Tigers looking for winning ways at Birmingham

After last Saturday's home defeat to Lancashire rivals Fylde, it's time for the Tigers to get back to winning ways again, as they travel to the Midlands to face up to bottom side, Birmingham Bees.

Having started the year on the front foot, with that amazing second half comeback at Coventry, the defeat to Fylde left head coach Richard Senior feeling that: "The score didn't reflect the game, and we did well to go in at half-time with two men down at 10-8"

With two yellow cards late on in the first half, Sedgley defended well, and stopped the visitors from scoring again until the second period, when the game opened out.

Number 8 Juan Crous scored his first try of the season to get the ball rolling, and his side will be hoping for more of the same, as his carrying over the gain line during the season to date has been fantastic, and is one of the big forward threats in a game that, given the wet weather that is predicted, will surely be dominated by the packs.

Coach Dave Peet gave his thoughts ahead of the game at Damson Park: "Birmingham are the in form team, with two wins so far this year, beating Wharfedale and Stourbridge. The Birmingham pack are dominant, and we know that our pack has got to front up tomorrow"

The Bees of course, have the ever-dangerous Mark Woodrow kicking from fly-half, after his contentious move from local rivals Stourbridge. He kicked six penalties last weekend in the win against his former club, and is the man who could cause problems for the Tigers.

Peet spoke about the penalties that the side have been giving away, and knows that they have to be careful in the breakdown: "We need to keep our discipline in our own half, not giving away penalties, as Woodrow kicked six from six last week, and scored a load more the week before"

The starting line-up shows one change from last Saturday, with Simon Parrott replacing brother Chris at fly-half, as he is attending the funeral of former Sale Sharks winger Selorm Kuadey.

Starting Sedgley Park line-up -

15 Richard Wainwright, 14 Michael Dutton, 13 Mark Jennings, 12 Matt Riley, Jamie Harrison, 10 Simon Parrott, 9 Will Runciman; 1 Dan Birchall, 2 Richard Oxley, 3 Nick Flynn, 4 James Lloyd, 5 Louis McGowan, 6 Henno Venter, 7 Dave Livesey, 8 Juan Crous
Replacements - Ben Black, Scott Wright, Adam Lewis, Greg Smith, Fergus Owens

Tigers hunt for revenge on Fylde

This Saturday sees Lancashire's two top sides lock horns once more at Park Lane, as Sedgley Park look to avenge their 43-10 thrashing in September.

The home side are on a high after their second half performance at Coventry, where they overturned a 14-0 half-time deficit to win by 24-14, while Fylde beat a determined Stourbridge side at the Woodlands by 31-21, after losing three players to yellow cards.

Fortunately for Fylde, two of those cards arrived with less than five minutes of the game remaining, and although they conceded a last minute try, they already had the game sewn up.

The Tigers had their own discipline problems to contend with, as prop Dan Birchall saw yellow five minutes into the second half, but while he was off the pitch, his team-mates pulled a try back through man of the match Matt Riley.

Sedgley are still without club captain Garth Dew, who suffered a knee injury before Christmas that will most likely see him out for the rest of the season. The armband has gone in his absence to Nick Flynn, who spoke about the second half comeback.

“For me it was what was said at half time in the dressing rooms that made the difference. There was no punching of walls or ‘hairdryer treatments” from Richard Senior.

“As a team we knew what we had done well and not so well and were just given the direction what to do to put that right.

“Credit where it is due, there was never an ounce of panic at half time or throughout the second half; we just needed that kick start to get us going. Danny Birchall going to the sin bin seemed to do the trick for us! Cheers Danny.”

That victory keeps the Tigers in mid table, with a 50% win rate, while their visitors from the coast lie in third place, having jumped ahead of Ealing after their win on Saturday.

The top of the table remains too close to call, with only four points separating the top four sides; Rosslyn Park and Jersey having overtaken early pacesetters Fylde and Ealing.

Among the top four, Fylde appear to be the poor relations, given the financial clout of the other three clubs.

But, their first season back at level three for a number of years has seen them upset the applecart, especially after their first five games, when with a 100% record, they led the pack.

It’s the January fixtures which Fylde need to make count, as the run-in to the season sees them host Ealing before their final game of the season at Jersey.

