Good afternoon and a very warm welcome to Pontefract for another very important League match for our First XV as we continue to strive to move ourselves away from the relegation area of Yorkshire 1. Pontefract themselves sit pretty in third place in the League having made a very successful return to Yorkshire 1 this season and they will no doubt be looking to continue their very impressive League form which saw them recently record a convincing win over Middlesbrough on the back of an easy win at Keighley and a home draw against Crossleyans. Our recent hard fought win against Old Brods has given us a 7 point cushion over Old Rishworthians and a 5 point margin ahead of Hullensians, but with away games against both still to come we cannot afford to take anything for granted and the end of the season promises to be every bit as exciting as it has been for the last few years, but still for the wrong reasons!

Despite there being no first or second team fixtures last weekend, there was still some great entertainment at the club with all 3 of the 6 Nations games broadcast across our much improved AV system and the thirds and fourths entertaining Morley and Mosborough respectively. Both games were close fought, exciting matches and a great advert for Junior teams Rugby, the fourths recording a 26-24 win in the early kick off and the thirds coming from behind to snatch a 21-19 victory with a try just 2 minutes from time against a very strong Morley team who currently lead their League by some margin. Once those games were concluded, the atmosphere in the Clubhouse was electric as the 6 Nations drew to its breathtaking conclusion.

On Sunday our Senior Colts had another important game with a top of the table clash against Mansfield and I was delighted to be able to watch an outstanding performance from our young men who ran away with a 46 points to 5 victory to seal their League titile with a massive victory. Congratulations to Colts Captain Harrison Green (centre, front cover pic) and the squad as well as a big “thank you” to the coaches and management staff who have done such a fantastic job this season. However, their seasonis not yet quite done as the Colts have a Yorkshire Plate Final to contest this weekend at Huddersfield. With kick off at 1pm and a coach organised to get players and supporters to Huddersfield, they can be guaranteed a strong following as they go for a League and Cup double and I am sure they go with the best wishes of everybody else in the rest of the Club.

Today we host our annual Farmers’ Lunch pre match in the Clubhouse and we are always grateful for the support that they offer to the Club, not least because of the amount of money they contribute to bar takings when they get together and the special atmosphere they bring to the Club on such occasions. With Openfield again coming up trumps by getting us a win when they sponsored the Brods game, we are hoping that we can once again rely on our Farming Fraternity to “bring home the bacon”.