8. 2003-2004

President: Tony Smith
Chief Executive: Douglas Hamilton
Hon. Secretary: Bill Stewart
Hon. Treasurer: Andy Briggs
Club Captain: Keith Johnson
Club Coach: Steve Olivier

OBITUARIES

Soakai Manukia Otuvaka (Soa)
Soa, aged 25 years, sadly lost his brave fight against a brain tumour during the night of Monday 29th March 2004.

Soa tragically left a wife, Jenny, and two small children Eric (aged 3) and Lily (aged 1) - all our thoughts are with Soa, his family and his great friend Epi during these very sad and difficult times.

Soa, with Epi, illuminated Tynedale and endeared themselves to the people of Tynedale following their arrival in this country in 1997 and Soa will be remembered fondly by Tynedale people of all ages.

Soa was not just an exceptionally talented rugby player but an exceptionally well-mannered, kind and loving person with a wickedly infectious laugh who quickly built a bond with club members where his love of children was legendary.

Everyone will have their own cherished memories of Soa - one I shall treasure is the unbridled delight and joy on Soa's face as he acted out the role of Santa Claus at a Mini's Christmas Party in 1998.

Hector Rutherford
Hector died on 29th February 2004, aged 92 years.

Hector came from probably Tynedale RFC's most famous rugby family - with brothers the late Will and Walter (who was 90 years of age last year and is living in Canada) they were outstanding players for Tynedale during and after the Second World War.

Philip Wright
Philip lost his brave and courageous fight aginst cancer on Saturday 13th September 2003 at the tragically early age of 24 years.

Since the initial diagnosis of his illness in June 2001 Philip continued to display an amazingly positive and inspirational approach to life, continuing to train and play whenever his condition and treatment allowed - Philip turned out for the Raiders midway through last season.

Philip was an extremely popular lad whose open, honest and modest manner was so refreshing - he will be sadly missed.

Jack Kent
Jack, a life member of Tynedale RFC, died at home after a short illness on Wednesday 22nd January 2003.

Jack played for the club as a prop, playing in the first XV for many years before dropping down the sides. He played into his forties and many will fondly remember his period as captain of the third team when before he started his half time team talk he would produce a bag of mints to pass around.

After a long playing career Jack picked up the responsibilty of Team Secretary, an important role which he carried out in a meticulous fashion and later took on the responsibilty of Membership secretary. Jack was a quiet, friendly man who preferred to keep a low profile even when he was well into his second gallon of beer.

Derek Stephenson
The Club was stunned to learn of the death of Derek on Wednesday 15th January 2003 at the tragically early age of 40.

Derek was a fine local sportsman who excelled at many sports including soccer and cricket as well as rugby - he had also recently taken up rugby refereeing.

During his years at Tynedale Derek represented the FirstXV for many seasons where his natural, if at times unpredictable, talents were demonstrated in all positions along the backs from scrum half to full back - on his day Derek was equal to the best.

Derek was a very likeable person who left behind many friends who will have very fond memories.

SENIOR PLAYING RECORDS
First XV ( end of season)
39 different players represented the 1st XV in 31 games.
No of tries scored = 73
Top Points Scorer - Phil Belgian 194 points (3 tries, 1 drop goal, 25conversions, 42 penalties)
Top Try Scorer - Ben Duncan (10 tries)
Peter Southern, Ed Holmes and Aaron Charlton wre the only players to be involved in every match.

Raiders ( end of season)
65 different players represented the Raiders in 22 games.
No of tries scored = 88
Top Points Scorers - Greg Dawson 118 points (2 tries, 30 conversions, 14 penalties)
Top Try Scorers - Jerome Parker (13 tries)
No player was involved in all 22 matches - Dicky Hall and James Johnson appeared in 21 matches
Grasshoppers ( end of season)
72 different players represented the Hoppers in 22 games

Hadrians (end of season)
77 different players represented the Hadrians in 13 games.
Total
164 different players represented the senior sides in the club.

