2008-09: Midlands 3 Champions

With a more or less unchanged side and having made such a big improvement the previous season, promotion was a real prospect this time around. However, trial games and the opening friendly against Camp Hill suggested we were some way off finding our best selection and this proved to be the case in the opening league game against Nuneaton Old Edwardians. After a scoreless first half, the Old Ed’s ran in three tries to secure the points.

Our second game was against newly promoted Spartans, from the northern tip of Warwickshire. This was the first ever league meeting between the clubs, although we had played them in the Warwickshire Cup. Having shaken off the cobwebs from the first week, the pack got on top and the backs sparkled in the autumn sunshine to score 7 tries. The only disappointment was a broken wrist for skipper Danny Birks, which kept him out until after Christmas. Nick Maxwell took over as skipper.

1st XV 27 September 2008 – Gordon Jackson, Alex Carroll, James Hersey, Alan Roberts, Simon Harry, Mark Baldwin,

Scott Conduit, Danny Ruyssevelt, Patch Northover, Dick Jewitt, Marcus Pask, Kit Forrest – Tom Secher, Jamie Hiles,

Danny Phillips, Simon Magill, Nick Maxwell, Terry Curran, Tom Williams, Adan Preece

The improved form continued into the next game, at home to Newbold and the backs let rip again. Barkers Butts visited the following week and they defended stubbornly all afternoon. Chances were missed and Barkers took the points with a 13-0 win. Old Coventrians away was expected to be a big test of our promotion prospects and they had started their programme well, but with the front-row of Danny Phillips, Nick Maxwell and Matt Timlin ensuring plenty of ball, the backs scored four spectacular tries - two apiece for Secher and Magill - to secure a comprehensive win.

The opening game in the EDF Senior Vase brought us up against Aston Old Edwardians. The visitors seemed to be heading for a win until we reshuffled the team for the final quarter and in three dramatic minutes of injury time, tries by Derek Jones and Tom Williams tied the match and Secher converted the Williams try from out wide to decide the outcome at 32-30. This spectacular finish put us in good heart for the visit of Old Laurentians the following week and the unbeaten league leaders were blown away in brilliant fashion, by 45 points.

After a comfortable win over Silhillians, Earlsdon were our next visitors and they came with a clear plan to stifle our forwards and deny possession to our in-form backs. It worked a treat and the Coventry side were well ahead by just after half time. Tries by Magill and Leigh Cleary brought the game back to life and in another grandstand finish a try by Scott Conduit was controversially disallowed before a second Magill effort in the corner brought us back to 20-22, but Earlsdon held out.

We bounced back with a victory at Berkswell & Balsall and then paid the price for resting a few players and went out of the EDF Vase at Worcester Wanderers, the community arm of the Premiership club, who were on their way up the leagues. Back on league duty, a try from the kick-off by Steve Hersey set us on our way to a comfortable win over Droitwich and this was followed by an emphatic victory at Kidderminster and a second success against Berkswell & Balsall, to wrap the pre-Christmas programme.

In the Warwickshire Cup, at New Year, we had the worst possible draw, against regular winners and Midlands 1 champions-elect Broadstreet. Our slim chance of success became even slimmer when we had to concede home advantage due to frost at Moorefields. After falling behind to two first-half tries we came out fighting in the second period and laid siege to the Street’s line with some brilliant rugby, eventually rewarded with a try from Derek Jones. But as the game drew to a close the effort told and players began dropping like injured flies. We eventually ran out of substitutes and in our depleted state conceded three very late converted tries as Broadstreet went through by the flattering margin of 44-8.

The league programme resumed with us leading the field. Earlsdon were a point behind and Nuneaton OE and Old Laurentians two adrift, but with a game in hand. On the road, we had won all of our games, suggesting that our home programme in the second half should be relatively easy and how we handled the away fixtures against the leading sides was likely to decide our promotion prospects. The first of these was at Earlsdon in mid-January and as at Moorefields, they played an effective game of containment. After dominating the first quarter, we fell behind to two penalties but appeared to have turned the game around with brilliant long range tries from Pete Blunt and Adam Preece before Earlsdon clawed their way back with three more kicks to nick the game and take over at the top.

