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NE Ladies 5 v E Midlands 0

North East ladies 5 v East Midlands 0. 28th Feb 2010

The North East of England narrowly beat East Midlands in the second of the pool games on Sunday. Both teams travelled to Huddersfield, with the North East fielding four Carlisle Cougars players, and Hannah Sherlock, also from Carlisle. The North East kicked off deep into East Mids territory, and followed up with a good chase. They quickly forced a turn over, then kept the possession in the forwards for a couple of phases before spinning the ball out to Jen Edwards (back from England A duty).
A short, jinking run saw her score the only points scored in the game. The teams were well matched, and both defended hard. East Mids varied their attack through the forwards and backs, with North East mainly looking to exploit with their pace out wide. After 15 minutes Hannah Sherlock was substituted with an achiles injury, which saw the Cougars’ Holly Freestone move into inside centre where she ran hard, forcing the opposition to scramble their defence. In defence the North East hit hard across the pitch, with all the Cougars making big tackles. East Midlands didn’t look like scoring all game. The final pool game for the North East is against Yorkshire in Pocklington on 14th March after which the teams for the finals will be confirmed.

Want to try womens rugby for the first time? Contact Lucy on 07912110785 or email carlislecougars@hotmail.com to find out more about the open night on 10th March.

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Leading Point Scorers

The 1st XV may well have been languishing in the nether regions of the league, but since the early days of the season, we have had two players who have consistently featured in the top ten of the various scoring tables.

After last Saturday at home to Ilkley, Glen Weightman is now lying at third in the top points kicking league with 29 conversions, 21 penalties and one drop goal, giving him a total of 124 points slotted between the posts.

The talented stand off has also scored six league tries and that gives him nineteenth position in the try scoring table.

He appears at fifth in the overall points scoring table with 154 points.

He might win a seat at the Rugby Roundup awards dinner yet!

Centre Chris Harris, who has struggled a little to reach his form of last season, nevertheless features at ten in the top try scorers for the league, and has been in the top group throughout the season.  He has grabbed eleven tries for himself and the team.

Keep it up  -  we need more from you yet!

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Carlisle Cougars Captain scores for North East of England

Four Carlisle Cougars; Lucy Meadley (loose head prop), Rosie Tyson (second row), Lisa Ritchie (fly half) and Holly Freestone (Centre), and Hannah Sherlock (Centre) from Wigton (premiership club Team Northumbria) were selected to play for the North East of England at the regional trials

Simone Lyn was also invited to train with the squad. After just one training session The North East took on the East of England in Newark on Sunday, in their first pool game of three in the regional competition this season.

The first half was tightly contested by both teams, the North East side having most of the possesion but the East threatening well from turnover ball. Props Lucy Meadley and Katie Story (England tight head) ensured the North East were dominamt in the scrums and lineouts, securing their own ball and winning opposition ball.

The score at the interval was a close 10:5 to the North East. The second half saw the North East really start to control the game. Cougars captain Lucy Meadley opened the scoring after making a break through the mid-field.

A futher try was scored by the North East’s winger. Hannah Sherlock scored the last try of the game, powering over the line after receiving a quick pass off a 5 metre scrum, Lisa Ritchie converted 3 of the 5 tries leaving the final score 31-5. The next game for the North East is 28th of February against the East Midlands in Huddersfield.

Carlisle Cougars focus on their league campaign this week away to top of the table Novos (Newcastle).

Anyone interested in playing womens rugby is invited to a taster session on March 10th. Email carlislecougars@hotmail.com or call 07912119785 to register interest.

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Carlisle 42 v Ilkley 7

North 1 East League
Saturday, 20th February 2010

Having waited since early December for a game on home soil, the city side certainly looked good value as they turned over the visitors from Ilkley.  The previous week, both teams turned in what to some, were unexpected results, by defeating teams lying second and third in the league.  Carlisle won convincingly at Hartlepool Rovers, whilst Ilkley vanquished Billingham.

Therefore, the scene was set for an interesting dual, with both teams desperate for league points to retain level 6 status.  From the quality of rugby served up by both teams, it would be readily apparent to any neutral observer, that neither outfit deserved to be in the nether regions of the league.

Any worries about the state of the pitch after a heavy overnight frost, were quickly cast aside. Both the hosts and their guests tried to play some open running rugby, with Carlisle more than managing to convince that confidence had been rebuilt.  Their pack managed to battle for, and get sufficient ball for the backs to menace their opponents with plenty of open attacking play.

