KING CROSS PARK R.L.F.C Weekly Newsletter –4th April 2017 Club President – Michael Hellowell Clubhouse – King Cross Park Social Club, Hopwood Lane HX1 4HA www.pitchero.com/clubs/kingcrossparkrlfc

FIXTURES

Day Kick Off Home/ Age See coach/TM for meet times Time Away Group Versus – other messages below Sat 8th 10.15 College U10 Eastmoor 11.00 College U12 Newsome 12.00 College U13 West Bowling 1.00 tbc College U15 Heworth 2.30 College Open Age St Josephs Sun 9th 10.30 College U14 Crigglestone

ALL GAMES ARE AT HOME THIS WEEKEND

All teams (parents and players) please help to keep the club room tidy and remove any rubbish etc

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE HELP IN THE KITCHEN THIS WEEKEND. EACH TEAM NEEDS TO PROVIDE A COUPLE OF VOLUNTEERS POST MATCH TO SERVE AND CLEAN UP. LYNN IS A VOLUNTEER AND HAS A LIFE SO YOUR HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

NEWS KITCHEN MANAGER WANTED – We have a vacancy for a kitchen manager to run the kitchen on match days. Expenses will be paid.

FOOTBALL PREDICTIONS – This is a club fundraiser and numbers are starting to dwindle. As all teams are at home this weekend can all team managers please make the effort to sell after the game- sheets are on the bar at the club.

PITCHERO WEBSITE – a lot of work has been done to bring the website up to date (http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/kingcrossparkrlfc/ ). To keep this fresh and informative could all team managers provide the following information to Steve Davidson, if you are not already doing so;  Text/whatsapp final score after games  Send a copy of your match reports through when you are mailing it to the newsletter  Check own team page for accuracy and let Steve know if there are any corrections needed  Send any ideas for the website or team specific news would be welcome

Steve’s contact details are 07702 432441 and [email protected]

COACHES WANTED – We are looking for Coaches for our Tots and 7/8’s and Under 9’s teams.  Your role will be to develop the teams and encourage new players.  Full support from the club will be given to anyone who feels they can give their time and effort as a coach.  The club will arrange suitable training and mentoring to applicants. DBS checks First Aid and Safeguarding training will be arrange.  Dads/mums and open age players – do you have the drive to do this? For newsletter queries and match reports, please contact [email protected] 1

 Training Weds from 6pm on the Moor.  Anyone interested please speak to a member of the Committee or our coaches.

Under 10’s 01/04/2017 – Crigglestone 12 v 16 KXP – Match report by Simon Lumb

Good day to all you readers. This week I am unsure where to start. So I will start by thanking all the players and parents this week as I am not going to lie it was a challenge on Saturday. Crigglestone had already made me aware of some potential challenges with the team, in addition to potentially being shorter than normal on numbers. So when they confirmed only 8 were available (and even then to coach had to coax them out of the changing room) it was always going to be a challenge. Fair play to the coach though as he is clearly working through some tough challenges on a number of fronts. This however left me with a tough dilemma. With none of our kits wanting to make up numbers with the other team and a 3 way (rugby parlance for 3 rotating games where we play each other) and not the rude thoughts that had entered in to your minds options were limited. With a massive 20 kids turning up even my maths struggled to work out how each child would get half a game and simply put I failed miserably with us putting on 9 men as the pitch was smaller it was a tough ask. Basically I spent more time making notes on how had not played the full half making sure this was made up next week than I did watching the game. So yes I was grumpy.

