Reigning London ARL champions South London Storm II were knocked out of the competition at the weekend by St Albans Centurions II.
The Centurions will travel to Hainault Bulldogs this weekend for the first semi-final, Hainault qualify as London ARL minor premiers, a remarkable result in their debut season.
The second semi-final will see third placed Eastern Raiders travel to second placed Southgate Skolars (a joint venture between London Skolars and Southgate College).
Both quarter finals will be played on Saturday 11th August, for venues and times see club websites or London ARL website.
Tuesday, 7 August 2007
Greenwich fall to the Roosters
Greenwich Admirals defeat by Cambridgeshire side St Ives Roosters at the weekend ended the capital’s involvement in the Rugby League Conference Eastern Division. The Roosters will now go onto play division topping Bedford Tigers in the regional final this coming weekend to progress into the national finals series.
A match report can be found here.
More details of the game between Bedford and St Ives can be found here.
A match report can be found here.
More details of the game between Bedford and St Ives can be found here.
London Skolars clash moved
London Skolars National League Two home game against Gateshead Thunder this coming Saturday has been switched to Finchley Rugby Club to accommodate an athletics meeting at usual home New River Stadium.
More information can be found here.
More information can be found here.
Monday, 6 August 2007
Skolars swoop on Hawks
London Skolars continued their recent run of good form with a 6 – 32 away win at Hunslet Hawks yesterday. The victory keeps alive their slim hopes of achieving a playoff spot, although realistically their slow start to the season makes such a prospect unlikely.
A match report can be found here.
Hunslet Hawks: (6) 6
Tries: Bravo
Goals: Robinson
London Skolars: (10) 32
Tries: Nowland 3, Hodgkinson, Webster
Goals: Thorman 5, Lynton
A match report can be found here.
Hunslet Hawks: (6) 6
Tries: Bravo
Goals: Robinson
London Skolars: (10) 32
Tries: Nowland 3, Hodgkinson, Webster
Goals: Thorman 5, Lynton
Quins wilt in the midday heat
Harlequins RL produced two starkly contrasting performances either side of the half-time break yesterday as they fell to a rampant Leeds Rhinos sides in the baking heat of The Stoop.
Quins started brightly with a Paul Sykes try after ten minutes, only to see the lead cancelled by Jamie Thackray’s trampling run ten minutes later. Consistent pressure from the home side saw the Rhinos give away a string of penalties which ultimately resulted in the sin binning of fullback Brent Webb on twenty-five minutes for three high tackles in less than ten minutes. The card came too late for many who felt that Webb deserved a full red for the first and worst of the three high shots which typified the niggling performance of the Rhino’s in the opening period.
With Leeds down a man Quins quickly capitalised on the advantage with Scott Hill, providing one of his better performances this season, squeezing over for a try, closely followed by Mark McLinden whose weaving run finished off a good passage of open play. Two conversions from Sykes took the home side into the break with a well deserved 16 – 6 lead.
It was after the break that things started to go wrong for Quins, a series of unforced errors and poor ball control placed them under unnecessary pressure, whilst Leeds cleaned up their own act. Eight minutes into the second half Webb took the chance to redeem himself with the try that sparked the visitors’ revival, his effort closely followed by one from Jordan Tansey to put the Rhinos back in front. Quins fans new it wasn’t to be their afternoon when referee Phil Bentham was conned into giving a penalty for a non-existent ball steal on fifty-five minutes, with Kevin Sinfield touching down from the resulting position.
From that point onwards the game was a one sided affair, characterized by Leeds capacity to strike from deep. The Quins had no answer to the Rhinos speed and the quality of their support play, Gareth Ellis, Scott Donald, and Jamie Peacock all adding tries. A seventy-fifth minute try from Danny Orr, briefly interrupted the flow of traffic, but that’s all it was as Danny McGuire replied immediately followed by a second try from Webb in the final minute.
Ultimately the game highlighted the difference in depth between the two sides, in particular a Leeds pack featuring no less than five full Great Britain internationals up against a Quins forward line down to just two regular prop forwards and a winger filling in at second-row. However, coach Brian McDermott will have identified elements of the performance in both halves for attention before next Sunday’s away game at Wakefield.
