Welcome on Board Sam Stuart and Ralph Appleby

06/06/22

Following the departure of loyal servant, player and Head Coach Keith Laughlin, who made the decision to step away from rugby for work, business and family reasons at the end of last season. Blaydon RFC have appointed Newcastle Falcons player Sam Stuart to replace him, with Ralph Appleby joining him as forwards coach.

These exciting new appointments are aimed at building on the solid foundations laid by Keith and the team this season. Although Blaydon finished 14th out of 16 teams this season, we accumulated 30 of our 42 points in the last 2.5 months of the season, winning 5 of the last 11 games.

Sam Stuart has already been involved as Backs Coach at Blaydon over the last 2 seasons and is making the step up to Director of Rugby. A current foot injury aside Sam is a well established member of the current Falcons first team squad and has at least another year on his contract at Kingston Park.

Joining Sam as Forwards Player Coach is Ralph Appleby who has been a cornerstone of Darlington Mowden Parks front row for the last 14 seasons playing 351 times for the club, so he brings with him a wealth of experience at National 1 Level.

I am sure you will join me in welcoming Sam to his new role and Ralph to the club as we look to build on last seasons strong finish and firmly establish ourselves in the new (14 team) National 2 North.

Chris Nunn

Chairman Of Rugby

Honours even as Tynedale sneak the win in entertaining North East Derby

25/04/22

Tynedale just shaded the North East derby to give Captain Matty Outson a fitting send off at Tynedale Park after 13 years of playing first team for Tynedale.

Tynedale started the game a very quick pace and a good break by number 8 Blackburn and a quick recycle, the ball was fed out wide to the right wing where blind side wing forward Ben Bell was unopposed to go over in the corner.

For next 10 minutes Tynedale continued to pile pressure on Blaydon and defence was stretched as result and within a minute they had both Centre Cooney and Scrum Half Clarkson sin binned for separate infringements at the breakdown. So the following scrum left Tynedale with a 2 man advantage in the backs and Leslie kicked wide for right wing Todhunter to touch down. (10-0)

Only a few minutes later Blaydon kicked to clear their lines which was perhaps unwise given the disadvantage in the backs, this was easily exploited by full back Rob Parker who broke to the 22 and he fed Will Miller to score, this time converted by Leslie. (17-0)

Blaydon finally woke up and just as they got back to 15 players on the field and a penalty kick to the corner led to a line out and Blaydon crossed the white wash with a well-controlled catch and drive with Matty Winter touching down.

The Blaydon resurgence continued, a good kick return by Stephens and a break by Varley took the ball to the Tynedale line and the ball was passed out to Ashman to score. The conversion by Clarkson was good.

And again the red revival continued, a poor kick by Tynedale gave Blaydon a line out on the Tyne 22, Blaydon worked the ball quickly and after about 7 phases the ball found itself in Ashman’s hands and again he finished well to bring the scores level.

Half Time Tynedale 17 v Blaydon 17

The second started off in complete contrast to the first, with both teams looking to play rugby but neither breaking into the oppositions 22. After about 15 minutes of the 2^nd half Tynedale gained a bit of momentum but were held up over the line. Blaydon dropped out under the posts but 2 phases later Tynedale were awarded a penalty in front of the posts which Leslie converted to take Tynedale back in front.

Blaydon’s response was fairly immediate, they kicked to the corner and from the line out Tynedale dragged the driving Maul down and referee ruled it was a penalty try for Blaydon as they were certain to score.

Tynedale controlled the next 10 minutes and after numerous phases attacking the Blaydon line they finally broke through with prop Angus White scoring wide out, which was well converted by Leslie. 27-24.

Blaydon pushed hard for score now I reply and had a line out 5 metres out but the throw was adjudged not straight and that turned out to the last play of the game.

