Yorkshire Carnegie
Thought for today
The Bogmeister
By WW
May 20 2013
Our season finally ended in the gloom of Kingston Park. After the first leg promised so much the lads were finally beaten in poor conditions which precluded running rugby. Newcastle now go in to the final all square and will, hopefully, win it and get the promotion that they deserve. So why am I so happy?.....
Well having thought about it we have endured a couple of torrid seasons in the Championship. Last season was especially bad and we ended it in a worse state than when we started, or so I thought. There was a lot of unrest amongst the senior players and most of them left the club along with some talented but disgruntled youngsters.
What set the scene for this latest season was the influx of very good players. A raid on Cornish Pirates yielded Smith, Myerscough and the Docs. Green came from Leicester, Goss & Burdon from Donny and Tussac from France. Josh Griffin made the transition from rugby league. Lee Imiolek was loaned from Sale.
Pre-season went to plan - two defeats and August was rounded off with a defeat at Meadow Lane. "Here we go again" we all thought. September was a mixed month - defeats at Plymouth and Newcastle wins at home to Jersey and Bristol. The Bris game contained 40 minutes of sublime rugby followed by 40 of nervy clinging on. A glimpse of our potential?
For me the first real signs of progress came in November. We demolished the Exiles in Richmond, cconverting every scrap of possession into points. This was followed by solid wins at Threshfield (Moseley) and Clifton Lane.
The winter months were not kind to us and we won only one league game (Plymouth) with defeats against Jersey and Donny being the low points. Newcastle came to Cross Green and we again showed potential with a 4 point defeat.
Despite the extension of winter into March and April the defeat at Castle Park seemed to galvanise the troops and we enjoyed six wins on the bounce - the loan of Rory Clegg igniting our back division!
Cometh the sunshine and we were playing Newcastle in the play-offs. A close win with some sparkling rugby sent ripples of shock along the banks of the Tyne. The final game saw some semblance of justice, but, during the 7 game winning streak Diccon Edwards had been busy tying in the players he wanted to retain to new contracts.
This , for me, was as important as the strong finish to the season. Next season we will have the nucleus of this season's squad plus some tasty additions - Hughes and Hannay have already signed up. Many of our squad are already looking their third campaign in the Championship.
The momentum of the last few months will carry us into the next campaign. We know where the dangers lie. We know what we have to do and for once we will have the squad to do it.
Happy? I cannot wait for next season.
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20/05/2013 08:17
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:06:23:16:49:42 by Wildwillie .
Hope he wins play of the season on Wednesday.
From the dross re Bedford at Otley to some superb displays
In the last few months we now seem to be on the right lines.
Saying of Chinese gentleman who has just died and was the world's oldest man.