The game itself was a scrappy affair with so many kids jumping on and off the field it was hard to keep the flow of the game and with a lot of regular stoppages the time just seemed to fly. In fact I can only remember the boys having limited runs. Fair play to Crigglestone though as their forwards were larger than ours for a man to man comparison and it was only down to some excellent goal kicking did we take the win, but I must admit it was about as enjoyable as having a prostate exam. The boys themselves though turned up on mass and thoroughly enjoyed being outside. I am convinced most of them are descendants from dogs as they burnt more energy afterwards than they did on the pitch. Regardless when we had the ball on the small pitch the boys stuck to their guns and played the best game they could. With most of the opposition tries coming from silly mistakes bar one I had nothing to grumble about  . With such little game time there is nothing much I can comment on this week so I am going to call out a key element for each child. Evan despite only having 15 minutes game time managed to rack up the second highest tackle count and was strong in attack when we had the ball. Harry Bush was equally strong in attack and solid in defence as well. Rueben continued with his progression with some good strong running, but was limited to 15 minutes due to a head injury. Ewan made some try saving tackles this week coving well with full body tackles. Bruno once again looked dangerous in attack and was only stopped by some last minute tackling but continuing his scoring with a well taken conversion. Sean made himself available for a number of runs this week and was excellent in the line speed area. We are just awaiting that elusive pass to set him on his way. Freddy this week set the scene in the second half with some great runs from acting half only to be held short on a couple of occasions. Kyle did well this week and only a last ditch corner tackle stopping him grabbing his first try of the season as he outstripped the oncoming defence. Monty racked up another impressive performance this week toping the tackle count and picking up another try. Ed was very direct in attack this week with some excellent runs and some very firm defence and also picking up a well taken conversion. Jake made some hard yards this week with some excellent direct running with brother Luke also off to a good start with some well made tackles and forward running. Westy was once again displaying some textbook tacking technique, but was also limited to 15 minutes game time restricting options. Issac was also completing some excellent tackling and getting caught short of the line on a number of occasions due to spirited opposition defence. Hayden was also limited to runs this week, but when he outpaced the entire defence only a last minute grab stopped him short of a certain try. Jack Hanson was once again in improvement mode with some outstanding running and defence breaking the defence on each run and also picking up a great try. Josh T also took on some acting half back duties as well and made some excellent passes to set the team on their way. Dylan was once again outstanding in both attack and defence and was only limited by available time with the ball and yet still managed to drop over for a great try. Kain also continued with his rugby career as he learns more and more each week. Finishing off, but not forgotten was Bayley who on a number of occasions carried most of the opposition on his back, but it was his defence this week which shone with some excellent tacking. While the boys had limited time they did their best and I was proud of their achievements this week. I am sure this week will provide another challenging opposition. Keep going boys.

Awards. Opposition Player of the Match – William West Player of the Match – Monty Lumb Parents Award – Edward Amer Top Tackler – Monty :Lumb Magic Moment – Bayley McWilliam Effort Award – Evan Johnson

Under 13’s 01/04/2017 – East Leeds v KXP – Match report by Graham Smerdon First Half April Fools Today KXP’s inconsistent start to the season continued and a disappointing first half left them with a mountain to climb. I say inconsistent, yet KXP’s first half performances so far this season have been consistently poor and they’ve relied on their fitness borne from an intense pre-season’s fitness regime down at Halifax Boxing Club, to drag themselves back into games but today, gifting East Leeds with a 22 point head start, left KXP with little opportunity to win the game and at half-time, the travelling faithful saw the second half as For newsletter queries and match reports, please contact [email protected] 2

‘damage limitation’ time. Similarly to previous games, the first half was littered with handling errors, poor decision making and a distinct lack of composure. There were too many players challenging for the ‘top tickler’ award and there was an air of ‘here we go again’, with the KXP boys offering little in the way of both effort and enthusiasm. The half time whistle couldn’t have come soon enough and in the words of D:Ream, ‘things could only get better’……and to be fair they did. KXP needed an early try to stand any chance of dragging themselves back into the game and they did in the form of Ted Grogan. He proved unstoppable once he’d gathered momentum and crashed over the line to score KXP’s first try of the game. A successful conversion by Noah Smerdon reduced the gap to 22-6. Game on!! KXP were now taking the game to East Leeds. They were playing with more aggression and standing toe to toe with their opposition. Mackenzie Fielden, arguably KXP’s player of the season so far, was causing East Leeds problems with his strong running and the rest of the KXP team responded to his ‘never say die’ attitude. East Leeds were clearly rattled and so was the referee, appearing out of his depth on more than one occasion. He tried to bring a bit of order to the game when sin-binning an East Leeds player for persistent high tackling but had failed to penalise them earlier for three shoulder barges in quick succession and had seemingly turned a blind eye to them kicking the ball away all too often in an attempt to waste time. That said, KXP debutant Jasper Taylor, could have found himself taking an unwanted 10 minute breather had the referee chosen to penalise him for his unorthodox form of tackling, more akin to that seen on WWE. Waddy can coach that out of him and he’s sure to be a great addition to the black and yellow jersey. Welcome!! KXP continued to press and with 5 minutes remaining, Tyler Brocklehurst touched down and reduced the gap further still to 22-10. Was there enough time for one more try? There certainly was but it was East Leeds who were to benefit from more indecisive tackling, scoring in at the corner and running out deserved winners, 26-10.