NATIONAL LEAGUE THREE NORTH (2003-2004)

CLICK HERE to download/view Club Results
CLICK HERE to download/view 1stXV teams, appearances and scorers
CLICK HERE to download/view 1stXV Match Reports

FIRST XV SQUAD - STATISTICS (as of Oct 2003)
Number in squad 40
Average Age 24.3 years
Number of Backs 17
Average age of backs 22 years
Number of forwards 23
Average age of forwards 26 years
Average age of forwards without Richard and Edward Parker 24.6 years
Members over 6ft tall 22 (55%)
Members over 16 stone 12 (30%)
Number who played mini rugby at Tynedale 14 (35%)
Number who played junior rugby at Tynedale 14 (35%)
Number who played Colts rugby at Tynedale 16 (40%)
Number who played for Tynedale before 2000 25 (62%)
Number of Farmers 8 (20%)
Number of Students 11 (27.5%)
Married 6

CUP SUCCESSES
The 1stXV defeated Morpeth 20-6 at Kingston Park to retain the Northumberland Senior Cup.
The Grasshoppers defeated Alnwick III 57-24 at Ponteland to win the Northumberland Junior Cup.

Border District League Administrator, Neil Crooks, was informed that Hawick Harlequins and Hawick Trades were unable to fullfill their remaining league fixtures (both had to travel to Tynedale).

At this point there were two contenders for the league championship - Kelso A and Tynedale Raiders. Neil recalculated league standings of Kelso and Tynedale after removing points gained against the two Hawick sides leaving Tynedale champions.

CLICK HERE to download/view further details.

March 2004

Three Tynedale players have brought honour to themselves and the Club by being selected for Scotland International Squads.

Jamie Murray and Paul Boston fly out with a 12 man Senior Scotland Squad on Sunday 21st March to take part in the Hong Kong and Singapore Sevens Tournaments. The Hong Kong Sevens take place 26th-28th March whilst the Singapore Sevens take place 3rd-4th April.

Ben Duncan has been selected for the Scotland Under 21 squad which plays France.

SNIPPETS

• A new entrance gate sign was erected, a commercial dishwasher purchased for the kitchen and a new touch-line marker purchased.
• The kitchen was refurbished with a new floor and new units.
• The clubhouse car park was resurfaced.
• There are plans to install a new disabled ramp on the eastern side of the clubhouse, provide a new clubhouse entrance on the east side and alter the ladies toilets to provide space for a disabled toilet.
• The Environment Agency are to rebuild the protective mound at the east end of Tynedale Park in the Summer and re-fence the area.
• Edward Robson took over the running of the Club Shop.
• The Rugby Club Cricket team retained the Tynedale Cricket Club Knockout Cup when they defeated 'The Feathers' in the final on Sunday 31st August 2003.
• A pewter tankard bought in a sale at Rothbury and inscribed to Basil Liddle, one of Tynedale's most famous players of the 1930's, was kindly donated to the club by Mrs Edna Robson of Morpeth, and now resides in the trophy cabinet.
• The club investigated the possibility of providing floodlights for the First XV pitch to enable evening matches to be played. Any decision will be dependent upon costs, grants and planning.
• A cheque for £5,165 was received by the club (July 2003) from the Northumberland Rugby Union as a Conditional Cash Funding award.
• Jack Harrison (QEHS) was selected for the England U18 team and participated in a tournament in Italy.
• Several schoolboys with Tynedale connections were selected for the North Schools Under 18(September) squad and played in the Interdivisional championships at Castlecroft: Mike Woodhouse, Jack Harrison and Matthew Fieldhouse from QEHS and Hamish Smailes from Sedbergh. Phil Ludford from Dame Allans was selected for the January squad who played North Clubs.
• The Raider's match against Hawick Linden was abandoned after 62 minutes when both sides agreed to call it a day after a couple of serious injuries to Tynedale players had badly disrupted the match. Shane Auld was taken to hospital with a bad ankle injury sustained late in the first half and Jonathan Mock then sustained a broken ankle midway through the second period. Both players were taken by ambulance to Hexham Hospital where Shane was diagnosed has having severe ligament damage and Johnny a fracture. The Raiders also lost Cameron Baty, Jerome Parker and Greg Dawson to injuries during the match.
• The Raiders won the Journal Team of the Month award for September.
• England International Steve Bates joined the Tynedale coaching team and assisted in coaching the 1stXV squad on Thursday evenings.

