Good evening, everyone and excuse the shortened blog this weekend but I’m not at the rugby, taking grandkids Christmas shopping so please have some sympathy and a whip round to restore my bank balance please. This weekend we have a great match at Pottington Road where Athletic welcome the Ivybridge Vandals which hopefully will be on unless we have another quick freeze, boy was that cold or what last Friday night, anyway kick for that game is 2pm. The Colts are also at home kick off is at 2pm where they take on Sidmouth Colts. Barnstaple Chiefs are on the road for their second consecutive match following that hard fought win last weekend in Cornwall, to take on an even tougher challenge in the shape of Brixham.

We now have some dates for next years entertainment with ladies’ day on the 2nd March, full details will be in next week’s blog and program. We also have a Sportsman’s dinner with Exeter Chiefs and England’s Ben Moon on the 14th March with full details below.

BARNSTAPLE CHIEFS

So, the Chiefs were the only team playing last weekend as one of only two fixtures from that weekend in Regional 1 South West. It was a pretty difficult fixture as St. Austell are a tough team to crack at home, complicated by freezing temperatures the first half ended scoreless as both defences held firm.

The second half started spritely for the Chiefs with Nat Bayet scoring within the first 5 minutes followed quickly by Brandon Moore to give the Chiefs a 0-10 lead which was pulled back St. Austell with a try and penalty to 8-10. Will Topps then cemented the win with the only other score of the game to win 8-15. So, no bonus point but a very important win going into today’s game against a very good opponent indeed, Brixham.

So far this season Brixham have had a very good run beating both Chew Valley 39-36 and Launceston 46-31 at home, in fact their only defeat at home was against Exmouth 22-45. There is no need to tell you how big a challenge this will be for the Chiefs, but Barnstaple do have that 33-20 victory against Brixham at Pottington Road so they are fully aware of what to expect from the home side.

Currently Barnstaple are top of the table thanks to that win in St. Austell, but the other teams have that game in hand, so this one is going to be crucial and if the Chiefs can get the win in what could be a great game of rugby, then they will have the advantage over Chew Valley who visit Pottington Road next weekend for a top of the table clash and we want a fully packed ground for that one itr is a game none of you want to miss.

The team travelling to Brixham are missing a couple of important names as captain Sam Roberts and influencial Jake Murphy are both unavailable for the game. That means Tyler Gordon-Oke returns to fly-half, Johny Carter partners Dan Johnson in the centre while Jake Patrick returns to the 2nd row and Jonathon Kelly gets his first start of the season.  Here then is your team to face Brixham

barnstaple ATHLETIC and colts

Athletic would have been disappointed by the postponement of last weeks game but at least it gives them an extra week’s rest before this match with Ivybridge. Now Ivybridge have been a sort of bogey team for Athletic who have not beaten them since 9^th March 2019 and have already lost to the bottom placed team this season 21-17. Now these games, at least since the Tic’s last won, have always been close despite their positions in the league and there is no supposing that anything will change today, which is why Barnstaple Athletic have to avenge 4 years of loses by coming out for this one all guns blazing.

The team to do that is very much the same team from their last game with both Alex Hookway and Tom Clark returning. Alex starts from the bench whilst Tom is at outside-centre.

For the Colts today is a chance to get back into winning ways as they welcome Sidmouth Colts to Pottington Road.  Last time out they lost to Ivybridge so a win will get them back on track, kick off is 2pm, and will be their last game before taking on Bideford Colts on Boxing Day so a massive effort is needed this Saturday

Xmas Presents

We have a number of goodies for you in this festive season, just the present for the passionate Barum supporter in your life get your exclusive BRFC Merchandise

Need that final present for the Barum supporter in your life well we have not one but two priceless offers for a little tree present to set their hearts racing. We are now selling the brand new silk Barnstaple Rugby tie. We also have a limited number of Barnstaple Rugby Blazer badges for sale behind the bar.

We also have a number of other goodies waiting to be snapped up

BRFC ODD BALLS Towels – £18.00

BRFC ODD BALLS Adult Bobble hats – £15.00

BRFC ODD BALLS Child Bobble hats – £12.00

Adult Bundle – £30.00

Child Bundle – £25.00

available from the club on Tuesday or Thursday Evenings 5.30pm till 8.30pm (from Verity) or behind the bar on Saturdays and Sundays (when the club is open)

Well that about wraps up my shortest blog of the season so far. Next weekend is the final round of matches before the Christmas break and a massive game for Barnstaple Chiefs who are at home to Chew Valley as 1st takes on 2nd in what might be the title decider, although there is still a long way to go and Devonport are also looking strong with today’s opponents Brixham and Launceston not far behind. So a very exciting 2024 in prospect but for now we need as many Barum voices as possible for next Saturday and let Chew Valley know what visiting Pottington Road is like.

Good luck to all our teams playing this weekend and I’ll catch up with everyone next week, enjoy.