Showing posts with label enemy lines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label enemy lines. Show all posts
Friday, 24 September 2021
Tuesday, 11 May 2021
For RL fans in Lincolnshire
After 2020 being a write off, this is a great opportunity for fans to get out and support some live match action.
So if you have the chance, please get alone and support the Buccs this season.
Use the contact form on the left of this website homepage if you want to know more.
Tuesday, 10 November 2020
My local team releases a charity/9's shirt for 2021
Please forgive me the indulgence of featuring the new shirt of my local team Boston Buccaneers from Lincolnshire, England.
However the club has had a tough year with no community rugby to get income and matches for their players.
Rather than mope, the club has been busily working on a charity and 9s shirt which will be raising money for military charities.
This is particularly close to the heart of all at the Buccs after the tragic death of serviceman Scott Stevenson who was a player for the club.
I think you will agree it captures the colours of the club along with the military connections to Lincolnshire, most notably the Lancaster bomber.
I cannot wait to get mine and go to training in it.. Well done BBRLFC.
Tuesday, 21 April 2020
Republished - An article I wrote for my local club.
Boston Buccaneers
To say I was looking forward to this season of Rugby League would be an understatement.
It had only been a house move across Peterborough to the Deepings but suddenly I lived in a county where rugby league was being played close by. Last year the family and I got to all but one Buccaneers match despite a combination of unseasonably cold weather laced with gales on occasion.
To tempt them out of the house was a challenge and cost me a fish and chip supper on the way home from each match but they love the game and having been to the likes of Stade Gilbert Brutus and the Mend-a-Hose Jungle it was nice for them to watch a match where they could run about and not get told to keep still every five minutes.
The matches were of a really good standard, despite Boston struggling against the Wolf Hunter they put in a really good show against the Outlaws.
Despite being away on holiday for the London 9s I invested in a jersey (with my own squad number from playing for Yaxley Yaks touch team “7” on the back).
2020 arrived and once the fixtures were on the website I updated the family calendar with all home matches for Boston with strict instructions not to fill the days with other ‘stuff’… like anniversaries, birthdays and so on.
As a Catalans Dragons fan, I was also planning Boston matches around trips to see my other team, but once they made the decision to sign Israel Folau I chose not to buy merchandise or go to matches whilst he was at the club. Enough said.
And then along came this coronavirus and spoiled all of our plans. At the top level the game is struggling to decide what to do with regards to the season and I suppose all clubs at our level are at the behest of local union clubs who will dictate our player availability should the season still be unresolved by the autumn.
Naturally the issue of public health and the wellbeing of loved ones is absolutely paramount in all of this, but as a football pundit said on the news the other day “it’s ok to miss sport without being disrespectful”.
I agree with that wholeheartedly and it may just be 6 a side touch rugby I play, but last Friday night when we should have been playing league matches I was moping around the house lost.
Fingers crossed this will all be over soon and we can get some sense of normality back. In the meantime supporters can get behind their club by buying a shirt or training top to hopefully earn them a few quid and get the sponsors names back out there when we can go out.
Stay safe.
Tuesday, 14 May 2019
Behind enemy lines #2 - Boston (the Lincolnshire one)
My previous column was called "A Southerner in League" but as I have recently moved 40 minutes north into Lincolnshire this latest series has been re-branded as Behind Enemy Lines.
I suppose any game of rugby league that I go to where the Catalans aren't playing is going to be judged as such, although I have to say such was the experience at the Princes Royal Sports Arena, that this will become my regular haunt away from Perpignan.
The match last Saturday pitched the home side, the Boston Buccaneers with the brilliantly named visitors, Sherwood Forest Wolf Hunt.
The illusion of hardened rugby players lugging tree trucks around the forest was soon shattered by another spectator who told me "they are called Sherwood Forest, but we all know they are from Mansfield..."
They kept up appearances by wearing Lincoln green (along with red which made them look like a South Sydney side who rob from the rich to give to the poor!).
Entry was free and the bar was busy with a good selection of drinks in a plastic cup for pitch side consumption.
The match kicked off with a knock on from the visiting full back and you would have been forgiven for thinking this would be indicative of the match quality.
Far from it.
80 minutes later the game was 30-32 to the visitors but Boston had scored their second try in the last five minutes to give themselves a kick to tie it.
Despite having made some impressive conversions from pretty tight angles, the kick was missed and the visitors had claimed a hard earned and brilliantly contested win.
I have one simple sentance to close this piece... and it is something that the RFL should read, absorb and use.
"Give grassroots rugby league a try, you wont regret it"
You can follow the Buccaneers by visiting their website.
https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/bostonbuccaneersrlfc
I suppose any game of rugby league that I go to where the Catalans aren't playing is going to be judged as such, although I have to say such was the experience at the Princes Royal Sports Arena, that this will become my regular haunt away from Perpignan.
The match last Saturday pitched the home side, the Boston Buccaneers with the brilliantly named visitors, Sherwood Forest Wolf Hunt.
The illusion of hardened rugby players lugging tree trucks around the forest was soon shattered by another spectator who told me "they are called Sherwood Forest, but we all know they are from Mansfield..."
They kept up appearances by wearing Lincoln green (along with red which made them look like a South Sydney side who rob from the rich to give to the poor!).
Entry was free and the bar was busy with a good selection of drinks in a plastic cup for pitch side consumption.
