Rye Rugby Football Club

CRAWLEY AWAY….

Miles Travelled - 162.2

Players available - 13

Score at half-time, when the game was abandoned - 47-3

Leaving early but getting stuck in stationary traffic for over an hour…. PRICELESS!

At least we fulfilled the fixture, well done to the few players that bothered to travel up!!

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CHRISTMAS PARTY AT THE CLUB - SATURDAY

19TH DECEMBER, FROM 7 (ish) COME DRESSED AS

SANTA (MR. & MRS. CLAUS!!)

followed by

NEW YEARS EVE PARTY, 31ST DECEMBER!!!

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The current leaders of Sussex 1, Worthing III were the visitors to New Road this weekend, in essentially what was a top versus bottom, David versus Goliath battle.  Rye were boosted by the return of key hardman John ‘Little Smudge’ Smith, who returned from playing toy soldiers with a nice spray tan only to be hit by the ‘freezing’ cold British weather (even though it was the warmest and clearest day we’d had in weeks!!).

Rye started the game well and put the Worthing defence immediately under pressure from the kick off. Rye attacked through several phases in the Worthing half and looked like taking the lead when a good move involving the backs was unlucky not to break through the Worthing line score. Rye kept the pressure on and their scrum was looking much stronger than their counterparts, with great work in the front row by Tony ‘Evergreen’ Pierce, Mickey ‘is their any danger of you scoring a try this season’ Scriven and Alfie ‘Fly-Half in the making’ Chapman. Rye were enjoying some good clean ball off of their own scrum and also turned several against the head. After a good sustained period in the Worthing half, an unlucky grubber kick attempt from Toby ‘Posh boy’ Aylett, went straight into the hands of an opposition back who was able to kick down field, and with Jamie ‘only tries that I score should count’ Moore up in the attacking line, no full back was at home which meant it was a clear foot race to see who would get to the loose ball…. Unluckily for Rye, Worthing had a British Usain Bolt hidden in their ranks who appeared from about 20 metres behind everyone else to gather the loose ball and score for the visitors. Worthing were very lucky to score 2 more tries before the break, against 2 penalties from Moore, which meant they went into the break leading 17-6.

It was essential for Rye that they could score quickly after the restart and they continued to pepper the try-line and were extremely unlucky not to more tries and Mickey ’soon to be married, maybe that will improve my handling ‘ Scriven was ‘unlucky’ not to score twice, once after a fine run from a quickly taken Pierce lineout led to him being held up over the line, and once when he appeared to fumble the ball forward when all he literally needed to do was pick it up and put it down, maybe he could have done it if it had been a dumbell!!!

Rye did manage to score early in the second half after good work in the loose from Tony Pierce and Ben ‘Strong hand’ Sinclair enabled No. 8 Gary Edmunds to pick up and dive over the line from fully 2 metres out, an easy fate…. isn’t Scriven…. 2 metres… put, ball, down, over, line E-A-S-Y!!! 17-11 with Rye looking the more likely to add to their recent score and take control of the game. Cracks were showing throughout the Worthing team as they had to resort to dirty tactics, rightly having 2 players sin-binned in quick succession, one for a cynical late and high tackle off the ball and one for the improper and dangerous use of the boot, stamping on skipper Dave ‘Big Smudge’ Smith’s back. In the first instance, Rye were very unlucky not to have been awarded the advantage as they had a 3 man overlap and only 1 defender left to beat, something they had been practicing in training all season, with at least a 30% success rate!!

Rye spent the vast majority of the 2nd half pounding, and pounding, and pounding away at the Worthing 22, and somehow all they had 2 show for it was 2 more Jamie Moore penalties. Even when the visitors twice went down to 14, they still couldn’t add to the 1 try they had, with a few more numbers at training surely they would have added more tries and could easily have taken the game away from the number 1 side in the league, who have only previously lost 1 game all season!! Unfortuantely it was left to Worthing to add a drop-goal, perhaps showing how close the match was, and how desperate they were to keep their slender advantage, to late penalties and a converted try to make the final score 30-14, in a very hard fought and unlucky loss for Rye.