Carlisle did not have it all their own way though;  Ilkley showed sufficient grit to keep the Warwick Road defence under pressure on their own line on several occasions.  The defence battled well to repel some sustained assaults, leaking only one score just before the break.

Fly half Glen Weightman had the chance to open the home acount but only maaed to strike a penalty in front of the post onto the offside post!    Within a couple of minutes though, Ben Blain, favoured at scrum half over George Graham, darted over for a try following a scrum five yards out, but the fly half ha still not found his kicking range for the bonus points!

Carlisle continued to dominate, although they always had to be on their mettle when Ilkley got the ball, and could have been a greater danger if they had been served by a half decent set of backs!

Another try came on twelve minutes when the home pack drove over the line with skipper and loose head prop, Steve Stamper touching down  letting Weightman eventually findhis kicking boots.

Outside centre Chris Harris added a converted try on the half hour mark.  The remaining minutes of the first half were spent in rather more defence than  had been the case, and Ilkley and flanker Hamish Pratt touched down with former Creightonian full back, Pete Shanks, landing the conversion for his sides only other points of the game.

Shortly after the restart, Weightman stretched the advantage with another penalty.  Ilkley then went on the offensive and kept Carlisle penned back for a lengthy period, but the defence kept its nerve and the wall wan’t breached!

Quarter of an hour into the second period, Carlisle were forced into some changes.  Full back Lewis Boyd came off with a knee injury;  Blain moved to fifteen, George Graham coming on at scrum half.  Tight head prop, Martin Kalinowski retired too with Biff McGimpsey moving up from lock, allowing Paul Halliday from the bench to replace him.

Within minutes, Weightman added another penalty and from then on much of the match was spent midfield with the two packs slugging it out for supremecy.

In the closing four minutes of the match Carlisle added two well deserved tries.  Dan Holmes went up the left wing from well within his own half, offloaded to Olly Barker who was up in support with him, allowing him to touch down.

Scrum half Graham added his name to the try column just as the final whistle was due;  he kicked the ball through from halfway, and followed it through before scoring to the left of the sticks.

Weightman converted both.

In the end a comfortable scoreline, and apart from the welcome two league points, it helped to reduce the points differential substantially.

Carlisle should not get complacent though.  There is still much work to do, but with five of their remaining nine fixtures on home turf, the odds must be in their favour.

A special thank you to the guys of Ruggerpix.com who managed to get us out of a fix when gremlins got into the technology during Saturday’s match.

Next week they travel to Halifax to meet Old Brodleians.

PICK OF THE PACK: Dan Smithson.

BEST OF THE BACKS: Ben Blain.

SCORERS FOR CARLISLE:

Tries:

Ben Blain (1)
Steve Stamper (1)
Chris Harris (1)
Olly Barker (1)
George Graham (1)

Conversions:

Glen Weightman (4)

Penalties:

Glen Weightman (3)

THE STARTING XV:

15    Lewis Boyd (Ben Blain)
14    Dan Holmes
13    Chris Harris
12    Barry Earl
11    Olly Barker
10    Glen Weightman
9      Ben Blain (George Graham)
1      Steve Stamper (Captain)
2      Tom Graham (Graham idd)
3      Martin Kalinowski (Martin
McGimpsey)
4      Mark Barron
5      Martin McGimpsey (Paul Halliday)
6      Dan Smithson
7      Bobby Sherlock
8      Lee Brumpton
16    Paul Halliday
17    Graham Kidd
18    George Graham

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International Mini Rugby Festival

There will be an international mini rugby festival being played out at Kirkby Lonsdale Rugby Club on 17th April 2010.

For further details see attached PDF

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Is Women’s rugby for you?

Carlisle Cougars are holding a taster session at Carlise Rugby Club, Warwick road on Wednesday 10th March 7pm – 9pm.

All women welcome who would like to try rugby.

Please register your interest or get more information by texting or phoning 07912 110785 or emailing  carlislecougars@hotmail.co.uk.

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Cougars go top of the league

Story sponsored, Carlisle Cougars travelled to Newcastle to wrest top league position from the hands of the previously unbeaten Novocastrians.

