt
3 v Biggleswade
Biggleswade
AXV 29 – Sawston AXV 17
As
predicted, this was a bruising encounter between two teams separated
by one place in the table. Biggleswade were ahead on points
difference only at the start of the game. With several changes,
this side looked more like a Vets team than the predominantly Colts
side out in previous weeks. Pushing up the average age were Ian
Flack, Pete Shea, Mark Rastrick and Mick Showell. As the
referee had retired late on due to an injury and Sawston had no
alternative arranged, Wayne Ruffles (Biggleswade’s Centre Tom
“Dormouse” Ruffle’s dad) took on the duties and did so exceptionally
well.
Biggleswade
won the toss and elected to take the advantage of the slope and the
light breeze. From the kick off, Captain Mark Rastrick (playing
at Flanker this week instead of Fly-half) booted the ball down the
field to find touch in the corner. Biggleswade managed to
disrupt the opposition lineout and turn the ball over. However,
some sloppy handling soon returned the ball to the defence, who
cleared their lines. Biggleswade continued to apply pressure
and were rewarded approximately fifteen minutes into the game.
After several phases of play, with the ball being shipped from
one side of the pitch to other, Jim Young passed to Pete Shea out on
the wing, Shea drew his man and Young went round on the loop,
collecting the return pass from Shea to dive in for a try in the
corner. Rastrick narrowly missed the conversion. Minutes
later, Biggleswade scored their second when a charge down by Scrum
Half, Steve Jones, in the opposition Twenty Two deflected into the
air to be gathered by Dormouse who barged his way over the line.
This one was converted. Biggleswade scored their third
after more sustained pressure resulted in a ruck five metres from the
Sawston line. Jones took the ball on and recycled.
Rastrick stepped into the Scrum Half slot and gave a short pass to
Dave Tysom, who from five metres out is unstoppable. Again, the
conversion was good. The final try of the half went to Sawston
after some sloppy defence in midfield gave the pacey outside Centre
the room he needed to turn on the afterburners, leaving the
Biggleswade defence in total disarray and allowing him to run in
virtually unchallenged under the posts. The conversion was good
and Biggleswade went in at half time nineteen points to seven ahead.
Playing
with renewed confidence following the last minute try of the first
half, Sawston began to pressurise the Biggleswade line and were soon
rewarded with a try when their stocky Number Eight caught the ball at
the back of the lineout and charged over the line taking Steve Jones
and Steve Bishop with him. The try was converted. Shortly
after, an injury to Pete Shea meant he had to retire so Jim Young,
who had been replaced at half time by Will Priston on the wing
returned to cover for Shea in the back row. Biggleswade dug
deep and fought their way back up the pitch into Sawstons half.
The pressure finally lead to an infringement by the home team
and Biggleswade were awarded a penalty. The kick dropped short
of the posts and Sawston cleared their lines forcing Biggleswade back
into their own half. This time it was Biggleswade's turn to
give away a kickable penalty and the Sawston Fly-half took his
chance. Minutes later, Biggleswade again were awarded a
penalty, which this time Rastrick converted. However, in the
play leading up to this Andi Davies at Second Row had injured his
ankle and had to retire forcing Biggleswade to play with fourteen men
for the last twenty minutes. This was the push the visitors
needed to dig even deeper to hold onto the narrow lead and they were
finally rewarded for their efforts when Dormouse went over for his
second, which Rastrick converted. Biggleswade looked like
putting the icing on the cake when Dormouse intercepted a pass on
halfway and broke free of the opposition. His team-mates stood
and watched, expecting him to go all the way, when the Sawston
Fullback came out of nowhere to bring him down a metre from the line.
Steve Jones was in support but Sawston got there in numbers and
cleared their lines.
“The
result today shows the strength of commitment from all of the players
towards each other.” Said Rastrick, after the game. “We
could have given up halfway through the second half when we went down
to fourteen men but we upped our game to keep them out. I was
very proud of the whole team.”
Biggleswade:
Burke, Tysom, Fage, Flack, Davies, Rastrick, Price, Shea, Jones,
Bishop, Young, Showell, Ruffles, Daislay, Buchanan, Priston, (Ruffles
Snr. Ref).
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Biggy
U8s wave the flag for Saracens!
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Midlands East (South) (A)
Biggleswade 36 Wellingborough OGs 0
 What a difference a week makes! With five
changes and against much weaker opposition Biggleswade were rampant
running in six tries and scoring as many points in this match as the
previous five.
Three players
were away on a stag night and two injured so Biggleswade called up
players from the A team who scored eighty points last week. Graham Gadsby returned at fly-half
after many years away from the top flight. James Kendall made his
debut. Each was rewarded with a joint accolade as Men-of-the-Match.
James is the son of the late Jonathan (Paddy) Kendall a former Club
Captain and nephew of Peter the NFU President who was on the
touchline.