Harlequins RL: (16) 20
Tries: Sykes, Hill, McLinden, Orr
Goals: Sykes 2
Leeds: (6) 54
Tries: Thackray, Webb 2, Tansey, Ellis, Sinfield, Donald, Peacock, McGuire
Goals: Sinfield 7, Tansey 2
Quins started brightly with a Paul Sykes try after ten minutes, only to see the lead cancelled by Jamie Thackray’s trampling run ten minutes later. Consistent pressure from the home side saw the Rhinos give away a string of penalties which ultimately resulted in the sin binning of fullback Brent Webb on twenty-five minutes for three high tackles in less than ten minutes. The card came too late for many who felt that Webb deserved a full red for the first and worst of the three high shots which typified the niggling performance of the Rhino’s in the opening period.
With Leeds down a man Quins quickly capitalised on the advantage with Scott Hill, providing one of his better performances this season, squeezing over for a try, closely followed by Mark McLinden whose weaving run finished off a good passage of open play. Two conversions from Sykes took the home side into the break with a well deserved 16 – 6 lead.
It was after the break that things started to go wrong for Quins, a series of unforced errors and poor ball control placed them under unnecessary pressure, whilst Leeds cleaned up their own act. Eight minutes into the second half Webb took the chance to redeem himself with the try that sparked the visitors’ revival, his effort closely followed by one from Jordan Tansey to put the Rhinos back in front. Quins fans new it wasn’t to be their afternoon when referee Phil Bentham was conned into giving a penalty for a non-existent ball steal on fifty-five minutes, with Kevin Sinfield touching down from the resulting position.
From that point onwards the game was a one sided affair, characterized by Leeds capacity to strike from deep. The Quins had no answer to the Rhinos speed and the quality of their support play, Gareth Ellis, Scott Donald, and Jamie Peacock all adding tries. A seventy-fifth minute try from Danny Orr, briefly interrupted the flow of traffic, but that’s all it was as Danny McGuire replied immediately followed by a second try from Webb in the final minute.
Ultimately the game highlighted the difference in depth between the two sides, in particular a Leeds pack featuring no less than five full Great Britain internationals up against a Quins forward line down to just two regular prop forwards and a winger filling in at second-row. However, coach Brian McDermott will have identified elements of the performance in both halves for attention before next Sunday’s away game at Wakefield.
Harlequins RL: (16) 20
Tries: Sykes, Hill, McLinden, Orr
Goals: Sykes 2
Leeds: (6) 54
Tries: Thackray, Webb 2, Tansey, Ellis, Sinfield, Donald, Peacock, McGuire
Goals: Sinfield 7, Tansey 2
Saturday, 4 August 2007
Skolars win but fail to spoil Ravens party
A party atmosphere descended on Princes Park, Dartford, last night as the Kent Ravens Rugby League team made their inaugural appearance at the new state of the art stadium. A crowd of around 500 were entertained by a full-blooded and at times frenetic Rugby League Conference Premier clash between the Ravens and visitors London Skolars.
The nerves of the Ravens players were palpable as the opening kick sailed out on the full and the Skolars used the resulting penalty to put them under early pressure. The Skolars almost capitalised immediately with the standoff’s clever dinking kick along the ground into the corner proving just too deep for the impressive speedster on the right wing.
The Ravens then took their chance to attack and a scoot from the play the ball by the fullback caught out the Skolars defence who resorted to giving away a penalty for holding down. The Kent side built on the possession to work the ball across the field, with forward Steve Scanlan showing great strength to bulldoze over the line and write a little piece of history with the first try at Princes Park four minutes in to the game. The Ravens lead lasted just three minutes, the Skolars right winger finding a gap out wide with his own scooting run into the corner to level the scores.
It was twenty minutes before the next score was to arrive, the Skolars kept the ball alive with some ambitious offloads which saw them eventually crash over close to the sticks. Skipper Kurt Pittman added the conversion to give his side a 6-point lead. This was the sign that the men from New River were to hit their first purple patch of the game, two minutes later a break and clever pass from the standoff found the fullback running an intelligent line to touch down beneath the sticks. A brave rally from the Ravens required some gutsy try line defence to deny them before the Skolars pulled out a long range move down the left hand touchline to find themselves under the sticks again.
The closing ten minutes of the first-half were to be a showcase for the Skolars right centre-wing partnership, first a break down the right hand flank saw the winger push the ball back inside as he was dragged into touch to put his centre in, then three minutes later the centre reciprocated with a long looping pass to send his winger into the corner following a well worked move orchestrated by the scrumhalf.