TYNEDALE FEATURE IN RUGBY TIMES

The October 24th edition of the Rugby Times features a review of Tynedale Park in the weekly paper's "Grounds for Debate" article. Tynedale Park comes out reasonably well in the review scoring 73% - putting us about "mid-table".

Marks awarded were:-

ACCESS: 9/10
CAR PARKING: 9/10
STAFF ATTITUDE: 7/10
COMFORT & CLEANLINESS: 9/10
PROGRAMME: 8/10
CATERING: 4/10
SCENERY/SURROUNDINGS: 10/10
BARS: 7/10
CLUB SHOP: 2/10
VIEWING/SHELTER: 8/10

Interesting extracts:-

"The views all around were magnificent. I kept asking myself how many variations of the word 'wonderful' I could use in this piece to describe the beauty of the place. The calm and tranquility of the surrounds were broken by the occasional train passing by and the drone in the far distance of a plane landing at Newcastle Airport."

"Before the match I tried to purchase a lunch but was twice refused for no apparent reason. Others appeared to be more successful. It took three attempts to get a cup of coffee although I was lucky enough to be able to obtain a bread roll. Some time after the game had ended a hatchway opened and those in the know were able to buy pasties. It was all so strange."

"I kept asking about a club shop and was continually informed that items would be put on show 'shortly'"

"Although only of sixteen pages, the programme was an excellent effort containing reams of news and detail."

The review also features in a recent book called "British Rugby Grounds - A guide to 50 rugby grounds in Great Britain"

ALAN IN INDIA
Alan Gledson headed off to India during the second part of September to coach the Indian National squad. The IRFU (Indian Rugby Football Union) appointed Alan as a coach for the All India tournament in Mumbai and the Provincials in Sri Lanka. Alan returned home in early November describing his experience as "really excellent".

India will be touring England in December 2003 - playing several matches in the Midlands where Alan will link up with them again.

INCORPORATION
Following approval of amended club rules at Part 2 of the 2003 Annual General Meeting on 21st October 2003, the club was incorporated under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 on 7th January 2004.

The effects of this incorporation are:-

• The name was changed to "TYNEDALE RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED"
• The Committee has the power to borrow money up to a ceiling of £50,000 or such sum as the members may agree at a General Meeting.
• The Committee will decide upon the different classes of membership and every member will have one vote at general meetings.
• The affairs of the club will be administered by a Committee with the power to appoint all sub-committees and set subscriptions.
• There are safeguards for disaffected members who can call a special general meeting on notice.
• The officers and committee members are elected annually at the AGM.

TYNEDALE GRASSHOPPERS (2003-2004)