Full Time: Tynedale 27 v Blaydon 24

Tynedale: Parker, Cooke, Clark, Miller, Todhunter, Leslie, Outson (C), White, Fletcher, Caudle, Wearmouth, Cousin, Bell, Tiffin, Blackburn

Replacements: Carmichael, Johnston, Stanwix, Blackett, Wainwright

Blaydon:, Ashman, Cooney, Clark, Sommarsall, Marshall (C), Clarkson, Brantingham, Winter, Dodds, Wright, Phillips, , Harrison, Charlton.

Replacements: Chaplin, Thompson, Hall-Lyon, Appleton, Bailey

REFEREE: Daniel Woods

ATTENDANCE: 572

STAR MAN: Tynedale – Matty Outson

Scorers:

Tynedale 27

Tries: Bell 1, Todhunter 15, Miller 19, White 71

Conversions: Leslie 20, 72

Penalties: Leslie 56

Blaydon 24

Tries: Winter 24, Ashman 32, 37, Penalty 61

Conversions: Clarkson 33, Penalty Try 61

Penalties:

Blaydon Sign off the Season at Crow Trees with a Very Entertaining 6 Try Victory!!

18/04/22

Playing good open rugby right from the kick off, Blaydon never at any point looked in danger of losing this match, despite a very early successful Chester penalty after just three minutes of play. From then on Blaydon kept the Chester defence busy with constant line breaks, particularly from their centres Alex Clark and James Cooney.

It was one of those breaks on 15 minutes which was made by Clark who broke away from inside the Blaydon half up to the Chester 22 line where he sent in an unmarked Cooney for the first points which John Clarkson converted .

Blaydon’s second try of the match came after 26 minutes of play and when Clark was only part held in a tackle and the ball was shipped to prop Philip Brantingham who powered over to score under the posts, although on this occasion the conversion was surprisingly missed.

On the half hour, a bout of poor tackling by Blaydon allowed Chester their first and only try of the game and the conversion kick by the prolific boot of Reeve from wide out was successful (12-10).

Chester were using the impressive kicking power of their number 10 as one of their main tactics but on 27 minutes one of his clearance kicks was fielded by Jonny Ashman who cleverly chipped over his opposite number, fielded the ball and passed to fly half Dan Marshall, who raced in to score under the posts and the successful conversion made it 19-10.

Just before the half time whistle sounded Chester’s fly half Reeve, kicked a huge penalty from just within his own half to make the score 19-13 at the break.

Half Time Blaydon 19 v Chester 13

Chester lost their number 8 to the bin immediately after the restart and within minutes of this happening, young winger Tristan Sommersall took a clever switch from Ashman and he then broke a tackle to power over wide out for the fourth try and bonus point which John Clarkson successfully converted to make the score 26-13.

Chester then immediately replied with two penalties, one from close range and the other from yet another huge kick taken from within their own half making it taking the score to 26-19

Back came Blaydon, and a successful line out win near the Chester 20m line was followed by an impressive rolling maul all the way to the try line which Liam Wright dotted down, the successful, difficult conversion by Clarkson making the score 33-19.

5 minutes later and another powerful rolling maul took the ball to the Chester 22 and scrum half Clarkson made a break open and produced a clever pass back inside to Sommersall who darted in for his second try, the conversion being unsuccessful meant the final score was 38-19.

Blaydon signing off their last home game of the season at Crow Trees ground having won 4 of their last 5 home games bodes really well for next season.

Full Time: Blaydon 38 v Chester 19

Blaydon: Appleton, Ashman, Cooney, Clark, Sommarsall, Marshall (C), Clarkson, Brantingham, Gray, Dodds, Wright, Phillips, Chaplin, Harrison, Charlton.