Next week sees a weakend Rye side take on 2nd placed Crawley away.

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NEWSLETTER

Note from the Management Committee

The Club is currently going through a period of change and this newsletter has been produced to keep you informed and give you an overview of the current situation. The Management Committee is currently undergoing some minor restructuring to incorporate a broader representation of the Youth Section; we will keep you informed and send out further information once this is complete. The Club is committed to giving all sections of the club the best Rugby Coaching and Team Development they can have and hope that everyone has an enjoyable and successful season.

MINI/MIDI

Manager: Frank Charles

Supported by Julian, Richard, Daniel and Senior Player coaches.

This section of the club is currently going from strength to strength. They have had a very successful fixture against Uckfield where all of the children had a great day. The squad continue to train on a Sunday morning please encourage your friends to come along and have a go.

U15’s

Managers: Duncan & Sarah Sills

Head Coach: Tony Ashby, supported by Senior Player Coaches.

This squad has the potential to do really well. Tony has been appointed as the dedicated coach and hopefully they will have some good training sessions and the squad will grow. Our RFU appointed Community Rugby Coach is currently running training sessions at Rye College and we hope to encourage some new and old players to come along.

U16’s

Sadly the decision has been made to withdraw this squad from the League and cancel any other matches arranged. This team was rather optimistically entered into a League when it only had a squad of 10 players therefore relying upon U15’s to play up.

Rye RFC will be offering training sessions for the rest of the season. However it is recognised that at this age matches are very important. For more information please contact Tony Pierce on 01797 224753 or 07711 599614

COLTS

Andy Winnard and Jeremy Nobbs have held a players meeting with the Colts to discuss their future. Due to the squad only being 11 strong the decision was made to withdraw from the League and cancel all other fixtures. Rye RFC Ltd appointed a Pathfinder Officer to keep this age group in rugby and encourage them to play in the Senior section of the club. If you are interested and eligible to play senior rugby (aged 17 years or above) come along to training on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7pm. For more information please call Tony on 07711 599614.

Andy and Jeremy are thanked for many years hard work for the club training mini/midi and youth players

SENIORS

1^st XV Manager: Tony Pierce

Goons Manager: Warren Downs

Head Coach: Ed De Ghurr

The Seniors welcome back Ed as their coach he last trained them about five years ago and has returned to New Road for the 2009/10 season. Ed provides an excellent training schedule and is well known for saying ‘one more lap’.

The 1^st XV have had a poor start to the season however a win is hopefully just around the corner. They are working hard at training and enjoying some off the pitch socialising.

The Goons have had some good wins and are regularly putting out a full squad.

Remember Training is Tuesday and Thursday at 7pm.

SAFEGUARDING OFFICERS

Duncan & Sarah Sills

Should any problems arise regarding the safety and welfare of the children, then they should be contacted immediately and the issues will be dealt with in accordance with the RFU and Rye Rugby club Safe Guarding Policy. Contact details are displayed on the notice board or the website.

Rye RFC Ltd will ensure that all volunteers in the club are CRB checked. Anyone wishing to volunteer within the club is very welcome; just ask for the volunteers application form from Duncan or Sarah. We need cooks, coaches, administrators, bar staff, cleaners the list is endless!

If you wish to use the Clubhouse and Bar for a party or any other event please contact Kate Moore on 0775 9951697

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Yes, yes, yes…. Finally Rye are back up to the magic 0!

A magnificent show of spirit, determination and togetherness meant Rye were able to record the first, long over due, win of the season!! On a day when the Rye bonfire and celebrations were due to light the evening sky at Rye, the fire service were almost prematurely alerted to the fireworks on the pitch at New Road!!

