it was up to lane to appoint the ref as they where at home as you rightly pointed out moor do. if I want to bemoan on here I will its no different to threads on here where trinity lost because of the ref. and no its not sour grapes cos my sons team lost like you point out there 8&9 year old playing for the lane well its the same for moor too and I believe its a time when they should be learning proper rules not that if you take a kids head off you can get away with it

Oulton Raiders Under 7's continued improving in a midweek friendly game against Kippax Under 7's, as this game was against their year 1 side we took the opportunity to let a few of the younger/less experienced lads play the game and our bigger more experienced older lads took their turn to sit out.

Game was played in great spirits with both sets of young players loving their chance to play against very evenly matched opposition, and the younger Oulton lads taking their chance and playing really well where as in previous games a few of them have been outshone by the bigger more dominant lads at times.

On Sunday we are playing a very inexperienced Dudley Hill side, so again will send a team made up of the smaller and younger lads giving them another chance to show what they can do - hopefully benefiting both sets of players making sure they both get the most out of it.

Midweek friendly games seem the only way we can possibly get close to keeping everybody in the squad happy and ensuring they get enough game time so they continue to improve.

Calm down fella ... September is it your first one ?

I find it sad the number of head shots that go in and whilst the poor lad goes off injured the coach's don't chastise their players.
The 70s/80s have gone. Its wrong to train kids to rub faces in mud etc.

Crigg 13s at home to sidall .
Last week lock lane had them up on the ropes in the first half .
Mistakes costing try after try after try. Poor in every aspect apart from once again those flashes of genius.

This is the warm up for the final and I'm sure as it stands by now most will be wanting easts to win it.
But although you can take a lot from defeat now is not the time . today is back on the horse.

Its hard however when your farther is taking a number of calls from clubs in one week for those lads to keep feet on the ground.

Maybe the RFL should think of things like this as its still ending up in a 12-13 year old mind.

I'm sure crigg are not the only ones
But everyone is waiting now for them to lose.
I'm sure it would make their season.

Spartans RLFC beat Upton this morning in what was a predictably brutal affair.

Spartans fierce defence dominated the first period and forced Upton to play in their own 40 for the majority of the half, uncharacteristic attacking play from the home team saw them snatching at opportunities and consequently bombing a number of tries. At 6 - 0 the scoreboard did not reflect the dominance of the Blue & Blacks but a lot of credit must go to Upton who scrambled well and put their bodies on the line. The visitors found some rare field position when a 'Downtown' was miss-fielded and one of the big forwards crashed through from close in to make the score 6 - 4.

From the kick off a slip in the defensive line saw Upton race clean through and score beneath the sticks, the conversion put the visitors ahead by 6 - 10 an amazing score line considering how Spartans had dominated. Not allowing themselves to be rocked, the Spartans got back to the game plan and scored out wide and a super conversion put them back in the lead 12 - 10
HT

The 2nd half was just as physical as the 1st but the Spartans had all the power and class they needed to remove any opportunity for Upton to win the game. Playing a mixture of direct and expansive rugby the home side went on to win by
44 - 10. A couple of the tries were superb, top drawer team scores that brought praise from both sets of supporters.

Another fine example of how strong U14s Rugby League is across the Wakefield District, Upton players, staff and parents were a credit to their club.

Panthers 13s travelled to east Leeds knowing it would be a very tough game,after a very poor start the panthers fought hard to get back in the game having given themselves a mountain to climb.a dominant panthers side ran in 4 second half tries to level at 28-28 then with a few minutes remaining saw a panthers player hit around the head and in his fall to the ground the lad broke his leg in two places.

The game was held up for over 30 mins whilst the ambulance arrived,the game should have been ended their and then but the title chasing easts were not prepared to end the game and share the points has it would all but end their title hopes. Needless to say the game re-started for two sets and on the last play of the game they scored the winning try much to their delight.

Puts a whole new meaning to winning at all costs.!!

The lad who broke his leg has had surgery this morning at the lgi and will spend a second night in hospital and needless to say faces a long road to recovery.

I always want my boys clubs to do well , first of all thanks for giving the Leeds outfit such a hard game.
2nd thanks for giving crigg some purpose in retribution, they are flying high are easts at the moment but be assured crigg will be pushing to play they games in hand.

this group have played many finals against teams from east hull to close rivals Moore, i hope that the game is played in the same spirits etc and the kids rugby takes centre stage.