Opposition Man of the Match: Tyler Brocklehurst Coaches Award : Mackenzie Fielden Parents Man of the Match: Ted Grogan

Under 14’s 02/04/2017 – Dewsbury Celtic 16 v 18 KXP – Match report by Warren Doyle

U14's up and running at the 4th time of asking. Bumf needs to go away more often. 1st win of the season in a tale of two half's and plenty of ill discipline through knock on's and silly little penalties at the play of the ball plus a sin binning for Lewis Mallinson culminated in what turned out to be a very entertaining match. Playing with the slope in the first half KXP failed to take real advantage over a well drilled Dewsbury Celtic side whose 13 and 8 grafted hard. Tries by IsaacShaw and Kieran Gallagher plus goals from Danny Dewhirst gave a half time score of 12-4. As usual the slope needed to be around the 20 point mark however good defense restricted Dewsbury Celtic to 2 converted scores giving them a 16-12 advantage. Great runs by the KXP forwards allowed Thomas Doyle to scoot over from 5 yards to seal the game with Danny Dewhirst adding the extra's.

Parents MOM - Isaac Shaw, with Lennon Partington, Kieran Gallagher and Danny Dewhirst all gaining the other votes. KXP MOM- The whole team Dewsbury Celtic MVP - Isaac Shaw

Previous results - 26.3.17 KXP 18-22 Beeston A great performance with defeat gained with the last kick of the game. Tries from Bailey Dawson, Max Rowntree, Lennon Partington and Tommy Brown plus 1 goal

Parents MOM - Lennon Partington and Reece Battye joint with Isaac Shaw and Harrison Hull KXP MOM- Isaac Shaw, followed by Reece Battye and Bailey Dawson

19.3.17 Garforth Tigers 40 - 0 KXP First time since the creation of the 14's that they have been kept scoreless. Garforth were a well organised and well drilled side with big powerful runners who also had a good set of hands on them. KXP not at the races on this day. Great pub after and we won the raffle!

Parents MOM- Isaac Shaw with Max Rowntree, Lennon Partington and Bailey Dawson getting the other votes KXP MOM-Lewis Mallinson followed by Tommy Brown and Lennon Partington. Garforth Tigers MVP - Thomas Doyle followed by Isaac Shaw and Lennon Partington.

12.3.17 Bramley Buffaloes 32-16 KXP Another slope and worth 20 points, however KXP were only 16 up and in the end we lost by 16 after allowing Bramley to score 6 in the first half. Tries from Connor Marsh x 2, Kieran Gallagher with 2 Danny Dewhirst goals created the 16 points.

Parents MOM - Kieran Gallagher followed by Connor Marsh and Mac Butterfield KXP MOM - Kieran Gallagher followed by Mac Butterfield and Connor Marsh Bramley MVP - Connor Marsh followed by Danny Dewhirst and Tommy Brown.