First XV – 2008-09 Kit Forrest (Manager) Neil McMillan, Richard Harry, Gordon Jackson, Danny Birks, Lewis Kelsey, Steve Hersey, Alan Roberts, Peter Blunt, Mark Warrilow, Marcus Pask, Scott Conduit, Simon Harry, Hannah Dudley, Dick Jewitt - Simon Magill, Tom Williams, Alex Carroll, Patrick Northover, Tom Secher, Ciaran Price, Adam Preece, Terry Curran, Simon Dudley, Nick Maxwell (Captain), Peter Preece (President)

After a comfortable win at home against Silhillians, our next key away game was against Old Laurentians who were thirsting for revenge after their stuffing at Leamington in October. As in the Earlsdon game, kicking made the difference as a succession of penalties put the Laurentians well ahead by half-time and they went on to win fairly comfortably. Earlsdon, having achieved the double over us, then went off the boil and it became a three-way fight for promotion, with Nuneaton OE leading by two points from ourselves and Old Laurentians. A home win over Old Coventrians led us into two tricky away games against Barkers Butts and Newbold. Steve Hersey was the star man against the Butts and his driving runs from the base of the scrum inspired the forwards to dominate the game. Newbold proved to be a difficult nut to crack and the forwards had to be on top of their game to hold out under pressure from the home team, but with the game in the balance at 6-6, Alex Carroll nipped in at the corner to score the winning try.

Another home win, against Spartans, took us into what was effectively the championship decider against in-form Nuneaton Old Eds, who had disposed of Old Laurentians the week before. In a confident start, we dominated the first quarter, but had nothing to show for our efforts and the powerful Old Ed’s forwards then got on top and laid siege to our line before scoring tries either side of half-time to lead 12-0. Things were looking grim, but the forwards upped their efforts and we went back on to the attack. A penalty by Tom Secher put us in touching distance and tries from Simon Magill and a spectacular long-range effort from Alex Carroll put us in front. Secher converted to complete the best 18-12 comeback since the Russians beat Napoleon.

Two wins would now secure the championship, but any loss would probably mean third place and finishing out of the play-offs, Kidderminster were our final visitors and they were seen off in fine style culminating in Neil McMillan instigating the try of the match as he gathered the ball from a kick-off and began a forward move which went the length of the field and was finished off in style by Pete Blunt.

The climax to the season was at Droitwich and with everything at stake we opened up in brilliant style and controlled the match from start to finish. First half tries from Patch Northover and Pete Blunt put us in front and settled the nerves of the large travelling support. With Danny Ruyssevelt adding a third try in the second period and Tom Secher keeping the scoreboard ticking over we were rarely troubled and victory, promotion and the championship were achieved by 26-3. The winning side at Droitwich was: Adam Preece, Danny Ruyssevelt, Alex Carroll, Tom Williams, Simon Magill, Tom Secher, Patch Northover, Ciaran Price, Nick Maxwell, Mark Warrilow, Simon Harry, Neil McMillan, Pete Blunt, Steve Hersey, Danny Birks

So, having been in serious danger of relegation to our lowest ever level two years earlier, the improvement of the previous season was maintained and we played some of the most skilful and exiting rugby seen at Moorefields for many years. Coaches Alan Roberts and Alex Carroll and stand-in skipper Nick Maxwell developed the playing style and team spirit around a talented group of three-quarters and a mobile pack. The threes ran the ball from everywhere and scored some sensational tries. Full back Adam Preece was usually involved, running back every ball he received all season. He was rewarded as Player of the Year. Patch Northover and Tom Secher at half-back were always a step ahead of the opposition and Tom finished as top try scorer with 16 and top points scorer with a splendid 231. Simon Magill scored 14 tries from the other wing. Having lost his long-term partner, “Sooty” Smith, Alex Carroll teamed up at centre with newcomer Gordon Jackson and then Tom Williams.