Credit must go to each one of the 18 warriors that took part in Saturday’s long awaited first win of the season. In atrocious conditions that saw the Goons’ game postponed, the 1st XV took to the field to warm-up, albeit the fixture had to be in doubt due to the weather conditions. Even though they had lost every single game so far this season, and with some of the worst weather seen at New Road since the club was formed, the players were all still anxious for the kick-off, knowing full well that they have been playing some superior rugby to many of their counterparts and the spirit in the Rye camp remained high! There were some anxious scenes as the weather gradually got worst throughout the warm-up and the game was really in doubt… but the decision came through… GAME ON!

Rye were handed the advantage in the first half with the 75mph winds blowing in their favour, they had to make sure they used this advantage and went into half-time with a healthy lead. The game started well for Rye as they found themselves camped in the Seaford (today’s opponents!) 22, on a day when the scrum would surely prove key given the conditions, Rye went for the ‘experience’ of Messrs Pierce and Nunn in the front-row, alongside returning hooker Mickey ‘blind in one eye’ Scriven. The scrum was working well for Rye and they were not only securing good ball for ‘new’ scrum-half ‘the welsh wizard’ Taff Garrish on their own scrums but were putting pressure on the Seaford scrum making it difficult for them to clear the ball. Rye were becoming anxious to make their pressure tell and get on the scoreboard, and thankfully, after several phases of pick and go’s from the forwards, this led to the first score of the game when the wise old head of Graham Nunn spotted a gap from fully 5 metres out and drove over from the back of a ruck, 5-0 Rye. After the restart Rye again forced their way forward into the Seaford half, and with Johhny Barker back at his favoured number 10 position and marshaling the backs well they were looking dangerous. Both powerful second-rows, Dave ‘Smudge’ Smith and Adam ‘PC Plod’ were regularly turning ball over in the loose with some whole-hearted displays of aggression.

With the score only at 5-0 and the wind showing no signs of subsiding, it was essential that Rye added to their lead before half-time, they duly did when a loose ball was hacked forwards over the try-line and thankfully Dave ‘Teff’ Blackman was able to use his corpulent posterior to nudge the covering defending off course and dive on the loose ball, Taff added the extras bringing the score to 12-0 at the interval.

A rousing (not arousing) speech at half-time from Captain Dave Smith meant Rye were set for anything Seaford or the conditions could throw at them in the second half. Rye took their time to settle against the wind, but with the defence looking un-breakable, Seaford had to settle for 2 close range penalties bringing the score to 12-6. Seaford again laid pressure on the Rye defence, but they held firm, and Johnny Barker was able to kick down field after an extremely unfortunate kick from Gary Edmunds ended up going horribly wrong, a long way right and backwards, damn wind…!

Rye made a couple of changes in the pack with big Moose coming into the second row and Alfie coming on at hooker, with Alex also replacing Jamie Moore late on in the first half. The fresh faces seemed to spark Rye into life as they charged back up field and found themselves back on the attack in the Seaford half. Rye began to take control again and some loose kicking from the Seaford players meant Rye were able to camp themselves inside the Seaford half. There was several brilliant phases from the forwards particularly the back-row combination of super ‘9 lives’ Stiggy, Rory ‘windpipe breaker’ Creavin and number 8 Gary ‘Banana boot’ Edmunds and some flowing moves in the backs, most notably on the left wing where Ben was having another solid game, coming in to secure several balls at the breakdown. More magnificent powerful running from Moose and some great quick ball from all of the forwards meant the Seaford defence was at sixes and sevens and with a huge 3 man overlap, only one defender to beat, and the try line beckoning, Liam ‘Crash Ball’ Clarke went all out for glory and decided to try and run threw the defender rather than pass the ball out to Tom ‘pendulum pass’ Foster for his virgin try. Luckily, the Rye forwards were quick on the scene in support and after another couple of good phases, Tony ‘no substitute for experience’ Pierce was able to touch down for try number 3 and a 17-6 lead. Rye played out the rest of the game camped in the Seaford half with a defence that looked as strong as the Berlin wall some 20 years ago and with no danger of letting this one slip away, nothing could stop them! A truly heroic performance from the boys and a very well deserved, if not long overdue, first win! Go Team!

Cup game next week away at Newick…. will the fun bus return????

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