Buoyed up by their win 2 weeks ago against Sheffield, the Cougars still expected a hard fight.  Novos didn’t disappoint and for the opening minutes bombarded the Cougar’s line, looking dangerous in attack.  A knock on and strong scrum steadied Carlisle nerves and saw the Cougar’s first attack.

A kicking tournament arose, with both sides eager to gain ground and tackling hard in defence.  At 15 minutes captain Lucy Meadley exploited a gap and set up clean ball, off loaded to winger Steph Musgrove who cut a scything run through the defence and touched down under the posts for the Cougars first try.

The conversion unhappily bounced off the sticks, Novos having successfully disrupted fly half Lisa Richie’s concentration.  However 8 minutes later, centre Julie Hope side stepped through the Novo’s back line with ease giving Richie a second chance, who this time slotted it cleanly through the uprights.

A cleanly taken high ball by full back Simone Board saw another off load to Hope who celebrated only her 2nd game for the Cougars (and 2nd ever game) with her 2nd try, winning ‘player’s player’as a result. Half time score: 0 – 17.
From kick off the Cougars exerted pressure and patient play eventually set up centre Katie Wigham for a strong sprint, stopped just short of the line by a scrambled defence.  Richie was there quickly in support to take the off load and score the Cougar’s forth try, though hurting her ankle in the process and missing another conversion.

Novos replied aggressively and the game began to favour the opposition as Carlisle’s lighter pack lost scrums against the head.  However Novo’s kicking game was no answer to the Cougars strong defensive line; led by coach’s player Arrianne Harkness and good positioning by Board meant each ball was secured.

A powerful run from Richie and a successful back move sent Wigham sprinting from the half way line to score and the tide was turned.  Ill discipline from a frustrated Novos gave Carlisle a penalty on the 5m.  Meadley took it quickly and forged over the line for the last try of the match.  Coach Jonny Taylor said:  “This was a most professional performance from the Cougars.  Everyone did their job.”

Final score: Novocastrians 0 v Carlisle Cougars 36

The Cougars are holding a taster session at Carlise Rugby Club, Warwick road on Wednesday 10th March 7pm – 9pm.  All women welcome who would like to try rugby.  Please register your interest or get more information by texting or phoning 07912 110785 or emailing  carlislecougars@hotmail.co.uk.

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Hartlepool Rovers 10 v Carlisle 27

North 1 East League
Saturday, 13th February 2009

Carlisle travelled to the north east knowing that nothing less than a victory would do to help salvage their season that has been disappointing to date.  And, they did just that, in style too.

The Rovers had a fairly sound home record with only two defeats and despite this reverse they remain in third slot in the league.  The only disappointment from the outing is, that the Warwick Road should have amassed a greater points tally.  Still, hopefully this outing was the start of a renaissance!

The Friarage side were expecting an easy scalp and we brought down to earth with a bump.  On this display, any neutral would have been driven to the view that the respective league positions were actually the reverse of reality.  Never take it for granted that things will go your way, especially in this north east town where, in the past the locals voted for a monkey to be their elected mayor!

Watching the Rovers run out onto the field, and opponents would have been forgiven if they had been fazed by the size of the opposing pack  -  clearly they the had the benefit of at least a stone per man.  In the event that counted for nothing as Carlisle went about their task with purpose and skill, generally neutralising any threat that was posed.

The coaching staff at Carlisle had carried out major surgery (mainly positional) to their XV beforethis match, and it was quickly apparent that to their supporters, that any doubts they may have had about the line out, were quickly dissolved.

The pack was very solid wit the home team unable to cope with the strength and technique on offer.  Such was their combined contribution that is was hard to single out anyone for special praise, but pivot Lee Brumpton won the accolade because of his personal brace of tries that helped secure a victory that was good value for money, and one for which Hartlepool could have no complaint.

Despite this fine win, Carlisle still remain second bottom in their league, but only ten points behind the ‘Pool in third place.  With ten league games remaining, six of them at home, given the optimism that follows the result on Saturday, Carlisle should be able to rescue what has been a difficult season.

On Saturday, ther youthful back division was buoyed by the return of “old boy”, Lewis Boyd – not much more than a youth himself, but with some serious national league experience behind him at Fylde, and more recently at Kendal.  Boyd turned out at full back and was soon involved in the match.  Apoart from looking secure as the last line of defence, his upfield surges linking with the three quarters, instilled confidence in his colleagues.  What’s more his verbal motivation was being heeded by fellow backs and had good effect!

