Hessle RUFC Chairman's Diary

Chairman's Diary

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24/10/2009 Encouraging Signs

Another week and Hessle again travelled away to West Park Leeds where they found the going tough.

It was good to see that they only conceded 4 penalties in a game that was well refereed and in which the game flowed. This helped the home team who, with some great handling and support, scored some well worked tries.

It was also encouraging to see the young players do their best and Jimmy Harrison getting over for his 3rd league try of the season.

I think it will only be a matter of time before we see some positive results being posted and the hard work of the summer being rewarded. Nevertheless, the attitude of the team is still positive and they deserve to see some reward soon.

It was good to see the stags win again against Withernsea 22-12.

Jammy and the boys are doing a great job as nearly every week he is losing players to the 1st team.

Players getting a mention are Will Thrustle and Matt Taylor. I am sure that as the year carries on more victories will follow.

31/10/2009 Proud to be Hessle

I am proud of all my players after todays game and I feel that we may have turned the corner with regard to results. I was especially pleased with Lee Evans, Josh Moore, Dave Leeman, Chris Tranmer and Mikey Ayres.

All the team played exceptionally well and being beaten by the Lads from Anlaby is always difficult. But every dog has its day and we will be back.

Also well done to the Stags. After having their team decimated and being let down by the usual suspects, they went on to fulfill the fixture with 10 men. The game was 12 v 13 but they put up a good fight before running out losers

The moral is always no matter how many players you have, you try to fulfill your fixture. Hopefully this will not happen too many times this season.

07/11/2009 Swine Flu Strikes

As you will probably know, the fixture against West Leeds was postponed after both Hessle and Hullensians were given permission not to travel by the YRFU because of an occurence of swine flu.

Seven of the Anlaby team came down with the virus and, seeking a postponement of their trip to West Park Leeds, Hullensians contacted the league secretary and advised of the dangers of their travelling to Leeds

The league secretary then rang Hessle and asked about the status of our players.

Adam Atkinson informed me that five had been struck down with the virus and the League then asked us to make the decision whether to travel or not.

As a club we chose not to travel in order to avoid passing the virus to West Leeds players, staff or fans.

This decision was not taken lightly and the game is now scheduled for the 21st of November.

26/11/2009 More to come?

After last week’s disappointing game against West Leeds we look forward to another trip to Leeds; this time we visit Moortown.

I can’t remember when our last visit to Moortown was, but after the collective soul searching at selection on Tuesday I am looking forward to a positive result this Saturday.

The coaching team are still finding their feet and it not easy for them at the moment; but they are sticking to it and when we come out of the spell we are in they will find the experience invaluable.

It was good to see a few more faces at the weekend and I am sure that, with a bit more support, we will see some improvement.

In conclusion, the motto I have adopted seems to be ringing true:

"We will get there in the end."

30/11/2009 An Improving Club

With renewed enthusiasm and, after a good week, we took a good team on another trip up the M62, this time to Moortown.

Although we did not get the result we needed the discipline was vastly improved and we did not suffer because of an undisciplined performance.

We just lack the cutting edge and the ability to maintain field position and put pressure on teams when on the attack. But, progress is being made.

Let's look forward to Saturday against a Pocklington team hopefully arriving with overconfidence after stuffing Goole.

It is also still good to see Jammy sorting the 2nd XV out. With lack of interest from the selected captain, Jammy is doing a great job and I know that they had a good win on Saturday against Hornsea in the merit table.

We hope to have 2 home games this week - let's hope it is a busy club on Saturday.

I must also mention the Colts team. They have being having some great results on a Sunday and Wednesday night.

I went to see the game against Malton and Norton and, after a slow start, they won easily. I do hear that they travelled to Pontefract on Sunday and, not being able to go through their usual warm up, started slowly and came unstuck and were beaten.

Oh well lads, you can't win every week; but remember the losses and it makes the victories a lot sweeter!
Yours in rugby
p.s
see you at the race night

"We will get there in the end."