HOPPERS LIFT COUNTY CUP IN SUPERB STYLE
Tynedale Grasshoppers a name that was synonymous with the Northumberland Junior Cup in the 90’s is back on the trophy.
Victory in the final at Ponteland came thanks to a display of fast flowing and open rugby rarely seen at this level. Alnwick it seemed had trawled the North Northumberland coast for the biggest and most experienced rugby players available and were able to boast a combined pack weight of over 150 stone. Tynedale in contrast had an average age of only 22 and were seriously lacking in size throughout the team.
It was however the Tynedale pack that made the initial impact after only three minutes, when a series of recycled phases led to Andrew Neal taking the ball deep into Alnwick territory and recycling for Ross Gray to score. Gray added to this with a wonderful chip through a mere four minutes later to give Tyne a 12 - 0 lead only seven minutes in.
This woke the Alnwick forwards up and for the next 20 minutes they enjoyed total control, crashing ball after ball in up front only being stopped by the mammoth tackling of the Prices and the dogged resistance of Riddell putting in tackle after tackle. Eventually the pressure told and the lines broke as Hills touched down for Alnwick to complete a forwards’ move.
Alnwick may well have viewed this as a lifeline but the re-start found its way to Day within his own 22 and he turned on the gas, leaving Alnwick players in his wake to score an 80 metre try. Disheartened Alnwick reeled and Tynedale stepped up a gear, passing the ball sublimely with Horncastle not allowing the ball into contact and Gray and Sedgewick turning the Alnwick defence every time Tyne got the ball.
Again the ball came out to Gray, who kicked ahead, putting the full back under pressure. He was closed down in turn by Paolo who through the ferocity of his tackle caused a spillage of the ball. Riddell was fastest to react and supported by Baty he was able to score under the posts.
Now the Hoppers were truly dominating and three minutes later Rutherford crashed a ball in tight. It was recycled and Horncastle played in Price who again made good yards. This opened up a wide gap and again Tyne distributed with ease out to Baynes. He made his way through to the 22 and played back inside to Crosby who beat the last man with an unselfish pass to Sedgewick who finished a great team try.
Tynedale settled in for the half time break but a rare mistake gave possession back to Alnwick forwards. Under the sweltering sun maybe the break was in Tynedale’s minds as they buckled under the sheer weight of the Alnwick forwards who ultimately scored. With the heat taking its toll Captain Neal made two changes at half time and continued this policy throughout the second half, using all six substitutes. This proved to be a key factor in stopping any Alnwick resurgence as their reluctance to use subs left 15 very tired pairs of legs on the field at the finish.
The second half began much as the first had gone. Tynedale continued to invite Alnwick forward and contained them with some ferocious tackling. The Hoppers counter attacked with pace and skill not allowing Alnwick a chance to defend. It was from a fast counter attack that Tyne stretched their lead to 31 points with the try of the match. First Price broke clear, before passing inside for Baty to take up the play. He popped the ball up for Rutherford who was ably supported by Stewart, who went to ground under a tackle. Horncastle moved the ball on immediately to Davison who played Sykes back inside. Sykes nearing the line was about to be halted when he passed back to Howe who looked likely to score after side-stepping the fullback but he unselfishly played the ball back to Sykes who was in the perfect position to register the the try of the match.
The try had come from a total of 12 passes without a tackle from the opposition!
A disconsolate Alnwick battled on under the blazing sun and were able to add two late tries to earn respectability through Pool and Grey. However, the outcome was confirmed when in true Hoppers style substitutes Tyler and Barlow broke the gap and Tyler popped the ball up inside the last man to Stewart, who broke through a desperate tackle on the half way line to complete the rout with a 60 yard try.
The celebrations lasted well into the night and the name of Tynedale Grasshoppers sits proudly back on the cup where it belongs. In collecting the cup, Neal thanked his players for a memorable season which has seen the Hoppers rack up a record of 30 wins and only seven defeats and which ended on such a high note with possibly the best performance in the history of the Hoppers.
Special mention should also go to John Fletcher who has won the player of the year award for the Hoppers but due to breaking his hand in the semi-finals was unable to play.
Other award winners were Robert Sedgewick for leading try scorer and James Robinson for most valuable player.

(Back Row) J Fletcher, S Riddell, D Tyler, A Barlow, S Paola, A Day, R Rutherford, R Sedgewick, K Horsfall, S Price, S Davison, C Stewart, R Baynes, J Baty, I Dodds
(Front Row) R Gray, J Robinson, M Price, B Horncastle, A Neal, J Sykes, S Phillips, G Crosby, A Howe