Tuesday 31 July 2007

Ravens ready to roost at Princes Park

The fans, players and administrators of Kent Ravens Rugby League Club are counting down the hours to the biggest event in the club’s short history, their inaugural match at the new Princes Park stadium in Dartford. The move to the stadium, which will be shared with Dartford Football Club, will highlight the remarkable progress the Ravens have made since forming in 2004.

Initially based in nearby Eltham, the men’s first team have worked their way up through the local amateur ranks, from the London League in 2004 to the Rugby League Conference Regional in 2006 and the Rugby League Conference Premier in 2007. The progress hasn’t only been limited to the men’s open age squad, a successful youth set-up has been developing whilst the club also boasts one of the south’s best women’s outfit.

Older rugby league fans will be aware of the code’s patchy history in Kent, most notably the short lived Kent Invicta club of the early 1980’s. Several amateur clubs have at various points left their mark, albeit many temporarily, on the history of rugby league in the area, but it is the Ravens who have hopefully laid the foundations for more substantial development.

This is not to say it’s all been plain sailing for the Ravens, the step up to the RLC Premier has been a big ask for the club. The southern division of the RLC Premier is arguably the toughest of all the regional divisions, a sign of the growing strength of amateur rugby league in the south of England. The Ravens currently sit bottom of the division and on Friday night face a London Skolars RLC Premier side hoping to leapfrog reigning champions South London Storm into second place and guarantee home advantage in the semi-final playoff against the Storm.

An upset against the Skolars would no doubt be the icing on the cake for the Ravens and most of the unprecedented 500 fans that have already bought tickets for the match, but win or loss the future is looking good for the Kent outfit.

* Tickets for the game priced at £5 will be available on the gate, for directions and ground details click
here for the Kent Ravens official site.

Sunday 29 July 2007

History beckons as the Challenge Cup Final returns “home”

The results of this weekend’s Challenge Cup semi-final fixtures have set-up the prospect of a truly historic final befitting the return of rugby league’s grand day out in the sun to its spiritual home Wembley.

Holders St Helens will be the favourites to retain the trophy they collected last season at Twickenham, their comfortable victory over Bradford showing that whilst this season’s form hasn’t hit the highs of last year when they swept all before them, they remain the most dangerous side in British rugby league. But the imagination is really being captured by Les Catalans Dragons, the Perpignan based side who will become the first non-British side to contest the final.

Some had claimed it was “written in the stars” that former cup kings Wigan would return to the scene of their former glories to collect the trophy for the first time from the new Wembley stadium. However, the rest of the rugby league community were far less generous in their aspirations for the club following the recent salary cap scandal. If Wigan were already unpopular for profligate ways during their period of dominance, they are arguably even more unpopular at present due to the widespread perception that the club is attempting to resurrect those glory days by less than fair means.

As it was any script written in the stars was brought down to earth by a gutsy performance from the Dragons, a breath taking first half showed just how good the men from Perpignan can be when they hit their stride whilst the second half saw them tough it out in the face of a cherry and white fight back. Nobody doubts that they will face a far sterner test than Wigan when they line up against Saints in just under a month, but Mick Potter’s men may feel they have nothing to lose and in the Challenge Cup fairy tales do occasionally come true as Sheffield Eagles proved in 1998.

Rugby league fans love an underdog and it’s a fair guess to suggest that when the Catalans run out on to the pitch on August 26th most neutrals will be rooting for them to win, whether or not they get their fairy tale ending another chapter in rugby league history will be written.

RLC Premier Roundup

The RLC Premier South is heating up with St Albans Centurions claiming the minor premiership following the failure of Kingston Warriors to raise a side for this weekend’s clash. They will now meet either South London Storm or London Skolars A in the regional final to be played at The Stoop before Harlequins game against Wigan on August 18th.

Reigning champions South London Storm have hit a patchy run of form winning just four of their last seven games seeing them fall into an unfamiliar second place, whilst London Skolars A are staging a late run to overtake them from third and gain home advantage for the semi-final playoff for the second spot in the region final. If yesterday’s game is any guide the match-up should provide a thriller, with Skolars A sneaking an away win against the Storm with a last minute drop goal.

Much will depend on the final round of fixtures with Kingston Warriors visiting Storm Park next Saturday, whilst London Skolars A will be the inaugural visitors to Kent Ravens new home at Princes Park. The Ravens have found it tough this season, having stepped up a division, but will be hoping to mark the beginning of a new era in the club’s history with a victory against one of the division’s big sides.