Replacements: Winter, Fearn, Hall-Lyon, Richardson, Bailey

Chester: Long, Roberts, Craven, Scott, Malik, Reeve, Phillips, Woods, Robson, Williams, Spalding, Lloyd, Wilkinson, Baxter, Ford

Replacements: Cleverley, Reed, Jones, Farrar, Brearley

REFEREE: Adam Wookey

ATTENDANCE: 207

STAR MAN: Blaydon – Tristan Sommarsall

Scorers:

Blaydon 38

Tries: Cooney 11, Brantingham 19, Marshall 30, Sommersall 46, 65, Wright 59

Conversions: Clarkson 12, 31, 47, 60

Penalties:

Chester 19

Tries: Long 23

Conversions: Reeve 24

Penalties: Reeve 2, 40, 48, 54

Hard Day for Our Red Boys on the Road

08/03/22

Fylde v Blaydon 5th March 2022

After completing back to back victories in the past two weeks, Blaydon travelled full of confidence for their away fixture at The Woodlands only to be met by a home side, the league’s leading scorers, in superb form.

Overall, Fylde ran in 11 tries in a superb all round display with their backs and forwards combining well and entertaining the home crowd of near 1,000.

The early few minutes of the game saw Blaydon in constant possession but immediately they dropped the ball, it was quickly transferred to their former winger Tom Grimes who ran in from half way for their first try and a bazaar next 7 minutes saw Blaydon leak 3 more tries and the home side secured the bonus point by the 16th minute.

However, Blaydon were not to be outdone and did play their part when hooker Owen Chaplin finished off in the corner to reduce the arrears. During scoring Chaplin received a leg injury, leaving the field and taking no further part in the encounter. Immediately Fylde retaliated and added 2 further tries before half time but Blaydon were not to be denied and Ethan Clark touched down twice to reduce the arrears and put Blaydon in touch of their bonus point.

Immediately after the interval with the injured Jack Appleton having been replaced by Falcon flyer Iwan Stephens, soon saw that vital score when the same player ran in from 20 yards. Midway through the half he added to the score with a further touchdown and Blaydon had then, with conversions by John Clarkson, reached 31 points. Unfortunately the home side also scored at regular intervals and finished up totalling 79 points.

A heavy defeat but a travelling bonus point which puts us 6 points above basement club Harrogate and seemingly slowly we are avoiding last place.

Lastly many thanks to Jim Huxley for compiling this match report and Kev Dodds for the photos, both are very much appreciated.

We hope to see you all at Crowtree’s this weekend when our First XV look for another home win against Hull Ionians, kick off 2pm. Why not make a day of it and take in England v Ireland in the clubhouse after the game, kick off 4.45pm!

BLAYDON RFC 19 V 38 HULL RFC

08/12/21

Hull’s power was the difference as they steamrollered over Blaydon’s line on 6 occasions to take a bonus point win.

Hull started early and two early penalties led to Hull’s first score which came from a catch and drive scored by Hull Hooker Jobling which was unconverted.

The next 10 minutes was honours even until on 13 minutes another Hull Penalty and kick to the corner led to another catch drive from a 5m line out with Jobling again the scorer.

Blaydon reacted well to that try and Ethan Clark stole the restart and 2 phases later Marshall put in Nathan Bailey 20 yards out for the homes sides first try which was ably converted by Horsfall to make it 7-12.

Unsurprisingly another Hull kick to the corner led to yet another yet other catch and drive, and again it was Jobling for his hat trick.

Blaydon nearly replied quickly through Ethan Clarke but he was adjudged to be held up over the line on 34 minutes, following that led to a scrappy period where Blaydon lost two from their front row to injury and those two substitutions were closely followed by a Red card for head high tackle by Hull’s number 6 Makaafi on Blaydon Centre James Cooney.

Half Time Blaydon 7 – 17 Hull

Hull started the second half pressing hard at the Blaydon line and after 8 minutes they finally crossed the line with Kivalu going over from close range.

After 10 minutes of stalemate and exchanging of errors Blaydon ran the ball from their own try line, an excellent kick ahead by Nathan Bailey was picked up by winger Jack Appleton who ran in from 70 yards out for the best try of the game by far.

A Blaydon missed touch in attack led to Hull finding themselves back in their own 22 and from a 5m scrum the massive Hull pack drove over the Blaydon line which was easily scored by number 8 Will Hall.

Blaydon looked to respond positively but a loose pass by Blaydon winger Appleton led to an interception try for Hull Winger Naylor.