Sedgley Park on the other hand, face the big two next month; visiting Ealing before hosting Jersey. Shock results here would certainly upset the applecart.

Back to this Saturday, the pressure will be on Fylde to keep the momentum going, while the Tigers will be looking to get their home form back, after losing in a disappointing performance to Macclesfield in their last home match of 2011.

Sale Sharks Press Conference - Tuesday 3 January 2012

Co-owner Ian Blackhurst today announced that Steve Diamond has been appointed Chief Executive of Sale Sharks from 1 February 2012.

In a lengthy press conference, the two men outlined their vision for the club's playing strategy for the future.

Both men reiterated during the meeting that they want to see the Sharks become a "Super Club for the north west". With the points raised during the announcement, they outlined their visions.
This involves the increase in the Academy structure at the club, which during Diamond's 11 month tenure at the club has seen the number of junior players at the club rise from 16 to 90 players.

As a mark of intent, Diamond stated that while he is at the club, they will not be making any further marquee signings, something that Blackhurst confirmed.

Blackhurst spoke of the club's past, in relation to their previous success of winning the Premiership title in 2006, having brought in foreign players to boost their chances of success. That title success he said, was "not sustainable as a result of the foreign players".

Currently operating well under the salary cap limits imposed by Premiership Rugby, and to make his point about the club now moving on the road to becoming a more sustainable financial model, Diamond stated that "You will not hear us bleating on about salary caps ever!".

Blackhurst confirmed that Diamond's "prime responsibility now is the success of the business". The coaching team will remain, with Tony Hanks as Head Coach being assisted by the current team already in place.

Manager Ray Unsworth, and assistant Pete Anglesea will continue to manage the Academy.

The new Salford Community Stadium, which hosts
its first fixture on 7 January.

On other matters, Blackhurst admitted that the club are still in negotiation about a move to the Salford Reds new stadium at Barton. Nearing completion, the stadium will be ready for the start of the 2012 Super League season, and there has been much talk of Sale becoming joint tenants with the Super League club.

"We're quite far in negotiations" Blackhurst advised, but it should be confirmed very soon, perhaps only in 6-8 weeks time.

Another move announced today was that the Carrington office block will be doubled in size, in order to accommodate all of the club's admin staff, who are to move from the offices currently in the Edgeley Park ground in Stockport. This move will happen in the next 12-18 months.

I think that this announcment gives a clear indication of where the club's future lies in terms of its Friday night home in the coming years.

The conference was recorded, and is available to listen to on the link below.



The Sale Sharks Director of Sport, Steve Diamond is announcing to the press plans which the club have for the future of the club at 12 noon on Tuesday 3 January.

A brief announcement was made in The Telegraph on 30 December, and comments in that report have already created much discussion within community rugby circles in the north west.

I'll be attending the meeting, and hope to broadcast the announcement live using the ipadio system.

Clicking on the embedded link below, you should be able to hear it live!! If there is a problem in any way, I'll also be recording it separately, and will upload it later in the day.

It would be great to hear some comments and feedback about it!

Sedgley Tigers hold on against Barking

 

Sedgley Park 23 Barking 8

National League One

Saturday 3 December 2011

Sedgley Park beat Barking at the weekend in their National League One match by 23-8. Poor weather conditions lead to handling errors and wayward kicking, but the teams still served up a great game.

The report below appeared in The Rugby Paper on Sunday 4 December.

Sedgley Park withheld second half Barking pressure to keep pace with the leading pack in the table after this match which was played at times in atrocious conditions.

Behind early on to a Chris Ashwin penalty goal, the Tigers lost captain Garth Dew and full back Richard Wainwright to injuries with less than ten minutes played.

The Tigers took the lead when Chris Parrott chipped for Fergus Owens to chase and touch down after 15 minutes.

Matt Riley converted, and added two penalty goals before half time, while Ashwin missed the chance to reduce the arrears on the whistle, to send the home team in 13-3 at the break.

Barking started the second period in the ascendency, and immediately put pressure on the Sedgley Park line, which led to penalties given away in dangerous positions. 

Riley’s kicking from hand was often found wanting, and was pounced upon by William Nelson on the left wing, who chased his own chip kick, and put down just in time before the ball went dead after it rebounded off replacement full-back Tom Leader.