For newsletter queries and match reports, please contact [email protected] 3

Under 15’s 02/04/2017 – Hunslet Parkside 24 v 34 KXP – Match report by Matt Green Park travelled to Hunslet looking to get back to winning ways after a narrow defeat in the previous week’s game. Lacking a few regulars and with key players shifting positions it was a slightly different team to that of previous weeks and a team anticipating another tough game. The game started as expected with Hunslet playing with confidence and running the ball with pace and aggression that Park were struggling to match. It was Hunslet who gained the early advantage twice completing sets and forcing Park to drop out with cross field kicks. Park’s scrambling defence held firm and strong drives from Kai Mellor, Niall Green and Kian Sutcliffe carried Park upfield where a superb shortside cut out pass from Aaron Brook gave Nathan Marlor just enough space to squeeze in at the corner, Brook adding the extras with a brilliant touchline conversion. Park extended their lead when another well-timed Brook pass found Kai Mellor hitting a good line at pace. Before the Hunslet defence could react, he was through the gap and over line to the right of the sticks for an unconverted try giving Park a 0-10 lead. Despite the 0-10 lead park were making life difficult for themselves and seemed to be struggling to organise themselves in both defence and attack. Hunslet’s tactic of switching the ball back inside was frequently catching defenders resting and their two centres were making huge ground up the middle of the field, only a last-ditch tackle from Marlor preventing them scoring. However, the impressive hooker Harrison Ward was in determined mood for Park and looking sharp from acting half he constantly probed around the ruck for gaps in the Hunslet defence. A barnstorming run from Niall Green put Park on their opponent’s line and it was the vision of Ward that spotted a gap in the Hunslet defensive line to dive over for a brilliant hooker’s try, Brook adding the goal for a 0-16 lead. Frustratingly Hunslet got their opening score with the last play of the first half when their impressive centre stole the ball in a one on one tackle and crossed the line for a converted try and a 6-16 half-time score line. The second half started how the first finished with Hunslet scoring another converted try bringing the scores to 12-16. Park were still struggling to find their rhythm and were not playing to the structures that have served them well in previous games, despite this they extended their lead further when explosive prop Ryan Hancock drove the ball hard and low in to the corner showing the kind of agility normally displayed by Tommy Makinson, he managed to ground the ball despite the attention of two defenders and with his entire body being off the field, in the air but not in touch. Brook unsuccessful with the conversion for a 12-20 lead. Park again extended their lead when a strong Park tackle dislodged the ball close to the line and Kai Mellor pounced for a converted try and a 12-26 score line. Although Park had breathing space they were by no means dominating the game and it was a show of respect towards their opponents that Park chose to kick for goal when their hosts conceded a penalty under sticks, Brook extending the lead to 12-28. Hunslet did not allow their heads to go down and dragged themselves back in to the game with two quick scores both converted and both frustrating for the Park coaching team who had seen their team switch off yet again in defence. With the score at 24-28 and the result suddenly in the balance it was Hunslet who had the psychological advantage and clearly fancied their chances of snatching an unlikely victory. However, from the restart Hunslet’s strong kick return was met by the bone crunching shoulder of Tom Brown which caused the ball to shoot out of the carriers grasp and in to the grateful hands of a Park player. On the very next play Niall Green threw a dummy and crossed the line from close range. It was an unusually quite game for Green who looked to be struggling with a nasty looking neck injury inflicted by his girlfriend the previous day. Brook added the conversion and the referee blew the whistle for a final score Hunslet 24 Park 34.

Open Age 01/04/2017 – Garforth Tigers 22 v 14 KXP – Match report by Andrew Binns After a what looked to be a good first set in defence KXP conceded at the end of the set when an overlap allowed Garforths right centre to score, converted 6-0. Despite this initial set back two attacking sets saw Park move towards the Garforth line and after a good defensive set of 6 Park made ground and after the overlap was created on the right Lewis Tidswell burst through a tackle and then beat the fullback to score out wide, Josh Robertshaw missed the conversion 6-4. More good defence laid the platform for Park to push towards Garforth line again and Ben Miller spotted a gap and jumped from acting half to score under the sticks no mistake by Robertshaw with the conversion 6-10. The next score came quickly when on the last tackle Josh Robertshaw hit Taylor Foulds out wide and he managed to spin out of the tackle and score, conversion missed taking the score to 6-14 at Half Time. Park started second half strong but Garforth came back with a break by the centre and following a kick a nice bounce allowed prop to collect and score, converted 12-14. Garforth were boosted by this and were pressing but the Park defense was good with Jonny Binns tackling the Garforth winger into touch when he thought he would score. After this great defence Park started work it up the pitch with Danny Syme leading the way but some mistakes by Park led to Garforth taking lead with another try missed conversion 16-14. As the final quarter approached the game was swinging end to end and either team could have taken the spoils but Park tired having only 15 players available including the ever green Andy Boocock and having a player sin binned didn't help, but Park still could have had the game won but for a forward pass ruling when Jordan Gray was over the line. Park pushed again and after some great attacking were denied a try when Danny Charlton knocked on over line. Park defended next set well but a series of mistakes and penalties cost Park when Garforth scored with 7 minutes to go to take score to 22-14 Final score 22-14 Despite this loss coach Adam O'Brien whilst disappointed at the loss was positive in how the team performed generally and with a few more players expected to return in coming weeks things will get better. MOM Lee Brook