Although some of our opponents had bigger more powerful packs, no-one could match the mobility and fitness of the Leamington eight and they developed into an increasingly formidable unit as the season progressed. Steve Hersey was a powerful force at No.8 and with Danny Birks and Pete Blunt injured for much of the season, Scott Conduit, Tony Rose, Lewis Kelsey and Danny Ruyssevelt all played regularly. Kelsey received the Most Improved Player of the Year award. Ciaran Price, a former junior, returned to the club after Christmas and added to the front row roster which included Mark Warrilow, Nick Maxwell, Marcus Pask, Terry Curran, Matt Timlin and Danny Phillips, who, although he was out of action after Christmas with a broken hand, won the Young Player award. With Rob Butler leaving we were short at second row alongside Simon Harry, but Neil McMillan slotted in after Christmas to take the pressure of the creaking knees of Alan Roberts. The success of the team was recognised by the selection of Warrilow, Hersey, Preece, Price and Kelsey for Warwickshire at the end of the season.

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

Bottom of Form

First XV 2008-09 (Midlands 3 West) Danny Ruyssevelt, Danny Phillips, Neil McMillan, Dorian Ward, Gordon Jackson, Marcus Pask, Pete Blunt, Lewis Kelsey, Mark Warrilow, Matt Timlin, Terry Curran, Danny Birks, Steve Hersey, Alan Roberts, Simon Harry, Scott Condit, Kit Forrest ( Manager), Alex Carroll, Nick Maxwell, Simon Dudley, Patch Northover, Simon Magill, Ciaran Price, Tom Secher, Adam Preece, Tom Williams, Hannah Dudley (physio)

This season saw the introduction of a new Warwickshire League structure for second and third teams, the idea being to provide a more competitive environment below first team level. It was split into three divisions.

Gareth Eastham captained the Extras, supported by team manager (and match secretary) Bryn Evans and they played in Warwickshire 1. They opened their season against Nuneaton OE, having drawn them in both the League and in the Warwickshire 2nd XV Cup. It was agreed to have a winner takes all game, rather than play twice, which the Old Ed’s won, by 46-3. The Leamington side was - Derek Jones, Matt McLachlan, Ben Pithouse, Kieran Harris, John Cooper, Peter Davis, Matt Davies, Gareth Eastham, Chris Timms, Terry Curran, Gez Robinson, Ryan Howell, Phil Evans, Jamie Hiles, Ezz Pointer. After that poor start, the side picked up well and competed strongly with 12 wins from the next 17 games, but after a draw at Spartans, when they had led 21-0, their form dropped off in the final matches and they finished fourth. Pete Salmon was top try scorer with 10, closely followed by Matt Davies and Dave Moroney, with 9 apiece. Matt Davies was player of the year and Paul Troman the most improved player.

Dave Ward’s Spartans played in Warwickshire 3 and they had a much better start to their league programme with a 35-0 win over Coventry Welsh, with evergreen Simon David scoring a hat-trick. The Spartans went on to challenge strongly for the new championship and won all their games before Christmas, the highlight being a 117-0 win against Old Coventrians in November, the second highest score in the history of the club. The line-up (plus try scorers) for this 19 try romp was: Matt Dale (4 tries), Mark Jones, Simon David (3), Dudley Turner, Richard Watkins (2), Derren Nisbet (1), Stuart Chamberlain (1), Ian Gascoigne, Ian Oliver (1), Phil McGaffin, Paul Troman (1), Andy Thomas, Joe O'Meara, Dave Ward (1), Roger Crockford (2). Replacements - Andy John, Dave Thomas, Jordan Riggon (2), Ross Dewey, Ali Speight, Andy Richards, Shaun Smith

Joint-top with Broadstreet at Christmas, the two sides met in January and in a game we dominated, a dubious late try resulted in a single point win for Broadstreet. Although we remained in contention for a while longer, the form of the side dropped-off as some of the old legends ran out of steam and we lost the last four games to finish third. The Spartans then formed an end of season touring party to Alicante and in the only match played, they failed to distinguish themselves, as they lost to a Gibraltar 2nd XV by over 50 points. This was despite our hosts only having 13 players – although they were very young and fit and not hung-over. Whilst there, they met up with a group of our vice-presidents from the Queen’s Head, Cubbington, who were also on tour at the time and the two groups are pictured below – Stan Brignall, Andy Gardner, Nick Harrington, Derren Nisbet, Richard Watkins, Paul Troman, Dave Johnson, Ross Dewey, Julian Sharif, Roger Crockford, Ian Oliver, Stuart Chamberlain, xxx – Simon David, Dudley Turner, Matt Dale, Pete Cerlo, Andy Milner, Dave Ward