Despite some tired the legs, the Ravens remained committed and their persistence was rewarded with a second try when Daniel Smart smashed his way over on thirty nine minutes, with Thomas Claridge adding on the conversion to send the sides in to the break at 10 – 30.
The first five minutes of the second half saw both teams step up in attack, with both bombing gilt-edged chances with dropped balls under the challenge of some brutal, bone crunching defence. However, it took just eight minutes before the Skolars right centre found a way through some flat defence to stride away into the corner for the first try of the second half.
The Ravens again rallied and put the visitors under the most concerted period of pressure in the whole game. The home sides won themselves a series of back to back sets via a goal line dropout and a penalty for holding down, but despite being virtually camped on the opposition line they could find no way through. At times the scenes were almost slapstick as the Skolars defenders hurled themselves in front of the Ravens juggernaut in desperate, last ditch attempts to hold the line.
The Skolars finally broke the Ravens resolve on the hour mark, a solid set of six in attack punched them down the field and a drive over from close range extended the lead to 10 – 38. A minute later the standoff latched on to an offload thirty metres out to jink his way over and the floodgates had opened as the Skolars entered their second purple patch of the game. Three more tries followed in close succession as the visitors took advantage of some tiring defence on the Ravens left hand flank, before the right wing broke on the opposite side to feed the fullback for the final try on seventy five minutes.
To their credit the Ravens refused to let their heads go down and continued to take the fight to the Skolars to the very end, earning a standing ovation off the field from the vociferous partisan crowd. Ultimately it was the greater experience of the Skolars, many with experience in National League Two, which made the difference. The Skolars were quicker to get the second and third man to the tackle, showed more awareness in their support running and slicker handling of the ball in particular the crisp distribution of hooker Kurt Pittman from the play the ball.
Kent Ravens have come along way in the last three years and despite what the score line may suggest the side have great potential that will develop as they progress along their own learning curve. In Princes Park the Ravens have a stadium to be proud of and in Kent Ravens the town of Dartford has a rugby league side to be proud of.
Kent Ravens: (10) 10
London Skolars: (30) 68
The nerves of the Ravens players were palpable as the opening kick sailed out on the full and the Skolars used the resulting penalty to put them under early pressure. The Skolars almost capitalised immediately with the standoff’s clever dinking kick along the ground into the corner proving just too deep for the impressive speedster on the right wing.
The Ravens then took their chance to attack and a scoot from the play the ball by the fullback caught out the Skolars defence who resorted to giving away a penalty for holding down. The Kent side built on the possession to work the ball across the field, with forward Steve Scanlan showing great strength to bulldoze over the line and write a little piece of history with the first try at Princes Park four minutes in to the game. The Ravens lead lasted just three minutes, the Skolars right winger finding a gap out wide with his own scooting run into the corner to level the scores.
It was twenty minutes before the next score was to arrive, the Skolars kept the ball alive with some ambitious offloads which saw them eventually crash over close to the sticks. Skipper Kurt Pittman added the conversion to give his side a 6-point lead. This was the sign that the men from New River were to hit their first purple patch of the game, two minutes later a break and clever pass from the standoff found the fullback running an intelligent line to touch down beneath the sticks. A brave rally from the Ravens required some gutsy try line defence to deny them before the Skolars pulled out a long range move down the left hand touchline to find themselves under the sticks again.
The closing ten minutes of the first-half were to be a showcase for the Skolars right centre-wing partnership, first a break down the right hand flank saw the winger push the ball back inside as he was dragged into touch to put his centre in, then three minutes later the centre reciprocated with a long looping pass to send his winger into the corner following a well worked move orchestrated by the scrumhalf.
Despite some tired the legs, the Ravens remained committed and their persistence was rewarded with a second try when Daniel Smart smashed his way over on thirty nine minutes, with Thomas Claridge adding on the conversion to send the sides in to the break at 10 – 30.
The first five minutes of the second half saw both teams step up in attack, with both bombing gilt-edged chances with dropped balls under the challenge of some brutal, bone crunching defence. However, it took just eight minutes before the Skolars right centre found a way through some flat defence to stride away into the corner for the first try of the second half.
The Ravens again rallied and put the visitors under the most concerted period of pressure in the whole game. The home sides won themselves a series of back to back sets via a goal line dropout and a penalty for holding down, but despite being virtually camped on the opposition line they could find no way through. At times the scenes were almost slapstick as the Skolars defenders hurled themselves in front of the Ravens juggernaut in desperate, last ditch attempts to hold the line.
