Evening folks and welcome to what will be a very short blog this weekend with no rugby at Pottington road to speak of as the season slowly ebbs it’s way to it’s finale. The Chiefs are on the road to take on Loughborough Students whilst the Tic’s travel to Brixham for their final qualifying game to reach the 2nd XV team cup final. Next weekend it’s a break for everyone for the Easter holidays and then it’s the Chiefs final home game against Stourbridge on April 15th. Before all that though just a few notices for you of what is coming on the horizon.
Last Saturday the Colts absolutely smashed it as they welcomed Okehampton to Pottington road knowing that they needed a bonus point win to reach the Devon Colts Shield final and boy did they do it. Firing out of the blocks the Colts took the game by the scruff of the neck and scored within the first 10 minutes and by the 30 minute mark had already scored the four tries needed. The second half also saw a flurry of tries that saw the Colts reach the final with a 45-5 win over Okehampton. Now they face Topsham for the Shield on Sunday April 16th, with all the Colts Finals being played here at Pottington Road and our very own Barnstaple Colts kicking off for the Devon Colts Shield final at 1pm.
The final game of the season for the Chiefs is at Exeter Uni on April 22nd, if anyone fancies a day out at the county’s capital. For the Tic’s it’s a date at Pottington Road on the 15th April as they play their semi-final depending on which cup Athletic are playing in their Semi-Final that day, and if the venue draw favours the Bucc’s for the Dave Butt Cup then they might also be at home on April 15th with the final also on the 22nd April as well, no venue has been picked yet, so please keep an eye on social media and this website for updates, yes I know it is very complicated and I’m not sure I can even keep up with it.
Sunday the 23rd April we have Boxing on at the club see the poster below for details. Always a great sporting spectacle and very much worth the entry fee.
20th May – Women of North Devon, we are overjoyed to let you know that Nightwalk is back for 2023. After two postponements due to unavoidable national events, Nightwalk is back on the track, returning to the Tarka Trail on Saturday 20th May. For further information click this poster below.
Players Reunion Lunch – September 2023
The Commercial Committee of Barnstaple Rugby Club are organising a players reunion lunch in September 2023. It will be open to all ex-players who have played for Barnstaple at any level and in any era.
The event will coincide with the second Chiefs home fixture of the season. The fixtures will not be announced until late July, but the Reunion Lunch will be on either 16th or 23rd September.
The lunch will comprise a one course buffet with casual table/seating arrangements. The expected cost of the event, including match day entrance to the game, will be £25.
We will be limited to about 130 for this event and there is already a lot of interest. This email is to invite you to register an interest with Dave Burford who has kindly agreed to help with the organisation. Could you also let Burf have the email addresses of anyone else you know who may be interested.
If you have not been to the club for many years, you will be impressed with the extended clubhouse and refurbished facilities. We also have an in-house caterer, so refreshments are no longer a lukewarm Raymond’s pasty!
We look forward to catching up with you again in September. If successful, it is hoped to make this an annual fund-raising event.
Dave Burford & David Northridge
BRFC Commercial Committee
Please reply to – daveburf@btinternet.com
I don’t have much to say about last weekend’s result against Redruth other than it was, from my view point, a disappointing display against what was for me the worst Redruth team I think we have played against. The number of penalties against us, particularly in the second half just completely handicapped the Chiefs from putting the visitors under any sort of pressure. All Redruth had to do was ride out a few phases and await the penalty that would get them their get out of jail free card.
What does cross my mind following that performance was what has happened. Back in December and January there were high hopes as the team seemed to click in what it was trying to achieve and there was an air of confidence creeping into the squad as they secured 3 wins out of five matches with one of those loses, against a very tough Dings Crusaders, causing many to comment that despite losing it was one of the best performances they had seen from the Chiefs. Then along comes February and the wheels just fell off big time and so as it seems likely the Chiefs will most probably be relegated at the end of the season, which is not a bad thing as the one huge advantage we have with the Chiefs is that it consists of mostly North Devon players, with many having come through the juniors and colts, so unlike many clubs at this level I don’t think there will be a mass exiting of talent, It’s still a very young squad and now with some extensive tier 4 rugby experience behind them playing in the Southwest Premier will give the Chiefs a chance to feel what it is like to win again and gradually build a winning belief into the squad. They are a good side who just lacked that 5-10% that they needed to stay in National 2 rugby and playing in the Southwest Premier will, I think, enable the coaches to find that extra 10% needed for tier 4 rugby.
As for now it’s time for the Chiefs to go out and enjoy their rugby and play with pride and here is the team to do just that.
ATHLETIC
On a more positive note Barnstaple Athletic came back from Devonport last weekend with a 15-15 draw under their belts and considering the close game a few weeks before when these two meet in the league I think the Tic’s can be reasonably pleased with the two points. This does mean that today’s trip to Brixham is vital for Athletic to get a bonus point win to get into the 2nd XV team cup semi-final, or rather that’s how I understand it please feel free to tell me something different. A real chance for some deserved silverware for the Tic’s is now on the cards and here is the team travelling to Brixham hoping to secure that semi-final spot.
Well that’s about it from me this weekend, good luck to the Chiefs and Athletic. There is no blog next week as I enjoy the Easter break and I’ll catch up with all of you on the 15th April for the Chiefs final home game against Stourbridge and remember kick off is 2.30pm for that one.
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