 Biggleswade took time to get points on the
board although they looked very lively right from the start. James
Kendall and Tom Farron won good ball in the lineout and the scrums
were secure. Experienced Carl Avison and colt Callum Maxwell gave the
opposition a torrid time. Although in your correspondent’s view the
sooner this stupid turn over law is abolished the better for flowing
rugby.
Biggleswade’s
opening score was credited to prop Callum Maxwell. He was at the
bottom of the heap when the pack drove over the line from a
five-metre scrum. Callum remembers he last scored for the under
thirteen’s – so a Red Letter Day for him!
Biggleswade
looked likely to repeat the strategy a few minutes later. But instead
the ball was spun down the line for Nathan Thoday in his centre mode
to crash over under the posts. When did Biggleswade last have a
centre who played second row the week before? Matt Smith added the
conversion to give Biggy a twelve point cushion.
Biggleswade
showed they could preserve their line too with some sound defence.
Everyone did their bit although skipper Ross Taylor led the way with
one crunching tackle after another.
Biggleswade’s third score came from winger Gareth Drew. He was
on the end of the final pass for the try in the corner after another
simple three-quarter move. At the restart a good catch by Karl
Marshall led to a forty yard galloping run by Nathan Thoday deep in
to Wellingborough’s territory. Unfortunately the half-time whistle
went before Biggleswade could capitalize from the position.
Half-time saw
Dave Howell on for the struggling Callum Maxwell (banged knee) and
later Tom Hill for Tom Farron. Nic Edenborough also made a return to
the fold replacing winger Damian White but not until he had added
another try to the tally.
Will Roake and
Dominic Knott did good work running the ball back from a stray
Wellingborough clearance kick. Like any good flanker Jonathan Hamilton
was in close support to finish off the move for his second try of the
season. Part-time kicker Damian White added the two point conversion.
Biggleswade now
in uncharted waters – twenty four points clear of the opposition –
got a bit excited and some simple chances to extend the lead went
begging. It was number eight Dom Knott who again started the move
that led to try number five. Damian White got just reward for another
lively performance with a score in the corner.
Biggleswade’s
final score from another strike against the head. The ball went up
the blindside and burly full-back forced his way over the line when
the crowd thought he should have passed the ball! Graham Gadsby put
the icing on the cake with good kick from wide out.
Captain Ross Taylor
was well pleased with the performance. “Everyone wanted to play for
each other and we showed what we can really do today. Last week’s
performance was very disappointing and does not show what we can do”
he said. This was
Biggleswade’s biggest win since the Junior Vase win over Donnington
last season and the biggest league win for ages. It was as many
points as Biggleswade have scored in the previous five matches. All
round a very good result.
Team: C Avison, K
Marshall, C Maxwell (D Howell), J Kendall, T Farron (T Hill) A
Claypole J Hamilton, D Knott, R Taylor, G Gadsby, D White (N
Edenborough), N Thoday, W Roake, G Drew, M Smith,
Next Saturday
there is an away match against St Ives. Wellingborough OGs scored 38
points against them earlier in the season but still lost! Most
recently St Ives thrashed Westwood by eighty points so on the slope
at St Ives anything could happen! After that it is St Neots at home
followed by the visit of basement boys Westwood who have conceded
over two hundred points in three matches in the league.
photos by by Andy Foden
Colts scrape to scrappy
win
Luton Colts
12 Biggy Colts 26
Three wins on the trot now
for the Colts, however the overall performance didn't get close to
the performance last week and the week before.
Luton fielded a very young
side, that might struggle against some of the big units around this
season. To be fair to them , they never gave up throughout the whole
match and did a lot to keep the score down, as well scoring two tries
of there own. The biggy pack was twice the size of Luton's, but they
weren't able or maybe allowed to dominate as they should have done.
Biggy should, according to
Head Coach Stan Matthews have been more expansive and got more
than the four tries they got. " They were asleep for most of the
match, but a win is a win,but play like that against our next two
opponents and the scoreline won't make happy reading, they are all
better than that".
This was a very scrappy
match, with very little flowing rugby. The constant stoppages
also didn't help either team. Luton scored first after
six minutes, mainly because Biggy hadn't left the dressing room as
yet.
Biggy then upped the tempo
with two quick tries of there own and were also awarded a penalty try
on half time, because of Back chat by the Luton players.
The second half wasn't
pretty, but Biggy did manage to extend there lead and luton also got
a consolation before the end.
Young Morgan Gregory was
deemed Man of the match, playing Scrum Hallf for the very first time,
he showed a maturity beyong his years, he also scored his debut try
for the Colts, although his celebration was a bit odd.
Tries: McKenzie, Nott, Pen
Try, Gregory. Convs: Matthews 3.
Enfield at home in the
league on Sunday.
