Yorkshire Carnegie
Ring a Ding Ding!
Richard Skuse, once Ding
By Peter Creek
January 15 2009
It is not often that the mere name of the opposition brings a smile to the face of a Leeds Carnegie fan, unless of course it is Toulouse and the occasion is the HC final. This week, however, the lads travel to Bristol to play Dings Crusaders in the cup and the name certainly made me laugh. Unfortunately for them there is not a wealthy philanthropist called Ding backing the club.
The club was formed at the end of the nineteenth century in the notorious Dings slum area of Bristol between Temple Meads and Fitton Hill. It certainly was a crusade as it was a bunch of bible-bashers who started the club in an effort to get the local hoods to take up sport. The Dings Crusaders have been playing ever since and have moved grounds several times in the last 110 years. The hoods currently ply their trade at Lockleaze in the lugubrious suburbs of north Bristol and in National 3 South. The equivalent in Leeds would be for Moortown to play in N3North. Can you imagine that? Well of course you can if you associated with the club! Bristol has always been a hotbed of rugby. A hundred years ago there were more than twenty clubs in the city. There is still an august body called the Bristol & District Rugby Football Combination. Dings takes it’s rugby seriously and the tradition, started in the 1890’s, of hard uncompromising rugby, persists to this day. On Saturday I expect the ‘Negie fans who make the trip to exhort the man in the middle to “Ping that Ding!” at every indiscretion by the homies.
The home side also has a cunning plan to beat Leeds, conveniently laid out on the club’s website. Neil Back will have different view to that. With the postponement of the Manchester fixture he may well field a stronger side than he would have done in order to give squad players game time. January and February are not particularly taxing months for the ‘Negies in the league so a cup run would provide a series of decent work-outs for the squad with the prospect of tonking those pesky injuns for a third time this season at HQ in April to look forward to.
For those of you making the trip the directions are easy:
South down the M1. A38 to the M6. M6 then M5. Turn onto the M4 eastbound, turn right onto the M32. Come off at J1 take the 1st exit off the roundabout onto the Avon Ring road. Turn left at 2nd roundabout onto Gloucester Road which becomes Filton Road. Turn left into Toronto Road which becomes Bridge Walk. Then fork left into Melton Crescent. Cross Wordsworth Road into Bonnington Walk then take the 1st left into Landseer Avenue. The club is at the end of this road. Easy! For those of you who live in Bristol – you can find your own way there!
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15/01/2009 22:51
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Suffering on the Leeds and Yorkshire roller-coaster since 2001
