WLS IT Solutions Lucsline 566 - 18th February 2022
We start this week's newsletter in sombre fashion, with the notice of the passing of two individuals, one Luctonian and one from the wider rugby family. Tragically last Saturday, one of our fellow North Midlands clubs, Evesham, lost a young winger of theirs Jack Jeffrey, after he picked up an injury during their 1st XV game, which he sadly didn't recover from. He was hurt scoring a try against Berkswell and Balsall and as a mark of respect this weekend, we alongside Rotherham and many other clubs across the country will temporarily retire the number 11 shirt for the day, as a mark of respect for Jack and our North Midlands neighbours Evesham. Our Luctonian to sadly pass away was former player and long-term club supporter Graham Rees. Graham made is 1st team debut against Gloucester Utd in the 50s, before going on to play in both the back row and more predominantly the front row for the remainder of his 1st team career across the 50s and 60s. In more recent years Graham was a club benefactor and a travelling Allacadoo. Before the game tomorrow we will mark both losses with a minute's applause pre-kick off.
Mixed fortunes for our Lucs sides last weekend as the wet and windy weather started to bite for all our teams. Saturday was a fairly positive one as both the 1st XV and 2nd XV picked up victories without conceding a point in the process. In the 1st XV's sixth and penultimate journey to Yorkshire this season, they put in a very professional performance in beating Harrogate 0-21. The hosts put up more of a fight than the previous week but never really looked like troubling an organised Lucs defence. Wet and windy conditions, combined with one of the heaviest pitches seen at National League level meant scoring was never going to be in prominence, although with a touch more accuracy the bonus point would have been achievable. A win away from home in this league can never be sniffed at however, and the attitude of our players to deal with the unusual scenario of having hammered your upcoming opponent the previous week, required some serious concentration and application. The win saw our side solidify that 7th spot in the league (once the points for the Huddersfield debacle have been applied), but nobody in our group is getting carried away. The next four games are a really testing run, with two of the best sides in the league coming to Mortimer Park and two very testing away trips constituting a tricky run until our final week off on March 19th. In fact in our final ten fixtures of the season we play against all the top six sides in the division, with the three current title favourites (Rotherham, Sedgley Park and Hull) all coming through Mortimer Park before the season is out.
The 2nd XV continue their march towards Midlands Reserve League Division 1 glory, as the comprehensive 45-0 victory over Bromsgrove testified. The returning Aiden Cheshire and James Wheeler both got valuable game time in another decent display from the 2nds. An injury and unavailability hit 3rd XV lost at Hereford 2nds 5-24 in a hastily organised friendly that replaced the two games (Dudley Kingswinford 2nds and Kidderminster 2nds) that were both pulled out of by opposition during the week.
Sunday saw much of our mini and junior activity scrapped because of the pitch conditions but the U14s North Mids Cup game did go ahead. Unfortunately the lads went down 0-7 but all put in a big shift in fairly horrendous conditions. There was also heartbreak for the RMS Colts who went down 29-11 away at Guildford in the Quarter Final of the National Cup. Again in driving wind and rain the boys fought very hard against a massive home pack, but were out manoeuvred in the kicking battle a few too many times and the hosts used their weight advantage to batter over from these positions to good effect. No shame in the defeat to a better side on the day for our players though, they put in another excellent cup run, holding true to a growing club tradition over recent years for our Colts. No game for them to get back on track to this week as they received a Home Walkover into the next round of the North Midlands Cup, but two home league fixtures next week as they host Newport on Thursday night under lights and Stourbridge on Sunday in their regular slot.
Your Luctonians Team of the Week:
For the second time in a week we have another international player call up. Following Tom Pearson's England call up last week, another former Luctonian youth player George Sweetman has been called up to the Polish international training camp, currently taking place randomly in Prague. Well done to George, we are very proud of you and we wish you all the best in your quest of gaining an international cap.
Elsewhere, get Monday in your diary if you are looking to get Sundogs Festival tickets this year. That time of year is coming round again and these tickets come on sale at 8am Monday - once they are all gone, they are gone!
This February, in conjunction with the 6 Nations starting, we are having a big push to get our women's rugby going. If you, or someone you know might want to give it a go, have a look at the posters below and join us through the month of February for free taster sessions on Tuesdays or Thursdays. No previous experience required, come down and join us for a run around.
This weekend then and once the worst of the storm has passed we welcome Rotherham Titans to Mortimer Park tomorrow. You'll notice I say worst of the storm as we are still set for plenty of wet and wind on Saturday. We maybe looking at a move of pitches if we cannot shift the water off the 1st team pitch in time but we shall wait and see what comes. With the 2nds and 3rds enjoying their final scheduled weeks off before the end of the season, all attention turns to the 1st team. We still have the proud record of being the only side outside of the top five in this league to beat a side from within it. There have been 69 games played between sides on the divide so far this season, 66 wins for the top five, one draw for Bournville at home to Rotherham and our two wins over Fylde and Stourbridge. As good as Hull have been at the top of the league, with their testing run-in including home games against Rotherham, Sedge and Ionians as well as a trip to Fylde, you'd probably still make our visitors tomorrow the favourites for the league, although it looks like it will be a hugely tight run thing to the end. This will be their first ever visit to Mortimer Park and we will need every ounce of noise that you can muster as supporters to create the kind of one-off atmosphere that inspires our lads in these types of fixtures.
Sunday the mini and junior action is highly weather dependent. At the moment it is not looking good with the rain forecast, but we will do our best to get some rugby happening where we can. In the meantime I hope this storm causes no issues for our wider membership and we sincerely hope to see and hear you in full voice tomorrow!
Smithy
The content included in Lucsline does not necessarily represent the views of Luctonians Sports Club Ltd, and is the responsibility of the editor or contributors of those specific pieces.