2nd XV 2008-09 Tarquin Snell, Pete Davis, xxx, Tom Williams, Ryan Oliver, Richard Blunt, Lewis Kelsey, Mark Baldwin,

John Cooper, Elliot Poynter, Alistair Speight – Keiran Harris, Leigh Cleary, Ben Pithouse, Gareth Eastham, Matt Davies,

Chris Timms, Derek Jones, Tony Benyon, Dave Barry (Physio)

The Colts won 8 out of 18 games and in the unofficial Warwickshire merit table they finished half-way, a record which would have been better if we had been able to play more of the lower placed sides, who cancelled most of their games against us. With what was a fairly young side comprised more or less equally of under-18, under-17 and under-16 players they showed great enthusiasm against what were usually older teams.

2009-10: Struggle in Mids 2, or was it 1?

Lol Smith and Ianto Moody, two of the club’s great stalwarts and Honorary Life Members, passed away in the summer. Lol joined the club on leaving school and he made his debut in 1951-52. He became Rugby Chairman in 1969 and finished playing in 1972. He later became Club Chairman and Secretary. Ianto joined the club in 1954/55 whilst stationed at RAF Gaydon and was an outstanding player at scrum half or wing forward. He was club captain twice and later became the club's first coach. He was Secretary for ten years. We also said goodbye to Les Woodfield, who retired after serving for 18 years as the club steward. Staffing and managing the bar reverted to being a mainly volunteer activity.

The RFU kindly gave us a second promotion, but in name only, when they increased the size of the league to 14 teams and re-designated Midlands 2 as Midlands1. The extra games meant that clubs were excluded from the national cups, as there was no room for these in the programme. After leading the side though most of the previous campaign, Nick Maxwell took over as skipper. Several players moved on - Mark Warrilow and Kieran Price to Rugby and James Hersey to Broadstreet. We were also to be without winger Simon Magill for the season as he recuperated from knee surgery. There were some newcomers however - John Raby returned from Kenilworth and brought with him Matt Cooper, a powerful young wing-forward. Another back-row acquisition was Ben Pirie from West of Scotland, who unfortunately struggled with injuries.

We got off to a great start, against Solihull when we ran the visitors off their feet to win by 40 points. Away at Stoke-on-Trent in the second game, we dominated the play, with our mobile pack running the heavy opposition around and the points were clinched with a brilliant break by Tom Secher who ran the length of the field before setting up Adam Preece. Our first local derby with Stratford for three years provided a stiff test and a try from Ben Pirie, on his debut, was decisive. Hopes of making it four in a row were dashed when we visited Sutton Coldfield and fell victim to some crucial referring decisions in a game we dominated. A late try secured the game for Sutton, with two Leamington men in the sin-bin.

First XV 2009-10 - Alex Carroll, Danny Phillips, Lewis Kelsey, Jim Robertson, Nick Maxwell (captain), Alan Roberts, Simon Harry, Terry Curran, Scott Conduit, Gordon Jackson, Neil McMillan - Matt Cooper, Patch Northover,

Tom Secher, Marcus Pask, Simon Dudley, Danny Ruyssevelt, Jon Raby, Adam Preece

Debutant Matt Cooper put us in the lead against Walsall, and Ben Pirie and Tom Williams both scored twice in a 43-10 win. We had started well, but we were about to be tested by co-leaders Bourneville and Burton, with a rapidly growing injury list. Bourneville proved to be a real handful, with a big pack and excellent backs and we conceded six tries. Burton were brilliant and took us apart, with the best exhibition of rugby seen at Moorefields for some years, scoring 8 tries and 50 points by just after half-time. We were looking at a real hammering, but helped by the referee kindly disallowing a couple of scores, we halted the flow. If the 53-5 score-line was not bad enough, a broken leg effectively ended Tom Williams’s career, and we were later deducted two league points for fielding an unregistered player.