For newsletter queries and match reports, please contact [email protected] 4

Useful Information King Cross Park Pitchero Website http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/kingcrossparkrlfc/ Yorkshire Junior ARL Website (Age Groups 7-17) http://www.yorkshirejuniorsarl.co.uk/ Yorkshire Combination Youth Website (Age Group 18’s) http://yorkshirecombinationyouth.pitchero.com/ Pennine League Website (Open Age Teams) http://www.pennineleague.co.uk/home.php

Club Contacts Chairman Andy Binns [email protected] 07900 915563 Vice Chairman – Seniors Matthew Brown [email protected] 07535 558456 Vice Chairman – Juniors Nathan Raynor [email protected] 07756 009907 Secretary/Fixtures Lynn Gudor [email protected] 07810 104081 Treasurer Sue Brason [email protected] 07881 387933 Child Welfare Officer Sarah Gledhill [email protected] 07919 281880 Tots Coach Paul Bowen [email protected] 07816 523981 (PB) Christian Smith [email protected] 07887 997686 (CS) U10 Team Manager Kerrie Coates [email protected] 07774 093149 (KC) Katy Wadsworth [email protected] 07966 391373 (KW) U10 Coach Simon Lumb [email protected] 07966 287838 U12 Team Manager James Forster [email protected] 07887 591033 (JF) U12 Coach Paul Stevenson [email protected] 07855356303 U13 Team Manager Graham Smerdon [email protected] 07780 743739 (GS) U13 Coach Paul Wadsworth, [email protected] 07833 156869 (PW) Dave Smith (Little Dave) & Zak Dewhirst U14 Team Manager Bobby Bateman U14 Coach Richard Humphries U14 Assistant Coach Ellis Nuttall 07415065803 U15 Team Manager Amanda Murphy [email protected] 07766 024361 U15 Coach Michael Hellowell [email protected] 07813 177085 (MH) Lee Brook [email protected] 07771 870153 (LB) Club Head Coach Adam O’Brien [email protected] 07780 336798 Open Age Coach (Summer) OA Team Manager Paul Wadsworth [email protected] 07833 156869 (PW) (Summer) Open Age Coach (Winter) Andrew Boocock [email protected] 07837 900817 OA Team Manager (Winter) Adey Taylor [email protected] 07572 317639

Trade Services

Garden Maintenance Contact: Simon Yarker Tel:01422 361696 Mobile 07985 625206

Lawns Cut~Hedges Trimmed~Gardens Tidied Weed Spraying Rubbish Removed~~~Reliable Local Service Email:[email protected]

DBS3 Church Check Lane~Mount requirements Pellon~Halifax. If you are a coach, team manager, first aider, touchline manager or any other key role at the club you must ensure your DBS check is up to date. For those that need to do a DBS (formally CRB) please do the following - Go to the RFL website - Click The RFL on the bar then click child welfare - Search down to NEW on-line DBS and click here written in red - This will take you to a new page with a orange/yellowish and green box click on the start application box (orange/yellowish box) - Organisation: YKINGCROSS - Password: rfl123 - then fill it in, please ensure you put middle names in, previous names, previous addresses, national insurance number etc., its got to be fully completed correctly or it will not be accepted and have to be re done. Please contact Sarah Gledhill to arrange for your documents to be verified on 07919 281880 For newsletter queries and match reports, please contact [email protected] 5