Still only September but thoughts of the festive season are not too far away.  Please make a note of the following dates in your diary so as not to be disappointed:
 

Christmas_cocktails_sign

Saturday 10th December – The annual lunch for members of the Patron’s Club who will be invited to join in with our sponsors for a meal before the match with Anselmians.

Sunday, 18th December – The annual President’s Cocktail Party and all that goes with it.  Also at that event the draw will be made for the Patron’s Club draw.  Prizes £250  -  £100  -  £50.  Remember please, this a function for club members and not open house for all and sundry!
 
Watch out for more details in the future.

The 1st XV fixture list for 2011 – 2012 in North 1 West League is now available.

Fixtures for the Crusaders, Hornets & Cougars are still awaited and will be published as soon as they are available.

Carlisle RFC composite fixtures 2011-2012

Notification has been received that Level 1 and Level 2 Coaching Courses have attracted a price increase.

Apparently as of January this year the Level 1 course costs £105, with the Level 2 course being £180.

It should be noted though, that Cumbria RFU are still offering a 50% discount on successful completion of the course.

The final league match of the season, due to take place at Warwick Road on Saturday 7th May is off.

Carlisle RFC hang up thir boots for another season

Nevertheless, the club are grateful for the continued support during the season and look forward to welcoming you back to Warwick Road for the new season in September.

The Crusaders have a cup final to play on Saturday though.  They play the winners of the semi final between Penrith & Kirkby Lonsdale.

If the other finalists are Penrith, then the final will be staged at Wigton on Saturday, otherwise it will be at Penrith. Either way, kick off is 3.00 pm.

Check the News & Star / Cumberland News for details.

Date:            6/4/11
Kick off time:        7pm
Match:            Carlisle v Kirby Lonsdale
Venue:            Carlisle
Won / drawn / lost:    Won
Result:            29 v 7
Half time score:    10 v 0

Carlisle under 14s played their first game under floodlights and spent the first ten minutes defending valiantly as a strong Kirby pack pushed play firmly into the home 22.

Despite several good attempts, Carlisle’s defence held out before a break saw Sam Windess well supplied with a good pass from several fast hands that saw him cross the line.

This inspired Carlisle to look for more ball and 4 minutes later Elliott Baines recovered from a big tackle to break through and grab Carlisle’s second try.

The second half started in a bit better fashion for Carlisle as Windess got his second which Baines duly converted. Despite Kirby being the bigger pack, Carlisle hooker Daniel Gisborne struck well and won 5 against the head to keep things even, eventually allowing Baines to grab a second and Windess, wonderfully fed by Harry Grant and James Spencer, completed a hat trick, converted by Baines to take the score to 29.

Kirby kept at it and grabbed a late try right on the stroke of full time which was duly converted to make the final score 29 – 7.

Penrith await Carlisle in the County Cup Final having dispatched Workington Zebras in their semi-final tonight.

Eventually, after a shy first half, Carlisle got into their stride and played some good rugby and were worthy of their win.

Old Crocs came to Warwick Road on the back of a comprehensive home victory over neighbours Cleckheaton, who have been in the leading group at the top of the league for most of the season.

The Crocs were in confident mood, and probably for the first time this season the Carlisle front five were put under some severe pressure.  The certainly did not get it all their own way, and were made to fight throughout.

The early minutes of pressure came from the home side and with a bit more luck Carlisle could have been three points to the good from being camped on the visitors line.    But, they had to be content with a couple of penalties from fly half Grant Connon.  Crocs landed a penalty too, between the two Carlisle efforts.

The game then settled down, but Carlisle knew they had a game on their hands, because for the remainder of the opening half, they were made to battle for every ball, and the Halifax side clearly had victory on their minds.

The home cause wasn’t helped when they lost number eight James Merton half on the twenty minute mark with an ankle injury.  Credit though to Mark Allan who came into the back row as the replacement.

Starved of ball for periods, the Carlisle backs didn’t see a lot of the ball. But it was a good team effort and Carlisle were able to increase their advantage just into added time.  Carlisle had a line out on the right about five metres from the Old Crocs line.  Flanker Bobby Sherlock secured the ball from the line out, and eventually hooker Tom Graham touched down during a push over;  but it too wide for Connon to convert.