Monday 23 July 2007

Skolars down Town

London Skolars picked up their fifth win of the season away at Workington Town yesterday. The victory showcases perfectly how far the club has progressed in its short lifetime, even ten years ago it would have been considered madness to suggest that a student old boys side from North London would be competing professionally with long established clubs from the rugby league heartlands.

On a more immediate note a run of five victories in the last eight games has been fitting reward for Latham Tawhai’s side after a tough start to the season.

A full match report is here.


Workington Town: (12) 24
Tries: Lavulavu, Sidlow, Lunt, Blair
Goals: Forber 4

London Skolars: (6) 31
Tries: Hodgkinson 2, Coleman, Maitua, Nowland
Goals: Thorman 5

Dropgoals: Thorman

Sunday 22 July 2007

Giants step over tired Quins

A lacklustre display from the home side saw Huddersfield Giants run out comfortable victors yesterday at The Stoop, with the 06 – 22 score line flattering a Harlequins side struggling to inject any effective structure or shape into their play.

The signs were ominous early on, with Quins defence looking lethargic in response to early probing from the Giants attack. It was therefore almost inevitable when Chris Nero finally broke free of the cover ten minute in to surge away for the opening try. For periods of the first half it looked as if the Giants might score at will, before loose control on the final ball conspired to thwart several promising plays.

Quins struggled on and managed a couple of breaks only to find the quality of the support play or on occasion the final decision making lacking, till Julien Rinaldi finally found a killer pass to send Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook crashing over close to the sticks. A halftime score line of 6 – 6 gave Quins much to be grateful for and the home fans false hope that the second half may bring an improvement.

There was to be no significant improvement in the Quins second half performance as injuries started to take their toll on a side that has punched well above its weight in recent weeks. Shortly after the break Nero added a second try for the Giants as the visiting forwards began to impose their dominance on the game, giving a platform for their decision makers to keep Quins on the back foot. Chris Thorman playing from fullback was impressive, chiming up into the line to put in effective kicks with predictable reliability, whilst Brad Drew operating off the bench injected fresh impetus into the Giants decision making. By the time Thorman converted Steve Snitches try to make the scores 6 – 16 it looked as if the floodgates were ready to burst on Quins.

However, Quins managed to keep their nerve and again looked like they might undeservedly force themselves back into the game when the ever reliable Paul Sykes ran in a try just after the hour mark, but was unable to convert his own effort leaving the sides a single converted score apart at 10 – 16. Unlike the Giants, the Quins decision makers seemed short on mutual understanding; the talismanic Mark McLinden jinked and weaved but found little support for his efforts, whilst halves combination Danny Orr and Scott Hill appear to have completely lost any understanding they appeared to be developing early in the season.

As the second half conditions deteriorated in a rainstorm the Quins forward laboured on in workmanlike fashion, but injuries to Joe Mbu and David Mills all but nullified chances of standing-up the Giants pack. It was clear that absence of first choice back-rowers Rob Purdham and Henry Paul had blunted effectiveness, whilst the penetrating runs of injured prop Daniel Heckenberg were sorely missed.

When standoff Kevin Brown jinked his way to a try with just over ten minutes remaining it was clear that any hopes of a late revival to snatch an undeserved victory had gone. Huddersfield can take full credit for a professional performance in which they outshone their opponents in every facet of the game.

Afterwards Quins coach, Brian McDermott, seemed philosophical about the result, perhaps recognising the way in which his side has in the opinion of many over-performed in recent rounds. The loss of winger Jon Wells early in the game and the knocks to Mills and Mbu symptomatic of a side running on empty. McDermott will no doubt be glad of a weekend off, in which to reassess the damage to his increasingly threadbare squad and regroup for the visit of championship contenders Leeds Rhinos on the 5th August.

Harlequins RL: (6) 10
Tries: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Smith
Goals: Sykes

Huddersfield: (6) 22
Tries: Nero 2, Snitch, Brown
Goals: Thorman 3

Sunday 15 July 2007

Skolars stun Cougars

London Skolars picked up their third consecutive home win yersterday with a 39 – 20 win over Keighley Cougars at New River. The Cougars preparation were disrupted by traffic problems on their way down from Keighley and were blown away by a first half onslaught from the home side.

A full match report will appear here.

London Skolars: (26) 39
Tries: Hodgkinson, Benson, Honor 2, Tozer, Lynton
Goals: Thorman 7
Drop Goals: Thorman

Keighley: (4) 20
Tries: Sutcliffe, Eaton, Knight, Sutton
Goals: Eaton, Knight

Friday 13 July 2007

Quins fall to resurgent Hull FC

Quins RL suffered their first defeat in three games against Hull FC away at the KC Stadium tonight. Despite the return of Danny Orr to the halfback role and an early lead from a Tyrone Smith try the side failed to find their form against a youthful Hull FC side.