07/12/2009 Time to keep positive

To say that I was disappointed at 4.45 on saturday is a understatement. I cannot remember being so frustrated at not getting the result. It seems to sum our season up.

Nevertheless, we have to pick ourselves up and go back again and not give up. Some of our players have done that and have not been seen at the club for some time; but I am proud of the players who have stuck to the task and keep having a go.

It would be easy to walk away from a challenge but i believe that we have a nucleus of players who want to play and be winners at Hessle. For these lads I will keep on trying to move the club forward.

On a more positive note, I hope to be giving you some good news shortly. Keep an eye on the home page for some updates.

This week we make the long trip to North Ribblesdale. Hopefully we can get a bus and make it into a away trip. This will need support from non playing members so watch this space to see if we can get a good away following!

In the meantime, let's try to keep positive. We have 2 games left before we see the new year in.

We had a good race night on Saturday and raised some cash for the club. Many thanks to all who contributed to making it a good night.

21/12/2009 Year End

Well here we are at the end of another year and it has been tough for a lot of us especially due to the economic crisis which has affected many of our members.

Nevertheless I am sure that with a bit of Christmas cheer we will be able to look forward with renewed passion to 2010.

On the rugby side I think we are just about to turn the corner. It has been difficult since September but our teams have stuck at it and I am sure that, with renewed optimism, we will make things better.

Can I ask you all to stick with the club, remain positive and next year we need to get some wins. Then we will all feel better

Lastly I would like to take this opportunity in wishing you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year

20/01/2010 Moving on.

Well done to everybody who got Vice Presidents day off to a great start by getting the game on. The pitch was playable at 9.30 but further rain meant that by 1.00 pm it was unplayable. Unfortunately we had to compromise the 2nd XV fixture and play the 1st XV game on the far pitch which, after some work, was just playable. I hope this is the last we have seen of the bad weather.

Then the 1st XV came up with a warming display of brutal rugby and completely outplayed our counterparts from South Yorkshire. All in all a good day!

Looking forward to Doncaster on Saturday. Another game we can win if the players have the same attitude.

With regard to the Stags, we need more comittment from some players. It is not just a case of turning up when you want. Jammy and the team put effort in trying to contact you and if you can try to help the lads out and tell them if you cant play

Looking forward to Saturday, lets enjoy our rugby.

16/02/2010 Change afoot.

This is a big week for the club. We play Hullensians and I hope we can pull off what would be a shock result and our first away win of the season. I know that it has been a tough season for many at the club but we still need to try to remain positive in the midst of what could be a negative vein.

I feel that we are not far away from getting some good news and when it comes we will certainly enjoy the good feeling it will bring.

Last week's game against West Park Leeds was, shall we say ... soul destroying. We were looking so good for so long and it certainly was the subs that made the difference and turned the score upside down.

Still, that will be all forgotten if we can get the right result this week.

With regard to the 2nd team; it has been an impossible job to get a settled team as many have been injured or called to 1st team duties. Alan W and Mike Curran are going to add their input into the job for the weeks leading up to the end of the season. With their help and players support I trust things will improve

In conclusion. The club will now open on a Friday night at 6 for any who would like a beer and, if you want to watch the rugby, we will pull the big screen down and watch the game.

23/02/2010 Looking Forward

Well, another week of hopes dashed by the opposition where we once again came way as losers. As I keep on saying - we have got to look forward and not back. We can dissect the game from Saturday but that is done now and we have to remain positive. I am sure we will.

We have our rearranged game with Huddersfield YMCA on Saturday and I do hope that we approach the game with the same intensity as we did this week.

We all hope that the same squad is available. We have Matt Donkin back for Saturday and, although Dave Leeman is out with a shoulder injury, I don’t think we have any serious injuries.

Remember the club will be open on Friday at 6.30 for the Rugby Super 14 and Super League.

Hull FC and Hull KR are being televised so get yourself down and watch some great rugby, and you will be helping the club at the same time.