At Camp Hill, we conceded two tries against the run of play to lose 7-12, but it was back to winning ways against struggling Cheltenham North, who suffered an onslaught as our backs and forwards combined to score 5 tries in the opening quarter. The injury situation was going from bad to worse with a dozen front-line players now out of action. The remnants of the squad travelled to Dudley Kingswinford and went down heavily by 14-68. Hopes were therefore not high for the visit of fourth placed Whitchurch, but in a strong second half display, we clinched a vital win.

Constant rain reduced the pitch to a quagmire for the visit of Nuneaton Old Eds which suited their powerful pack. Trailing for most of the game they came back to score two tries from close range and a late penalty, to nick the game by two points. Our first ever league encounter with Old Halesonians was also played in wet conditions and although we applied constant pressure in the second half to overcome an early deficit, we came up short. We were now slipping down the table at an alarming rate. Solihull, who had lost all of their games, dropped out of the league and their results were declared null and void. This meant that only two sides would go down. Stoke were one of the strugglers and they were our first return opponents in December. We were now getting back to strength and looked to be heading for an easy win, but the visitors turned the game around to lead by a point and with time running out we missed penalty in front of the posts.

Bad weather either side of Christmas caused five successive cancellations due to frost and snow. We were back into action with the visit of second-placed Bourneville in late January and led 17-11 until the visitors rumbled over from close range in the sixth minute of injury time, for a try that spectators close by claimed wasn’t touched down. A difficult conversion followed and we had lost by a point again.

Our first half showing at Burton was as good as any all season but unfortunately, we couldn’t keep it up and conceded 6 tries in the second half. Relegation was now a real prospect and our next game was at Stratford. After an even first half we totally dominated the second period with the back row of Pirie, Cooper and Blunt outstanding as we ran out well deserved winners. The visit of Camp Hill gave us a huge opportunity to start moving up the table, but in a poor game, the Birmingham side came out on top with all points coming from penalties.

Twice postponed due to the bad weather, our opening tie in the Warwickshire Cup was against Dunlop. The game was eventually played in midweek under lights at Keresley and being in between two vital league games, we fielded a mixed team of first and second XV players and lost 15-8.

We were again badly hit by unavailability when we entertained Sutton Coldfield (left). Our depleted pack played with tremendous spirit and after we were gifted an interception try, two more glorious chances to seal the game were missed. Having been let off the hook, Sutton finished strongly to gain a flattering win. We were more or less back to strength for the visit of Dudley-Kingswinford and went into the lead but failed to play the referee and conceded 14 penalties, with 3 yellow cards, in the first half. Dudley took advantage of this to go in front, but when Blunt touched down with five minutes to go, the conversion would have put us level. But Robertson hit the post and a few moments later a penalty to win the game sloped just wide and yet again we had gone down to a narrow defeat

A double over Whitchurch, despite another outbreak of yellow-card fever, almost ensured our survival with three games to go. After several weeks of dry weather, the heavens opened to ensure a typically heavy pitch for our visit to Nuneaton Old Edwardians. The Old Eds forwards stuffed the ball up their jerseys and as we again fell foul of the referee, we lost 10-20. With Stoke losing to Camp Hill, we were able to go into our penultimate game against Old Halesonians in a relaxed mood and on a good surface we turned on the style to score 9 tries. Our final game was against Walsall and this turned out to be a thriller, with Secher and Cooper outstanding in attack, but we ended up a man short and lost to a score deep into injury time.

The Walsall game, as it was in many ways a microcosm of the whole season - brilliant running, weakened by injuries and losing narrowly in the final minutes. We suffered from “yellow card fever” and continually put ourselves under pressure playing with men short. This and the lack of a top-class kicker cost us dearly in the many of the close games. Despite everything, the team played with great skill and spirit throughout and we finished in 10th place (of 14). But for the two points forfeited against Burton in October, it would have been a very creditable 8th.