A full match report is here.


Hull: (8) 20
Tries: Horne, Hall
Goals: Tickle (5), Hall

Harlequins RL: (8) 8
Tries: Smith
Goals: Sykes (2)

Wednesday 11 July 2007

Joe Lydon joins Quins

Following on from yesterday’s news of improved ticket sales at Quins RL this season it has been reported that former Great Britain RL star Joe Lydon will be joining the marketing team on a part-time basis.

Lydon who has spent much of the last 7 years working as a skills coach for the RFU is looking to re-establish himself in rugby league club administration. Although Lydon is not known as an administrator, he is recognised as one of the game’s highest profile personalities due to his involvement with the RFU and his reputation as an articulate broadcaster.

Hopefully Lydon will be able to provide a fresh impetus to a Quins RL marketing team that has looked short of ideas on occasions this season and recently saw the departure of long-time marketing manager Chris Warren due to his own broadcasting commitments.

Storm Dream Team announced

South London Storm announced their dream at the weekend, the Thornton Heath based outfit who are the reigning Rugby League Conference Premier champions are currently celebrating their tenth anniversary

To see the full list click
here.

Good news from Quins

Harlequins RL yesterday announced a year on year uplift in ticket sales for the season to date, and with further high profile home fixtures remaining it is hoped this will continue.

The news comes as a welcome relief for many Quins fans on the back of long standing sniping criticism from the fans of many M62 corridor clubs about the level of support for London based clubs. Rugby league is a sport infamous for the parochial agenda of some fans who resent the expansion of the game beyond its traditional “heartlands” in the northern counties of England, despite the financial reality that modern professional sports need to be progressive in their outlook if they are to remain healthy. It was Sky Sports, the sport’s major paymaster, who facilitated the elevation of London Broncos to the inaugural Super League competition realising that a club in the British capital was crucial to establishing a higher profile for their investment and whilst all the clubs were happy to take the money on offer not all fans were happy with progress.

The status of Quins RL and its earlier incarnations as British rugby league’s most significant expansion club has attracted criticism of special treatment from the game’s administration, sometimes credible and sometimes based more on mythology than any substance (particularly in the case of the London Broncos holding company which was forced into liquidation by the Inland Revenue in 2005). Whilst it is true that Quins have been given special exemption from the player quota for several years, the quota has increasingly become a paper tiger due to the loopholes allowed by EU employment law, whilst flexibility with the laws of the game has never been a feature unique to the treatment of London based clubs.

The movement of the club from base to base over the past 27 years has undoubtedly hindered the development of the club, at each stop off the club has attempted to build-up a local presence only to see it abandoned with the next move. A firm settlement as Quins RL, at a modern stadium like The Twickenham Stoop which offers much needed facilities for hospitality, with solid management from the likes of Ian Lenagan will hopefully finally allow the club to develop the strength and depth it needs to become a serious challenger to the M62 clubs.

It’s also good to see the announcement that there are now 15,000 school children covered by the Quins development programme headed up by Kurt Pittman, the flow of players coming through the development system in the last couple of years has been a major bonus for the club and has removed the reliance on overseas players. With the Super League looking to reduce the number of imports and the club itself seeing the end of any advantage the quota may have once given, the development programme offers the chance to compete on a more even basis with the M62 clubs when it comes to tapping into the young player pool. There is massive potential in the South East of England and the growing improvement in the academy system and grass roots development is beginning to attract envious glances from some in the traditional heartlands.

Whilst there is a long way to go for Quins RL to truly establish itself as a serious threat to clubs such as St Helens, Bradford and Leeds improved ticket sales and promising youth development are positive steps in the right direction
.

Sunday 8 July 2007

Quins slay the Dragons

Quins RL picked up their third consecutive win over Les Catalans Dragons this season with a 30 – 22 win at The Stoop yesterday.

The Dragons arguably played some of the most attractive rugby of the evening, but Quins countered with a more consistent performance throughout the match. The most controversial moment came with Rikki Sheriffe’s try just after halftime, a sublime break from talismanic Mark McLinden saw the Quins fullback offload as he was being dragged into touch, with Rikki Sherrife first to the resulting loose ball to claim the try.

A full match report is here.

Harlequins RL: (18) 30
Tries: Paul (2), Gafa, Sheriffe (2)
Goals: Sykes (5)

Catalans: (12) 22
Tries: McGuire, Greenshields, Raguin, Bosc
Goals: Bosc (3)

Crusaders overrun Skolars

London Skolars suffered a heavy defeat in Bridgend yesterday afternoon away to National League Two favourites Celtic Crusaders.