The match kicked off with a knock on from the visiting full back and you would have been forgiven for thinking this would be indicative of the match quality.
Far from it.
80 minutes later the game was 30-32 to the visitors but Boston had scored their second try in the last five minutes to give themselves a kick to tie it.
Despite having made some impressive conversions from pretty tight angles, the kick was missed and the visitors had claimed a hard earned and brilliantly contested win.
I have one simple sentance to close this piece... and it is something that the RFL should read, absorb and use.
"Give grassroots rugby league a try, you wont regret it"
You can follow the Buccaneers by visiting their website.
https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/bostonbuccaneersrlfc
Wednesday, 27 February 2019
Behind Enemy Lines #1
Coventry 32-28 Newcastle
This was a delightful afternoon for watching rugby league with a match just over an hour away from our new Lincolnshire home.
I’ve been to Butts Park (a ground which my kids still laugh at the name of) a couple of times and despite small crowds, there is a lot to admire in terms of support and atmosphere. The supporters really get behind their team and it must be a difficult environment for visiting teams to come to terms with.
(Although I do wish the announcer wouldn’t suffix every single piece of output by booming “Come on BEARS!!!!!!!”)
The ground access does suffer from being part of a one-way system and having driven around Cov for ages we finally made it to Butts Park. It’s a lot easier to get back out to the M6 than in, that’s for sure.
Parking was a realistic £3 and admission to the ground £12 for adults and free for juniors.
We made our way into the bar where there was some good choices of ale and regular burger and hot dog fayre.
Newcastle arrived after 2pm, their bus darting past the windows of the bar, but I’ve not seen that used as an excuse in any of the comment from the match (of which more to come) and for all I know they might have just driven in from the hotel next door!
After the wife, kids and I had a bit of a throw about of our ball next to the pitch, the game started and Cov raced into a quick two try lead. This was given to them by a nightmare first 20 minutes by Misi Taluapapa who got stripped one on one 15 metres from his own try line for the first before knocking on leading to the second.
He had one of those days where the ball bounced out of his hands, hit him on the back, a general nightmare.
Thunder are one of the league favourites though and battled back with a two quick scores, one from each wing.
Liam Finn hit my youngest with a penalty to touch (she is not prosecuting Liam) before the game breaking try from another defensive error got Coventry back in front on the half time hooter.
Thunder got back within a score at the start of the second half and were pressing for the next 10-15 minutes before the home side broke from their own half only to be stopped by a fantastic tackle close to the try line.
Rather than gain morale from this brilliant bit of defending, Newcastle conceded later in the set and that was how the scores remained despite some late pressure.
As we walked down the touchline to get to the exit the visiting players seemed angry with their performance and the result but there was nothing to suggest that Jason Payne would be removed from his post.
On another day that match could have comfortably been an away win, something the Bears were keen to celebrate at the end of the match. They knew how well they’d played and that they’d edged a close one.
All in all it was a really good afternoon in this balmy February heatwave we seem to be having. The quality of the play was a high level and the number of tries scored made it value for money.
We’ll be back.
But hopefully not to get hit on the head by a ball…
This was a delightful afternoon for watching rugby league with a match just over an hour away from our new Lincolnshire home.
I’ve been to Butts Park (a ground which my kids still laugh at the name of) a couple of times and despite small crowds, there is a lot to admire in terms of support and atmosphere. The supporters really get behind their team and it must be a difficult environment for visiting teams to come to terms with.
(Although I do wish the announcer wouldn’t suffix every single piece of output by booming “Come on BEARS!!!!!!!”)
The ground access does suffer from being part of a one-way system and having driven around Cov for ages we finally made it to Butts Park. It’s a lot easier to get back out to the M6 than in, that’s for sure.
Parking was a realistic £3 and admission to the ground £12 for adults and free for juniors.
We made our way into the bar where there was some good choices of ale and regular burger and hot dog fayre.
Newcastle arrived after 2pm, their bus darting past the windows of the bar, but I’ve not seen that used as an excuse in any of the comment from the match (of which more to come) and for all I know they might have just driven in from the hotel next door!
After the wife, kids and I had a bit of a throw about of our ball next to the pitch, the game started and Cov raced into a quick two try lead. This was given to them by a nightmare first 20 minutes by Misi Taluapapa who got stripped one on one 15 metres from his own try line for the first before knocking on leading to the second.
He had one of those days where the ball bounced out of his hands, hit him on the back, a general nightmare.
Thunder are one of the league favourites though and battled back with a two quick scores, one from each wing.
Liam Finn hit my youngest with a penalty to touch (she is not prosecuting Liam) before the game breaking try from another defensive error got Coventry back in front on the half time hooter.
Thunder got back within a score at the start of the second half and were pressing for the next 10-15 minutes before the home side broke from their own half only to be stopped by a fantastic tackle close to the try line.
Rather than gain morale from this brilliant bit of defending, Newcastle conceded later in the set and that was how the scores remained despite some late pressure.
As we walked down the touchline to get to the exit the visiting players seemed angry with their performance and the result but there was nothing to suggest that Jason Payne would be removed from his post.
On another day that match could have comfortably been an away win, something the Bears were keen to celebrate at the end of the match. They knew how well they’d played and that they’d edged a close one.
All in all it was a really good afternoon in this balmy February heatwave we seem to be having. The quality of the play was a high level and the number of tries scored made it value for money.
We’ll be back.
But hopefully not to get hit on the head by a ball…
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