Blaydon played all the open rugby and on 75 minutes they were rewarded again and Nathan Bailey went over for his 2nd score of the game after Blaydon built a number a phases in the Hull 22 which stretched the Hull defence.

Unfortunately for Blaydon that was the last score of the game as they searched for a bonus point try.

Full Time Score Blaydon 19 – Hull 38

PLEASE NOTE OUR NEXT HOME FIXTURE IS A NORTH EAST DERBY MATCH AGAINST TYNEDALE RFC ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 18th, kick off 2pm.

Blaydon: Bailey, Mongan, Cooney, Marshall, Appleton, Horsfall, Clarkson, Dodds, Pyle , Thompson, Wright, Phillips, Cooper, Hall-Lyon, Clarke.

Replacements: Gray, Beattie, Varley, Swede, Ashman

Hull: Dean, Naylor, Heard, Johnson, Turner, Humberstone, Harding, Beech, Jobling, Kivalu, Jones, Regardsoe, Makaafi, Cowen, Hall

Replacements: Crane, McColl, Cullen, Evans, Dias

REFEREE: Elliott Lewis

ATTENDANCE: 212

STAR MAN: Hull – Michael Jobling

Scorers:

Blaydon

Tries: Bailey 16, 76 Appleton 57

Conversions: Horsfall 17, 77

Penalties:

Hull

Tries: Jobling 4, 13, 23 Kivalu, Hall, Naylor

Conversions: Humberstone 14, 50, 68, 73

Penalties:

Blaydon RFC v Fylde Match Report – Saturday 30th October

10/11/21

Fylde’s class out wide is the difference

Blaydon started well with an early Nathan Horsfall penalty following two early infringements at the breakdown by Fylde.

Fylde responded quickly with good break blind by centre Forster putting in winger Sam Fisher for unconverted try.

Blaydon’s response came from a clever short line out to 2^nd Row Phillips, who provided a good quick return to hooker Sean Pyle who finished well in the corner.

Blaydon continued to compete well and a sustained period of Blaydon pressure led to a yellow card for number 8 Fairbrother and penalty by Horsfall, taking the score to 13-5.

Fylde replied quickly and slick backs move put centre Forster through the middle and ex Blaydon winger Tom Grimes finished off well.

Then straight from the kick off openside Phil Mills made a strong run and put in Winger Fisher for his 2nd try again unconverted.

Half time 13-15

Fylde started the 2nd half brightly and were attacking the line when Blaydon 2nd row Phillips was yellow carded and from the resulting scrum, scrum half Matt Sturgess went over for their first converted try of the game.

Blaydon replied brilliantly, Jonny Ashman putting in Owen Chaplin under the posts for another converted try bringing Blaydon back to with in 2 points

A long period of Blaydon pressure frustrating resulted in nothing for the home side but a couple mistakes resulted in Fylde having an easy penalty for Greg smith which was quickly followed by another penalty by Smith.

Fylde continued in the ascendency and a produced a well worked 2nd try of the game for Tom Grimes.

Blaydon pushed hard for a score running out of their 22 and lost the ball under the posts leading to an easy score for Tom Carleton.

From Blaydon’s perspective a frustrating afternoon coming away with nothing when their performance deserved so much more.

Final score 40 – 20

Blaydon Bailey, Richards Cooney, Clark, Appleton, Horsfall, Clarkson, Dodds, Pyle , Thompson, Wright, Phillips, Cooper, Chaplin, Clarke.

Replacements: Beattie, Inglis, Hodgson, Foreman, Ashman

Fylde: Carleton, Fisher, Forster, Rawlings, Grimes, Smith, Sturgess, Barrow, Gregory, Bowker, Parkinson, Garrod, O’Ryan, Mills, Fairbrother

Replacements: Kyle-Clay, Lewis, Blake, Partington, Lanigan

REFEREE: Michael Harris

ATTENDANCE: 135

STAR MAN: Fylde – Phil Mills

Blaydon RFC 17 v Rotherham RFC 49

03/10/21

BLAYDON RFC 17 V ROTHERHAM RFC 49

Perhaps unexpectedly Blaydon started very much the brighter of the two sides and were rewarded on 3 minutes after an excellent flowing movement from Blaydon, starting in their own half was finished off by prop Drew Thompson.