A full match report is
here.

Celtic Crusaders: (14) 50
Tries: Duggan, Ballard 4, Van Dijk, Dalle Cort, Mapp 2, Wyatt
Goals: Van Dijk 5

London Skolars: (0) 6
Tries: Lynton
Goals: Thorman

Monday 2 July 2007

Featherstone end Skolars run

Featherstone Rovers brought London Skolars three match winning streak to an end yesterday at the Chris Moyles Stadium, running out 30 - 10 victors.

A match report is here.

Featherstone: (20) 30
Tries: Handforth, Dickens 2, Whittle, Kirmond, McHugh
Goals: Dickens 3

London Skolars: (0) 10
Tries: Hodgkinson, Coleman
Goals: Thorman

Sunday 1 July 2007

Grey skies fail to dampen Quins resolve

The raggedness of Quins victory at The Stoop yesterday afternoon was rather fitting given the gloomy skies and intermittent drizzle. Leading into the match the fears were that Quins lightweight pack would struggle against the bigger Hull Kingston Rovers forwards, but in the end the greater mobility of the home side gave them the edge over a Robins side that often lacked invention outside of a couple of clever kicks from Paul Cooke.

Brian McDermott’s selections raised a few eyebrows with Zebastian Luisi, best known as a fullback, being selected at scrumhalf and Matt Gafa, who normally plays wing, again being selected in the back-row. Michael Worrincy started at prop, having been used in that position when Quins visited Craven Park in February, whilst Henry Paul moved from the back-row to standoff to cover the absence of Scott Hill.

In what was to be a scrappy first half the Robins took an early lead from a Cooke penalty, but it was Worrincy who crashed over from short range to give Quins the first try after ten minutes, Paul Sykes converting. Minutes later the scores were levelled when Ryan Tandy found a hole in the Quins defence to touchdown, but Cooke was off target with the conversion attempt.

At times it seemed that the home side were attempting to play dry weather football, distribution was frequently out of sync with balls being pushed to dummy runners who were then picked off with brutal effectiveness by the Rovers defence, whilst both sides regularly coughed up possession cheaply in the greasy conditions. However, it was clear from an early stage that Quins kicking game had the advantage over the men from Hull, with fullback Mark McLinden in particular coming up into the line to put in some effective kicks to turn around the big Robins pack.

Quins restored their advantage seventeen minutes in when Tyrone Smith pushed himself through a hole out wide as the Robins defence failed to slide quickly enough, Sykes adding his second goal for a 12 – 6 score line. Just three minutes later the scores were again levelled when Cooke received the ball first receiver from the scrum and put through a cheeky little kick behind the Quins defensive line, fullback Mark Lennon was first in the race to collect and Cooke added the conversion.

For a time it looked as if the conditions would nullify the attacking threat of both teams, a run of knock-ons and dropped balls marking out the play, but the best move of the game was to come on the half hour mark when Chad Randall initiated a Henry Paul orchestrated piece of free running rugby which was to see the hooker fittingly finish off the move with a try. Sykes’s conversion was to send the sides into the halfway break at 18 – 12.

After the interval Quins tidied up some of their play, cutting down on errors and Julien Rinaldi picked up the tempo of the attacking game with some snappier distribution from the play the ball, but a genuine fear emerged that the side may run out of players as Randall, Joe Mbu and Worrincy all felt the effects of heavy knocks.

The first points of the half were claimed by Sykes via a long range penalty, but the hour was up before Chris Chester claimed the next try for the visitors, Cooke’s goal pulling the scores to 20 – 18. The response was almost immediate when two minutes later Gafa found his way over, Sykes goaled and an 8 point margin was restored.

Rovers continued to plug away but lacked any cutting edge, Quins resolute ball and all defence shutting down the middle channels. The main threat came from towering kicks from Cooke, but even in the poor conditions it wasn’t enough. In the final ten minutes, Rikki Sheriffe had the chance to seal the game for Quins, but dropped a ball from Sykes with the line begging although the pass was almost certainly forward. In the end it was prop Louis McCarthy-Scarsbrook who exploited some tired legs to race through a gap on the stroke of fulltime for Quins fifth try.

In retrospect it may not have been the prettiest of wins, but given the conditions and the rather threadbare look of the Quins squad Brian McDermott will take much heart from his side’s gritty performance.

Harlequins RL: (18) 32
Tries: Worrincy, Smith, Randall, Gafa, McCarthy-Scarsbrook
Goals: Sykes 6

Hull KR: (12) 18
Tries: Tandy, Lennon, ChesterGoals: Cooke 3