Midlands East South (A)
Rushden & Higham 52 Biggleswade 0
Biggleswade cane
down with a bump after last week’s draw. They lost heavily to Rushden
who are already looking very confident. With several changes
Biggleswade were always going to struggle but some strange decisions
did not help the cause.
The pitch was
bone hard and there was a stiff wind blowing across the park.
Rushden’s efforts were cheered on by a large crowd of partisan
supporters who had attended the pre-match lunch. Biggleswade’s loyal
traveling band had little to cheer about.
Rushden’s first
try was well executed and boded badly for the rest of the match.
Others followed from set moves and one from a five-metre lineout.
Biggy players seemed rooted to the spot as a Rushden player plucked a
lineout ball out of the air and over unchallenged for the touchdown.
After the early
reverses Biggleswade spent some time in Rushden’s “22” but came away
empty handed. Biggy’s best moment was when a penalty from five metres
was spun wide and the defensive wall was almost breached. Instead Rushden
carried the ball back up the other end and scored another try almost
immediately. It was that kind of day.
In the absence of
Tom Hill (wedding) and Iain Jones (paternal duties) Nathan Thoday
teamed up with Carlton Avison in the second row. Although Rushden
tried endlessly to wheel the scrum the solid front row of Jim
Caulfield, Karl Marshall and Callum Maxwell would have none of it.
Ian “Robbo”
Robinson injected some pace but his effort was short-lived being
forced to retire with a strained hamstring. As always the dependable
Megan (physio) was on hand to tend the ice-pack and give the expert
diagnosis.
As last week
number eight Dom Knott was the pick of the forwards. He could have
been more effective if there was someone near at hand to take on the ball
when he was stopped. The best sides always seem to have a player in
support to carry on the move.
Team: J
Caulfield, K Marshall, C Maxwell, C Avison (T Farron), N Thoday, A
Claypole (I Robinson), J Hamilton, D Knott, B Caulfield, T O’Connor,
A Sewell, R German, D White, G Drew, M Smith, R Taylor.
Tomorrow
(Saturday) there is a home match against Wellingborough OGs. Their
match was postponed last week against Westwood so it is hoped nothing
will go wrong with this one.
Biggleswade
AXV 89 – Rushden & Higham AXV 0
Fifteen
tries and seven conversions was the final tally in this one sided
affair. Rushden arrived early and set about some very
impressive warm up drills giving the impression that they were going
to make a real game of it. However, with the wind at their
backs, Biggleswade went long from the kick off and immediately put
the Rushden forwards under pressure. A knock on by the visitors
resulted in a scrum on their twenty two, which Biggleswade won.
A crash ball in the centre saw Tom “Door-mouse” Ruffles barge
his way through the defence, dislocating a Rushen players shoulder in
the process, to score his first of four tries. Biggleswade took
advantage of the strong wind in the first half with Fly Half Rastrick
kicking deep, pinning the visitors in their twenty two for much of
the half. Further tries came at regular intervals from Dean
Bartlett (2), Will Roake (1) and Ben “Chewy” Hewitt (1) with Graham
Gadsby converting six of the seven first half tries. Rushden
came close to scoring five minutes before half time with a penalty in
front of the posts but the wind proved too strong and blew the ball
back towards the kicker bouncing it off the cross bar.
Biggleswade turned round at half time 47-0 up. Three
changes were made at half time with Steve Bishop coming in at scrum
half and Gadsby taking over at Fly Half from Rastrick. Adam
“Tink” Fage came into the front row with Michael Haddow moving to
back row to replace Liam Price and Jim Young came on for Andi
Davies. Dave Tysom took on the Captaincy from Rastrick.
Now
facing the strong wind, Biggleswade had to retain possession in order
to prevent the visitors from kicking them back into their twenty two
and this they did very effectively. The support play throughout
the whole game was excellent but in the second half Biggleswade were
everywhere in numbers and the Rushden defence were overwhelmed.
Man of the match James Kendall and Michael Haddow linked very well
and Number Eight Chewy also had a great game until he was given ten
minutes to repent for an outrageously late tackle by the
referee. The score rate throughout the second half continued to
tick over with Door-mouse scoring his fourth, Dean Bartlett got his
third, Roakey scored two more, Ross Buchanan and James Kendall scored
one each and even the very senior Second Row Ian Flack scored two.
Rushden only looked like scoring once in the second half when a
kick through by Biggleswade saw the Rushden winger collect the ball
on his ten metre line and run back through the Biggleswade defence
only to be cut down by Jonny Daislay with and excellent try saving
tackle five metres out.
This
was an excellent all round performance by Biggleswade.
Consistency of players in key positions and the desire to play as a
team are helping to gel this side into a close knit group wanting to
play for each other.
Biggleswade:
Howell, Haddow, Tysom, Flack, Kendall, Price, Bartlett, Hewitt, Gadsby, Rastrick,
Roake, Ruffles, Davies, Daislay, Buchanan, Bishop, Fage, Young
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