A pre season 10's competition, featuring teams from Bridlington, Driffield, York, Sandal and Ionians will be held at Brantingham Park on Saturday 8th August. Further details will be announced in the near future.

National 1 opposition

Fylde RUFC
Fylde, aka Lancashire RUFC, are well known to many of the players and spectators at Ionians. One or two may still bear the scars of the heavy defeat when the clubs last met in N2N but Fylde were one of only three victories I’s garnered in their last N1 campaign.
Fylde have one of the best, but infuriatingly slow to load, websites in the national leagues put together by the peerless Allan Foster from which I have reaped the following information.
Fylde became a rugby club on the toss of a coin in 1919. The club merged with Blackpool Old Boys in 1934 and continued to develop through to the 1980’s when the club fielded a number of England internationals including Bill Beaumont, legendary England skipper and the best team captain A question of Sport has ever had.
The club has flirted with Championship rugby and bankruptcy but is now firmly established in the third tier of English rugby playing an entertaining, attacking style of football that saw them finish fourth last season.
Hartpury College

When I were a lad you went to college to learn, now it appears you can also go and be a semi professional sports person. Hartpury (annoyingly for them oft wrongly called/spelt Hartbury) College RFC is an English rugby union club which currently play in National League 1, the third tier of the English league system. The club is based at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire, England, and is made up primarily of the college's students and staff.
Hartpury College share a close relationship with Aviva Premiership side Gloucester Rugby, who use Hartpury's facilities as their permanent training base and provide a small number of academy players, all of whom are current or recently departed students, to supplement the Hartpury College team. Several Hartpury College players have gone on to play for Gloucester and other professional teams.
The club only came into existence in 2000 and didn’t join the league structure until 2004. They have achieved 7 promotions in 11 years and until last season had lost only a handful of matches through their short history. During their first season in N1 they finished in 5th position, winning 19 and losing 11 of the 30 matches.

This weeks top tip - Hulling Strawberries

One of the most controversial topics in the soft fruit world, the best way to hull a strawberry has occupied growers and chefs for centuries. Many find the use of an ordinary kitchen knife too dangerous and recommend a special hulling tool whilst others prefer removing the hull by pushing a straw up through the fruit; either way life is too short, buy them pre –hulled.
Next weeks top tip – Parking straight.
Brantingham blogger.
If I’ve learned nothing else this pre-season I’ve learned how to run. Up and down, up and down, up and down, down and up. I’m now as fit as a fiddle which is more than can be said for some. It’s only two and a half weeks before the 10s competition, that’ll sort the sheep from the goats
Hat’s off to third team skipper Reggie Port who has been training hard. He puts his heart, soul (and this week his tea) into every session, well done Reg.
The chairman was heard asking that no mention was made of his birthday celebrations. Why would that be, I wonder?