Excellent running through the gain line by Oxley paid off for him on 67 minutes when he scored after stretching over the whitewash, before Riley converted, and added the final touch, kicking a 45 metre penalty goal with three minutes left.

Scorers:

Sedgley Park

Tries: Owens 15, Oxley 67

Conversions: Riley 15 67

Penalty Goals: Riley 23 29 77

Barking

Tries: Nelson 50

Conversions:

Penalty Goals: Ashwin 3 

Half-time: 13 - 3

Star Man: Richard Oxley (Sedgley Park)

Referee: Richard Kelly

Attendance: 215

Teams:

Sedgley Park: Wainwright, Dutton, Owens, Riley, Harrison, C Parrott, S Parrott, Birchall, Oxley, Flynn, Hopa, McGowan, Venter, Dew, Crous

Replacements: Black, Wright, Livesey, Urmston, Leader

Barking: Burcham, Nelson, Henderson, Broughton, Davey, Ashwin, Gash, Mullins, Bloomberg, E Ambrose, Burns, Smith, Sinfield, Ngan, Davies

Replacements: F Ambrose, French, Kersey, Jones, Neale

Fylde v Coventry - Report

Last week's report from the Woodlands, with a home win by 45-14, and a 30 minute period in the second half where home supporters claimed they hadn't seen a spell of play like it for a number of years.

The report was published in The Rugby Paper of 6 November, and with a limit of 220 words, the space allowed couldn't do justice to a great game..

Fylde 45 Coventry 14

National League One

Saturday 5 November 2011

Another bonus point win for Fylde keeps them in the hunt for top spot, after surviving a close first half.

Strong play from the Coventry forwards gave little away in the early period of play, despite much of the opening stages being played in the visitors’ half. Fly half Richard Kenyon got the ball rolling, with the first try, converting for a lead on ten minutes.

The Coventry pack though, showed their superiority, and scored, with Adam Parkins pushing over, converted by full back Mark O’Connor. 

Fylde though, regained the lead after 33 minutes, with full back Nick Royle returning from England Sevens duty to put the home side ahead, and lead 12-7 at half-time.

The Woodlands outfit flew out of the blocks after the break, with centre Chris Briers grabbing a brace of tries in the first four minutes, including a great solo effort from his own ten metre line, with no defender near him. 

The game was killed off as a contest with half an hour to play, Olly Brennand haring down the wing, and Nick Royle zig-zagging through the defence for two more scores, before Coventry came back with another push over try from prop Ethan Waller.

With ten minutes left, flanker Evan Stewart scored the final try of the game, spotting a gap from five metres out, for his seventh in three games.

Scorers:

Fylde

Tries: Kenyon 10, Royle 33 66, Briers 42 44, Brennand 54, Stewart 70

Conversions: Kenyon 10 42 44 66 70

Coventry

Tries: Parkins 25, Waller 68

Conversions: O’Connor 21 69

Half-time: 12 - 7

Star Man: Chris Briers    

Attendance: 865

Referee: Stephen Lee

Teams:

Fylde: Royle, Russell, Briers, Waywell, Brennand, Kenyon, Wallwork, Altham, Roddam, Lavelle, Arnold, Rawlings, Ferguson, Stewart, Beaumont

Replacements: Loney, McGuinness, Stephenson, Depledge, Collins

Coventry: O’Connor, Gregson, McDonald, Stevens, Murray, Read, Barker, Waller, Ager, Parkins, Mather, Dechartres, Hall, Nash, Daynes

Replacements: Price, Beales, Herrington, Richards, Veebel

Fylde v Tynedale - Report

Here is last week's report on the National League One fixture at The Woodlands, as it appeared in The Rugby Paper on 23 October.

A good match that saw four tries from a forward (I don't know yet if he bought a round in the clubhouse afterwards).

Fylde 39 Tynedale 28

National League One

Saturday 22 October 2011

Fylde got their season back on track, but not by doing it the easy way.

A slow start by the home side allowed Tynedale to take the lead, captain Grant Beasley driving over, with fly-half Matthew Outson missing the first of five conversion attempts.

It took the home side some time to get into their stride, but once they did, Evan Stewart got them back on track from the back row, after a fine line-out maul. 