Undeterred though, the visitors were determined to make their mark during the visit to the city and there was still time for an unconverted try as the break beckoned.
A one point advantage was never going to enough and Carlisle had to pull out all the stops in the second period to keep the Yorkshire marauders at bay.

Carlisle realised they had the strength and capacity to secure the league points, and whilst the game was played out mainly by the forwards, the backs pulled off a couple of great tries without reply.

The opposition pack was tiring and Carlisle made sure they dominated the second period.  The pack secured sufficient ball for the half back brothers, Max and Grant Connon to distribute effectively.  On fifty six minutes a crisp backs movement saw full back Lewis Boyd lance through the defence, offload to outside centre Chris Harris who made thirty yards to score between the post, Grant converting.

Tails up, more of the same within two minutes, left wing Dan holmes touching down in the left hand corner but the extras eluded Connon.
Carlisle looked in control now and Connon added a penalty on sixty eight minutes and they were to be the last points of the game.  Try as they might to add another score to secure a bonus point, Carlisle were unlucky not to add more tries.

A much improved display, especially in the second half ensured that Carlisle kept their league placing, but they need to keep looking over their shoulders, because one or two teams below them are starting to put runs together and clsoing the gap.  There is no room for complacency and the trip to Doncaster to play Wheatley Hills on Saturday is an important appointment!

Match pictures to follow soon.

RESULT:            26 pts v 10 pts
HALF TIME SCORE:    11 pts v 10 pts

SCORERS:
Tries:    Tom Graham (1), Dan Holmes (1) & Chris Harris (1)
Cons:    Grant Connon (1).
Pens:    Grant Connon (3).
DG’s        -

STARTING XV & REPLACEMENTS:
15  Lewis Boyd
14  Martin Brodie
13  Chris Harris
12  Barry Earl
11  Dan Holmes
10  Grant Connon
9    Max Connon (Tim Hughes)
1    Steve Stamper
2    Tom Graham
3    Martin McGimpsey
4    Mark Barron (Capt)
5   Paul Halliday
6    Dan Smithson
7    Bobby Sherlock
8    James Merton (Mark Allan)
16  Eddie Faulder
17  Mark Allan
18 Tim Hughes

PICK OF THE PACK:    Mark Barron
BEST OF THE BACKS:    Max Connon

NEXT MATCH:    ON 19/03/2011 Wheatley Hills V Carlisle – KICK OFF 3.00pm

Carlisle went head to head with both West Hartlepool & Stockton on Feb 27th, in a round robin, coming out on top in both games.

We fielded more or less two different sides of even strength allowing all 25 lads that travelled to participate.

Both the North East sides fielded packs reminiscent of the hulk & jolly green giant, but the Cobras technique at set piece, esp the scrum was something to see and at times were pulled up for driving well beyond the one and half meters allowed.

The first game against West Hartlepool ended with a 12-5 win to Carlisle. The score line far from justifying the effort put in, as many bodies on occasions masked at least three other tries unable to be given.

The second game against Stockton was much the same pattern as the first at the set piece, resulting in a 22 – 7 victory to the Cobras.

Carlisle can take a great deal from this trip, with two games that reproduced everything we’ve worked on this season. Good steady scrummaging with plenty ball against the head, thanks to Jason Tait & Henry Wainwright who both also distributed well at the lineout.

All the forwards supported well with decisive breaks time after time. James Robson, David Brown, Jake Mangan and Callum Sandwith to name but a few. Chris Mapp had his Dyson head on and cleaned up any rubbish on the ground. We always created good a platform and Greg Graham distributed the ball well, with Jason Israel keeping the backs on the front foot time and time again which could have produced many more points than we actually got on the day.

A lot of very good play guys, keep it up.

Unfortunately Ben Blain one of our coaches was unable to attend this week as his only friend turned up for the weekend! He was badly missed. Come back Ben we will be your friend.

Won / drawn / lost:        Won Both
Result:            12 v 5 & 22 v 7

Report sent in by:        Jim Goode