Not long after that Blaydon scored again, this time a cross field kick by Blaydon Scrum Half, Clarkson was well taken over the line by Jonny Ashman to take the score to 14-0 , with both tries converted by Ewan Greenlaw. He then put Blaydon further ahead with a penalty.

Rotherham finally came to life after 20 minutes and Williams scored from a catch and drive from a line out. Shortly after this score perhaps crucially Blaydon lost their player coach and major influencer Keith Laughlin to an elbow injury, having already lost Anthony Harrison in the back row.

The game changed from this point forward and not long after that blow a good break by former Blaydon player Matt Clark led to a score out wide for blind side flanker Lewis Allan, bringing Rotherham right back into the game at 17-12 at half time.

Blaydon started the 2nd half positively but a break away by Dunn took Rotherham into the lead for the first time. Rotherham further extended their lead with a penalty, kicked by replacement Jonathan West.

Then two further breakaway tries by Rotherham led to two more tries by Cook and Pleasant ensured Rotherham of the win. Rotherham added further insult to Blaydon with another try by another former player Francis Entressengle.

Final score 17-49

Full Time Score: Blaydon 17 – 49 Rotherham

Referee: Michael Harris

Attendance: 262

Half Time Score Blaydon 17 – 12 Rotherham

Man of the Match: Lewis Allan

*PRE-SEASON FRIENDLY DATES CHANGE**

26/07/21

Good Afternoon All,

Unfortunately the away game at Carlisle RFC has been cancelled however we have secured a double header against Darlington Mowden Park. The revised dates are detailed below:-

7th August Newcastle University (Home) Kick Off 2pm

14th August Darlington Mowden Park (Away) Kick Off 3pm

20th August Newcastle University (Home) Kick Off 7pm

28th August Darlington Mowden Park (Home) Kick Off 3pm

It would be great to see you all come down to the club to support the team in readiness for the new season ahead, subject to Covid guidelines in place at the time.

Enjoy the Summer.

Regards

BRFC

BRFC – Return to Training Update – June 2020

12/06/20

Blaydon RFC – Return to Training Guidance – 8th June 2020

The RFU has issued guidance on what we can and can’t do as we start to return to being able to train in a restricted form. There will be a slow progression back to normality dependent on government guidance. As a club we want to encourage our members to stay fit and maintain interaction with the club and their fellow players.

In order to do this we have undertaken a Risk Assessment (RA) and developed mitigating actions to look to ensure the safety for both players and coaches.

Club Responsibilities & Actions:

In line with RFU Guidance the club will:
• Brief all coaches on the RA and ask them to sign to say they will manage the session in line with the RA
• Social Distancing (Currently 2 metres) should be maintained at all times
• Training is allowed in groups of no more than 6, and if under 18 one of those 6 has to be a coach.
• Up to 4 groups of 6 are allowed on the pitch at any one time, maintaining separation from the other groups present, with the field clearly separated into sections.
• Washing of hands and/or use of hand sanitiser before, after and at regular intervals is essential. All coaches will have hand sanitiser to allow the session to take place.
• Sharing equipment or balls should be kept to a minimum and the equipment should be cleaned before / after each session, including cones.
• A first aider should be present at all sessions but the first aider should stay 2m away unless absolutely necessary. First aider should have PPE including gloves and face mask
• There should be a 15 minute gap between each session finishing and the next session starting to allow for safe access and the cleaning / removal of equipment.
• The use of toilets should be kept to a minimum but if necessary use of hand sanitiser should be used when entering and leaving the toilets / clubhouse.
• Entry and separate exits for the AGP will be clearly identified by signage.
• The club should be notified of all sessions, with a list of who attended

Player Responsibilities:

• Anyone who is looking to train should perform one of the following:
o complete a consent form and hand/submit to coaches
o send an email to Contact@blaydonrfc.co.uk Subject: Blaydon RFC – return to training guidance – 8th June 2020
o Click following link and ‘approve’ within (Online link currently not available yet)
Above advises you have read this club guidance and will comply. Under 18s need their parent/parents to sign the consent form.
• You will be issued a group to train in along with 5 other people – this will be decided by your coach and will relate to fitness/position played. Once you have been allocated a group you can not change it
• You should only train in this group scenario once every 24 hours
• Each player should wash their hands for a minimum of 20 secs. or use hand sanitiser before, after and at least once more during the session.
• You should arrive ready to train as there are no changing facilities
• All players and coaches should bring their own water bottle and should not share that bottle with anyone else.
• Unless asked, you should bring nothing else onto the pitch

Any breach of any of the above will result in a player or players being asked to leave the session and abstain from subsequent sessions until coaches and safeguarding officer are comfortable that there won’t be any re-occurrence.

An update on the Youth Section’s return to training will be posted soon. You can either email the club or print and sign a copy of the document, the online option is expected to be available after the weekend. If you need a copy of this form then please do not hesitate to contact the club. Regards BRFC

Weʼre raising £15,000 to support Blaydon Rugby Football Club during the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.

07/04/20

Many of us are celebrating privately in our own homes the recent confirmation by the RFU that Blaydon RFC has been promoted from the Northern Premier League to National 2 North, effectively from the 5th level of national rugby to the 4th level.

Such celebrations however must wait as the Club faces a far more significant immediate challenge – survival.

The disaster of Covid 19 has bought dire consequences to all manner of organisations and there is a real danger that our Club will not survive unless we all work together to raise the funds that are needed to see us through this period of inactivity.

Like all businesses Blaydon survives by ensuring its annual income at least equals its expenditure. Our main sources of income are through the weekly car boot sales, outside hire functions such as circuses and events, the bar and associated functions. All of these sources have ceased for the foreseeable future and yet our overheads, although reduced, continue. We have a considerable number of monthly outgoings and borrowings to continue to pay . We have operated for many years now with overdraft facilities but no cash reserves. If this continues we will take years to recover if at all in the immediate short term.

We’re refinancing the club, Possible funds/loans that have been publicised as available by the RFU and Durham County Rugby Union, and are being applied for, and we have taken steps to minimise our expenditure including furloughing our staff to protect their employment.
Blaydon Rugby Club is close to many of us. Hundreds of past players have benefitted from camaraderie and playing experience over the years, and today we continue to provide facilities for our very successful boys and girls youth teams, adult playing and social membership. It would be disastrous if this were unable to continue.

It is for this reason, in these exceptional times, that we are appealing to all of you, as we establish an Appeal Fund to get us through the next few months. Whilst other Clubs have launched similar appeals we have thought long and hard before doing this as we are aware that these are difficult times for so many of you and there are many organisations appealing for money at this time.

However this is YOUR club and perhaps think of the enjoyment you have had over the years or more recently in being associated with Blaydon RFC

We’re hoping to achieve an initial target of £15,000 and realise it depends on your personal circumstances to how much you could donate. A donation of any size would help at this time and this can be done by:

• Via a Just Giving page https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/blaydonrugbyappeal

• Online payment, mail us at contact@blaydonrfc.co.uk and we’ll provide bank details.

Any one who can help, by providing a donation of £500 or over will be granted life membership to Blaydon RFC or a season ticket to attend 1st team League matches for the next 5 seasons

If we are successful with applications to government or RFU funding, any money donated to the club not used to cover the day to day operation of the club at this time, will be put towards club and grounds improvements.

Please circulate this message to as many friends and potential sponsors who may be able to help as possible. A regular update on funds received will be provided on our web site and through social media

Come on – you CAN do it

On behalf of Blaydon RFC,
Bill Locke – President
Bruce Costello – Chairman of Executive

Tag Archive for: 1st Team News

Half Time Blaydon 19 v Chester 13

Fylde’s class out wide is the difference