Fylde took advantage of Myles Scott’s sin-binning, with tries from centre Mike Waywell, and Stewart again, before entering half-time with a 24-8 lead after Stewart had scored his hat-trick, peeling away from a driving maul in the goal area.

Outson added his only successful kick of the day with a penalty goal on the stroke of half-time.

Full back Nick Royle got the ball rolling almost straight from the restart, after clever play by winger Olly Brennand, with Kenyon adding the extras.

A fourth try from Stewart gave Fylde a seemingly unassailable lead, but they did their best to try and throw the game away, leaking four tries in the last half hour.

Tynedale took advantage of Alex Loney’s yellow card for not moving out of the tackle area, with scores for replacement Greg Irvine and winger Allan Rogers, before left winger Peter Cole and Beasley once more touched down late on.

Scorers:

Fylde

Tries: Stewart 22 32 40 50, Waywell 26, Royle 42

Conversions: Kenyon 27 33 43

Penalty Goals: Kenyon 80

Tynedale

Tries: Beasley 3 80, Irvine 54, Rogers 64, Cole 75

Conversions:  

Penalty Goals: Outson 40

Half-time: 24-8

Star Man: Evan Stewart

Attendance: 835

Referee: John Meredith

Teams:

Fylde: Royle, Halsall, C Briers, Waywell, Brennand, Kenyon, Wallwork, Livesey, Roddam, Loney, Arnold, Rawlings, Stewart, McGinnis, S Beaumont (Capt)

Replacements: Lavelle, Griffiths, Ferguson, Depledge, Collins

Tynedale: Harris, Cole, Mountain, Smales, Rogers, Outson, Shaw, Harrison, Ridley, Dickinson, Scott, Dunn, Northcoat-Green, Beasley (Capt), Shires

Replacements: Westgarth, McGuigan, Irvine, Cousin, Bramwell

The battle for Stamford Bridge

Interesting events today at Stamford Bridge, where the Chelsea Pitch Owners (CPO) voted on Chelsea FC's proposals for the move away from their home since 1905.

CFC are unable to expand Stamford Bridge on it's current site

In these times of foreign investment in English football clubs, often from unknown sources, it was a far-sighted initiative in the early 1990s that saw the inception of the CPO as a vehicle for ensuring the security of the Stamford Bridge site as the home for Chelsea FC.

The then Chairman, Ken Bates, had successfully fought off a long-running battle with property developers to save the Bridge from being redeveloped, and with it, Chelsea FC without a ground, and put in place the CPO initiative.

Now, with the club successfully ensconced in the elite of English football, and trying to stay there, the club have decided that they need to move to a larger venue to play catch-up with other large capacity venues.

The club intend to buy out the CPO, who own the freehold to the land on which Stamford Bridge stadium sits, in order to move the club in future, to a new stadium (at a venue yet to be decided), so that the club can try to catch up with the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal in it's matchday revenues.

Needing 75% of the vote to be able to carry out their proposed purchase, the motion was carried in favour by 61.6% of the shareholders. While it was a clear majority, it wasn't enough to allow the club to go ahead with their plans - yet.

Interestingly, The Independent today carried an article which raised the issue of the club's proposals. As one could imagine, Chelsea FC, having made their decision to press on with a potential move away from Stamford Bridge, they were going to try to win favour with as many CPO shareholders as possible.

As with all things in life, you can fool some people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all of the time, so it was understandable that a sizeable number would be sceptical about the proposals.

Reacting to the vote, Chelsea FC Chairman Bruce Buck was interviewed by the BBC shortly afterwards, where he spoke of the club's need to continue to work on moving the club forwards.

Reaction from supporters is mixed, with a large proportion wanting move so that the club can retain its place in the elite level of the game, while there are a number of fans who see that a move from Stamford Bridge would be a huge emotional loss.

What angered many fans, was the sale of a further 20,000 CPO shares to unknown buyers, in the period after the club announced their intentions on 3 October.

This issue appears to have galvanised a strong sentiment among supporters that the club have tried underhand methods to reach their aims, and this will only strengthen the resolve of those who voted no to the vote that the CPO should retain the freehold.

However this matter resolves itself, it is sure to be a long-running episode of the club's history, and one that will generate comment and debate for many years to come.