The Skolars finally broke the Ravens resolve on the hour mark, a solid set of six in attack punched them down the field and a drive over from close range extended the lead to 10 – 38. A minute later the standoff latched on to an offload thirty metres out to jink his way over and the floodgates had opened as the Skolars entered their second purple patch of the game. Three more tries followed in close succession as the visitors took advantage of some tiring defence on the Ravens left hand flank, before the right wing broke on the opposite side to feed the fullback for the final try on seventy five minutes.
To their credit the Ravens refused to let their heads go down and continued to take the fight to the Skolars to the very end, earning a standing ovation off the field from the vociferous partisan crowd. Ultimately it was the greater experience of the Skolars, many with experience in National League Two, which made the difference. The Skolars were quicker to get the second and third man to the tackle, showed more awareness in their support running and slicker handling of the ball in particular the crisp distribution of hooker Kurt Pittman from the play the ball.
Kent Ravens have come along way in the last three years and despite what the score line may suggest the side have great potential that will develop as they progress along their own learning curve. In Princes Park the Ravens have a stadium to be proud of and in Kent Ravens the town of Dartford has a rugby league side to be proud of.
Kent Ravens: (10) 10
London Skolars: (30) 68
Wednesday, 1 August 2007
Speculation mounts over Lenagan bid for Wigan Warriors
Reports that Wigan RLFC major shareholder Dave Whelan is considering offloading his stake in the club has led to speculation that a consortium led by current Harlequins RL Chairman and majority shareholder Ian Lenagan is one of two contenders vying to gain control of the Super League club.
Whelan, who also controls Wigan Athletic Football Club and the JJB Stadium which both clubs share, is understood to be interested in selling following a series of events that have seen the club punished for breaching the Super League salary cap two years in succession, the team underachieve on the pitch and the decision of Chairman Maurice Lindsay to retire at the end of the season having increasingly become the target of criticism from fans.
Lenagan, a successful businessman and theatre entrepreneur born and raised in Wigan, has yet to confirm or deny any interest, but is reported as retaining both close links to his hometown and a lifelong support for the Wigan club
Should Lenagan acquire control of the Wigan club it would undoubtedly cast doubts on the long-term future of Harlequins RL, the London based club he took control of in 2005. It was Lenagan who was the driving force behind the London club’s partnership with the Harlequins rugby union club which saw the rugby league club relocate to The Twickenham Stoop and re-brand from their previous incarnation as London Broncos.
Many fans of Harlequins RL understandably appear to be concerned at this development, although it’s far from clear whether Lenagan would be forced to offload his stake in their club following the acquisition of any stake in Wigan RLFC. Without Lenegan Harlequins RL may be forced to look for new investors, or alternatively look towards their partners Harlequins RU for support.
The other candidate for Whelan’s stake in the club is understood to be Chorley born millionaire Trevor Hemmings, the owner of Littlewoods Pools and Blackpool Tower, who already has several sporting interests including the majority shareholding of Championship football club Preston North End.
Whelan, who also controls Wigan Athletic Football Club and the JJB Stadium which both clubs share, is understood to be interested in selling following a series of events that have seen the club punished for breaching the Super League salary cap two years in succession, the team underachieve on the pitch and the decision of Chairman Maurice Lindsay to retire at the end of the season having increasingly become the target of criticism from fans.
Lenagan, a successful businessman and theatre entrepreneur born and raised in Wigan, has yet to confirm or deny any interest, but is reported as retaining both close links to his hometown and a lifelong support for the Wigan club
Should Lenagan acquire control of the Wigan club it would undoubtedly cast doubts on the long-term future of Harlequins RL, the London based club he took control of in 2005. It was Lenagan who was the driving force behind the London club’s partnership with the Harlequins rugby union club which saw the rugby league club relocate to The Twickenham Stoop and re-brand from their previous incarnation as London Broncos.
Many fans of Harlequins RL understandably appear to be concerned at this development, although it’s far from clear whether Lenagan would be forced to offload his stake in their club following the acquisition of any stake in Wigan RLFC. Without Lenegan Harlequins RL may be forced to look for new investors, or alternatively look towards their partners Harlequins RU for support.
The other candidate for Whelan’s stake in the club is understood to be Chorley born millionaire Trevor Hemmings, the owner of Littlewoods Pools and Blackpool Tower, who already has several sporting interests including the majority shareholding of Championship football club Preston North End.
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