The Carlisle half backs generally shifted the ball well allowing the team to make ground.  Dan Holmes on the left wing, had his best game of the season and was unlucky not to grab himself a couple of tries he would have deserved.

But, the platform for this success was down to the effort put in by the pack, and they rarely looked troubled.  This despite the fact for twenty minutes they were down to fourteen men;  flanker Dan Smithson saw yellow for a handling offence in a ruck on twenty minutes and just as he returned, hooker Tom Graham was penalised for the same indiscretion.

Carlisle opened their account on thirteen minutes when fly half Glen Weightman slotted a penalty.

The only othe score in the first half came six minutes before the break, and a try for the hosts followed one of their rare forays into the Carlisle twenty two area.  They made a determined onslaught on the Carlisle line, and did manage a try.

After the rest period, and playing into a bitterly cold wind, Brumpton landed his first try on forty three minutes but Weightman missed the extras with the ball going wide.  Within four minutes, Hartlepool had restored their half time lead with an unconverted try, but that was to be their lot for the day.

Carlisle continued to dominate up front, and relief the Rovers front row might have got from the retiral of tight head prop, Martin Kalinowski, was short lived.  The recent recruit from the Cumbria League is still adjusting to life a few levels above what he is used to.  “Biff” McGimpsey came off the bench to replace him and keep up the pressure on the opposing front line.

At the midway point Weightman converted a second try from Brumpton, and within a couple of minutes, George Graham, an industrious scrum half added to the cause but his try was not improved.  In scoring, Graham took a knock and left the field to be replaced by that great all round team player, Ben Blain.  Blain has perhaps been a shade unfortunate in losing his place, and he quickly gave notice with his direct running and positive passing, that he is still very much a serious contender.

Carlisle continued to press and kept the home defence under regular pressure.  With a few minutes remaining, Smithson, who worked tirelessly throughout, was replaced by Adam Morrison.

Into injury time, Boyd surged evasively up field and offloaded to right winger Olly Barker to land the final try in the corner, with Weightman landing the conversion from the touch line.

Job done!  But, only for now.  There is a need to repeat the quality of this performance, and Carlisle have an early opportunity this coming Saturday.  They entertain Ilkley who are below then in the league, but if any one thinks it will be a push over, thinl again!  The Dalesmen turned over Billingham, a result that serves notice, that they too are going to fight to the end for survival.

SCORERS FOR CARLISLE:

Tries:

Lee Brumpton (2)
George Graham (1)
Olly Barker (1)

Conversions:

Glen Weightman (2)

Penalties:

Glen Weightman (1)

PICK OF THE PACK:

Lee Brumpton

BEST OF THE BACKS:

George Graham

THE STARTING TEAM:

15    Lewis Boyd
14    Dan Holmes
13    Chris Harris
12    Barry Earl
11    Dan Holmes
10    Glen Weightman
9      George Graham (Ben Blain)
1      Steve Stamper (Captain)
2      Tom Graham
3      Martin Kalinowskie (Martin McGimpsey)
4      Gary Graham
5      Mark Barron
6      Dan Smithson (Adam Morrison)
7      Bobby Sherlock
8      Lee Brumpton
16    Martin McGimpsey
17    Adam Morrison
18    Ben Blain

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Club incorporation

As has been reported previously, the Club are following the recommendations of the Rugby Football Union and arranging for the future administration to be as an incorporated company limited by guarantee.

Such a step will provide a wide degree of support for officials and those on a committee.

At the moment liability is divided between those on the committee and the trustees.  Incorporation will reduce their liability to £1 each.

A copy of final draft of the proposed Articles of Association are attached.  If any member has any comments please contact the Honorary Secretary before the 28th February 2010.

Articles of Association

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Come back by Little, stalls

The come back by centre Simon Little at Old Crossleyans on 6th February was cut short when he had top leave the field after about 15 minutes with what at first sight seemed like an innocuous cut  – a minor blood injury.

He was unable to resume and as it turns out, he will not now be available for selection for three or four weeks.

The injury to his finger was such that he eventually ended up at a Newcastle hospital the following day.

There is some tendon or ligament damage, but the prognosis is good and we may still get more use of his unpredictable upfield surges yet!

Treated initially by physio, Jen McCreadie, who was disappointed that her newly acquired

suturing skills could not solve the problem.

Jen is just back from a course that qualifies her to stitch minor wounds pitchside.

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