Patch Northover was ever-present and was Player of the Season. Matt Cooper was top try scorer for the first team (with 10) and was Young Player of the Year. Danny Ruyssevelt, equally adept at wing-forward or three-quarter, was the Most Improved Player. Inspirational coach Alan Roberts won the Clubman of the Year award. At the end of season, the traditional official club tour was reintroduced after many years and we went to Bournemouth where we defeated local side Oakmeadians by 60-3. Some of the more respectable images of the tour are shown below. The club also started to take sevens seriously again with Jon Raby organising our side which reached the final of the Earlsdon event, losing to Silhillians, who were mainly imported Worcester players.

On tour – Patch demonstrates his pulling power; Robbo holds court and; Elvis makes a guest appearance

Gareth Eastham again led the Extras. Playing for a second season in Warwickshire 1, we finished in fourth place but never seriously challenged for the title. There were many high scoring games, some in our favour and others not, but two of our best performances were a 60-11 win over Barkers Butts and a 62-14 win against Kenilworth, who had earlier cried-off the reverse fixture. We also played Kenilworth in the second team cup and unluckily lost 27-29 to a penalty in the last minute, despite 4 tries from winger Simon Tyler. Simon scored 17 tries, including hat-tricks in two other games, as well as being a reliable goal-kicker. He was the club’s top try scorer. The side suffered the knock-on effect of first team injury crisis before Christmas and after the bad-weather break in mid-winter, found it hard to get going again and there was a high turnover in the side. Overall, we had an even record winning 13 and losing the same number.

the Spartans had a fairly good year season with 9 wins and the same number of losses and finished a creditable third in Warwickshire 3. After a bright start, winning their first five games, they lost to the top two sides, Manor Park and Newbold, but despite the club injury crisis these were the only defeats before Christmas. However, after the winter break, they also found it difficult to get going again and won only three more games, although these were against league winners Manor Park and Bedworth. This was a season of transition, with Richard “Wiggy” Watkins taking over as captain, with the old guard of Ward, David, Chamberlain, Gray and Co. fading into semi-retirement. The Dave Reeve memorial game at Easter was meant to be their swansong and plenty of players were available. Matt Dale was top point scorer with 75 and Johnny Phillips and Aaron Hunt were leading try scorers, with 6 each. In what is probably unique in the club’s history, three brothers - Aaron, Matthew and Oliver Hunt- sons of Kevin (pictured) - played in the same side against Shottery in December.

Spartans 2009-10 - Stewart Nunn, Mark Jones, Andy Scott, Adam Dewsbury, Harry Gooch, Chris Morley,

Dave Thomas, Matt Hunt, Matt Harris, Dave Johnson, James Gaynor, Richard Watkins (captain), Oliver Hunt –

Andy Siddle, Jon Phillips, Chris Grant, Nick Waters, Andy hart, Sam Nunn – Aaron Hunt

Bill Dalton and Paul Ford continued to look after a very young Colts side and although we managed to have a full squad most weeks, our opponents often didn’t and several games were cancelled at the last minute. We played only 12, compared to 18 the previous year, and although we failed to register a win, we still finished in lower mid-table in the Warwickshire Colts Merit Table, due to the points awarded to us due to cancellations. After Christmas, the squad was augmented by under-17 players and started to develop and show promise for the future. Charlie Gray captained the side and he was Colt of the Year. Sam Nunn was Young Colt and Andy Hart won the Fire in Your Belly Award (the “players’ player” trophy) which was presented by Kate Smith in memory of Lol, who had always supported the side.

Off the field, the club made an overall operating profit of over £4,000 and there were hopeful signs that with the mortgage on the gymnasium now finally paid off and reduced staffing costs on the bar we were in a more stable financial position than for some years. However, with the clubhouse and ground now 40 years old and ageing, there was an expanding list of refurbishment issues that needed to be dealt with, particularly in relation to electrics, water drainage and sewage and repairs to the driveway.

Dave Reeve Memorial Game v Kenilworth, Easter 2010