There was just a point in it as we lost by 24-25 to Peterlee & Hordern in the final of the Papa John competition on Saturday. There was a good crowd for the northern finals, played at Doncaster in sunny conditions and we got off to a good start with a try from Alex Johnston to take the lead. Peterlee came into the game with a penalty-try for collapsing and added another score soon after. We scored again through John Brear but were trailing 20-12 at half-time. A typical high-speed break by Connor Chamberlain was the highlight of the match and took us to within 3 points, but Peterlee scored again to lead by 25-17 as we entered the final stages. A converted try from Jake Dapplyn got us back in within a point and with time running out Gary Harvey sprinted down the left wing and was only stopped by what looked to be a high tackle, but the ref didn’t give a penalty try and the game ended. Although the result was disappointing it was a great game played by two good sides. Read John Warner’s full report and view the photos on the website

Meanwhile, back at Moorefields, the Royals took on Birmingham Bulldogs with a young team including three young guns – Tait, Rogers and Atherton – who all looked as if they had been playing League for years. We were only 18-24 down at half time but the Bulldogs pulled away in the second half to add another 20 points. There's a lot to take from this first league game and we will now build towards this Saturday’s home game against Telford. The Bulldogs had already played 3 games and showed they had played together. The Royals can take a lot of positives from the game as they build their shape develop set plays. Training is 7pm Wednesday if any Colts want to join the young guns!!

Fixtures
Mens
May 24th Telford Raiders H
May 31st Sherwood A
June 14th Coventry Bears H
June 21st Nottingham Outlaws A
June 28th Quantums A friendly
July 12th Telford Raiders H
July 19th Nottingham Outlaws H
July 26th Coventry Bears A
August 2nd Birmingham Bulldogs A
August 9th Sherwood
August 16th Finals day Leamington hosting the day. 2 games

Ladies
June 15th Hurricans H
June 22nd Hurricans A
July 20th Sheffield A
July 27th Nottingham H
August 3rd Telford A

U15's and Juniors – Dates for your calendars
31st/ 1st June Away U15's v Knights
7th June Home U15's v Sherwood
15th June Sherwood open festival
21st/22nd June Away U15's v Ravens
29th June Ravens open festival
5th/6th June Away U15's v knights
19th July Home U15's v Sherwood
20th July Sherwood open festival
26th/27th July Home U15's v Ravens
17th August Nottingham open festival

For this year’s autumn internationals, England are playing 4 games at Twickenham – Australia (Nov 1) Fiji (Nov 8) New Zealand (Nov 15) and Argentina (23 Nov). We have a set allocation of 28 tickets for each of the 4 games. Our tickets have been purchased as usual for the Australia and New Zealand games in the expectation that we will have the required demand. The arrangement is different this year for the Fiji and Argentina games, in that previously we have had no allocation for them but we could order as many as we liked, subject to availability. Given the high prices of the Australia and NZ tickets and the more modest prices for Fiji and Argentina, with the option of a reduced price for juniors, there may well be the full demand, but I intend to order them on a first come first served basis. Applications for Australia and NZ should be made by the closing date of Monday 16 June. Applications for Fiji and Argentina should be made asap whilst the RFU still has availability at different prices. An application form showing eligibility and prices is attached

We have now reached the end of the Union season. In-Touch will continue over the summer although it may not be every week. Items will also appear on the website. Rugby League will be continuing and we will report their results. Please note the dates below

15 July – AGM
1 August - Club dinner

Johnlizlyons@btopenworld.com