WELCOME Let me offer you all a warm welcome back to the touchline; it seems like ages since we all congregated here to cheer on our heroes – actually it’s five long weeks. I also extend a very warm welcome to our visitors from the University of Northumbria for this, our first league encounter. It’s fair to say our visitors are not enjoying the best of seasons – not surprising as they lost more than half a team to other clubs in the close season. Last year they finished comfortably in the top half of the table with 12 wins and two draws but this season they’ve managed a solitary 29-23 win, at home to Northern – a team which beat us here in January – and a 17-17 draw at Cleckheaton. They must be shell-shocked after their last two outings, losing 95-0 to Percy Park and then 75-7 at a Northern side out for revenge. To compound their problems Northumbria have been stripped of 10 points, leaving them adrift at the bottom with minus 2 points. They have my sympathy and good wishes for an improvement to their fortunes – but not just yet!

LEAGUE NEWS Our last home game against Old Crossleyans was a curious affair. For a start there were six changes from the selected team. Obviously this disrupted our play and it took us the opening 25 minutes to get into our stride. In the end we ran out 26-3 winners with tries by Gavin and Josh to lead 12-0 at half time and then by Bellers and Brad after the break to earn a bonus point, with Jack B adding three conversions. These points were all scored in the middle third of the match as we went back into our shell for the final third of the game.

We then struggled at Gateshead, although we again recorded a bonus point victory. An early try from Richie H gave us a five point lead but we were soon 5-7 behind. However tries from Andy Micklewright and Martin Dixon, with a penalty and a conversion from Jack B gave us a 20-7 half time lead. Gateshead then reduced the deficit to 20-17 before late tries from Simon and a second for Andy, plus another conversion from Jack, secured a 32-17 win.

Although we certainly weren’t at our best in these games, we were a lot better than our performance last week at Percy Park. Despite playing with the wind advantage we were 12-9 behind at the break, our pints coming from Jack B. The second half was pretty grim. Park weren’t afraid to use the wind and ran in four more tries to win 40-9.

UP FOR THE CUP Last week we should have been hosts to Otley in the Yorkshire Cup but the match fell foul of the weather three weeks earlier when our scheduled game at Percy Park was postponed and then rearranged. We will now play the Cup match in a fortnight, on 17 March, but please note that it will kick off at 2.15. Although our league games have moved back to a 3 o’clock KO England play Ireland at 5pm that Saturday, hence the earlier KO.

Whilst on the subject, Cup fever abounds in our Juniors. Tomorrow is an important day for three of our young teams – it is semi-finals day for the U16s, U15s and U13s. The 16s are at Otley, one step away from a fantastic fourth appearance in the final of the Yorkshire Cup (having won all of the earlier three!), whilst the 15s and 13s are in the Yorkshire Plate, away to Pocklington and at home to Moortown respectively. Good luck to them all.

OUR OTHER TEAMS The Colts have managed to remain reasonably active these past few weeks whilst maintaining their pretty impressive record. They are unbeaten in four months and in their last five games they have chalked up 159 points against a miserly 32. Let’s hope their run of good form continues today - they are at Derby in the Colts National Plate, for their fourth consecutive away game. This past fortnight they’ve beaten Sandal 14-5 (only the second home defeat of the season for Sandal) and Huddersfield YMCA 27-5. Reports on both matches are in this issue with Terry Fitzpatrick’s fuller versions on the website.

JUNIORS All three, yes, all three of our U16s who played for the North of England in the recent U16s Divisional Championships (which double as the England trials) have been selected by England - Lewis Boyce as loose head prop, Tom Burridge as openside in the full England squad and Jack McPhillips as an outside centre in one of the 2 reserve squads. Lewis & Tom will make their debuts away to Italy U17s in Parma on the 7 April and then play Wales U16s on 11 April at Wellington College in Berkshire. Jack will play in the Wellington Festival at Wellington College (6-13 April) and will play in matches against the U17 National sides from the Netherlands, USA and Belgium. It was a great effort from Jack who made the trial by the finest of margins after a four month lay-off with a knee ligament injury. We are proud of all of our youngsters but for three players to get so far is a truly exceptional achievement. Congratulations and the best of luck to all three; we wish them every success. (U16s and U17s match reports are summarised in this edition, and appear on the website.)

RUGBY NEWS I made reference in our last programme to the honour of receiving an invitation from Hartlepool Rovers to provide the opposition in the special Centenary R F Oakes Memorial Game on Saturday 5 May. On the following Saturday the 2012 County Championship match between Yorkshire and Lancashire takes place at Scarborough Rugby Club. The Roses game is one of the most hotly contested County matches of the year and this year Scarborough play host at their new home. There’s a whole day of action planned with a curtain raiser match between a Yorkshirerugby.net XV and an International XV as well as a number of attractions and refreshments throughout the day.

SPONSORS I am delighted to welcome back three sponsors to our game this afternoon. There is Andrew Gloag of Gloag & Sons Ltd, a farming and contracting business based on their farm on the outskirts of Stokesley. The business has developed through managed agreements, contracting a variety of agricultural activity, and having plant and equipment available for hire. The family have a long association with the Club, starting with Andrew’s father, a Scottish international, who played here in the 50s. Another of our sponsors with a father-and-son association with the club is Tom Seymour (John’s son), who, as Dromonby Fisheries, also of Stokesley, has developed private fishing facilities across a sequence of waterways on their farmland. And then we have Bill Blakey, the Construction Director of Kaefer C&D Ltd, of Jarrow. Kaefer C&D is a progressive and innovative organisation, offering a complete outfitting package to all sectors of industry, including the offshore sector. We appreciate the support of our sponsors and hope they and their guests have a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

REFEREE’S CORNER I am also delighted to formally welcome to Acklam Park today’s referee David Downham. Although this is not his first visit to us – he was here to take the Wasps’ game in October – this is the first time he has been here to take charge of our first XV. David was a hooker for Castleford and is an accountant. I hope he enjoys the occasion.