It takes a lot more than brutality to be tough enough and good enough.

A very large physical unit ( Sidall ) came to crigglestone with the aim of taking 2 points.
Paying no respect to league positions the away team were whilst never IMHO looking likely to win were never gonna be pushed around.

A improved performance IMO which I'm sure Did all may say was down to 1 man as I heard a couple say, however some superbly play ball from the halves , scoops from dummy yards from our now notorious front row and of course the no nonsense defence which includes yet again that 1 man .
Next week is East Leeds on the whole and I don't feel guilty for putting this down before a major final but the lads have not been at their best.

Let's see what final week brings.

Hi Muttley

Didnt think it was a one man performance,although i think that one man was certainly the difference between the teams.
We certainly are a large team,a bit more guile needed though when the forwards have laid the platform.
I thought your online goal defence early in the first half was excellent,would have liked to have seen Siddal be a bit more thoughtful when in those positions rather than just trying to use pure strength.Always amazes me that what theyve practised in training week in week out sometimes goes out of the window when they get a bit giddy!!
Its been a learning curve this year for the Siddal boys after promotion and i think theyre doing ok.
Enjoyed our first visit - we even won the football card!

Good luck in the final.

PS - Get the pitch lines marked out.

Wish the lad a full and speedy recovery.

Raiders Under 7's again purposely took a small and (relatively) inexperienced side away to Bradford Dudley Hill yesterday. Dudley Hill were playing in only their 4th game and tried their best but inexperience really counted - our defense was pretty mean all the game, holding out right up to the last tackle when we game them the benefit of the doubt with a last play try. Common sense prevailed in the interpretation of the rules, with a tackle being called once the ball had been dropped/gone to ground - this approach made it much better for the lads to understand that you can't simply throw the ball anywhere at anytime in virtually a no risk free play, and the ball must be respected - but we obviously continued the full set of 6 for both sides on all occasions unless a try was scored.

Dudley Hill will no doubt improve with game time under their belt, as we have done in the last 3 months or so in our first season. They had a few potentially good players and plenty of enthusiasm but the lack of game time and inexperience/lack of organisation was fairly obvious. They did though have a decent number of players available, something that not may other sides at this age group seem to have.

We have managed to organize another game for Thursday evening that the boys who didn't play last night instead of training.

Once again, if anybody wants a friendly at Under 7's level in the coming weeks please let us know.

I would think most under 7's are small and relatively inexperienced Musky




On a serious note keep up the good work.

That's a nice and fair assessment t'out and I said to a friend in the first half , if you stop try to kick the door in and look for the keys you're going to get over.

But I'm sure brayton and some others like from oulton , easdtmoor , Stanley etc will all say the same we can be camped on our line for 10 minutes and then one pass to one of 3 and bang. The other 2 were not 100% so were rested.
But if like I'm sure you have before that was big jack as he's known and has won games before .

As for the lines , we as parents and fans are embarrassed and ashamed at the state of our club.

[EDITED BY MYSELF TO SAVE ANY TROUBLES

You may well be surprised Al, there is a very wide gap between the confidence and ability not just within our group of 23 players but also throughout the teams in the league as well! No point taking a team full of our bigger/more confident ones to play against a side playing in their 3rd game - that would be fun for none and a waste of time for both sides.

I also don't think you can overestimate the amount of improvement they make from 1 week to the next when they get game time. Those teams who have had players playing last year at under 7's level are still well infront of those who didn't generally speaking. Should hopefully see it start to level out soon though.

Spartans play their last home League fixture this Sunday, KO 10:30 Vs East Leeds

The season has just flown by, I can't work out if it's just my perception or if the season is ridiculously short although I'm leaning toward the latter.

Anyhow, peeps are welcome down at Ossett Trinity to watch, as always there will be the welcome aroma of coffee, bacon and wintergreen wafting from the club house.

This weekend sees the challenge cup finals at fev rovers ground
One that I know of is
East Leeds v crigglestone AB 13s
Don't know what to expect as the top 2 fight it out.

About 2 years ago East Leeds beat Crigglestone All Blacks under 11s .
I don't recall the score but I bet spongebobs son will.
Today for the first time in competitive matches East Leeds Under 13s not only beat CAB 13s , ending a 2 year run . They thrashed them 56-16 I think it ended.

To sum it up . the best team won.
Congratulations to the parents coaches club etc but mainly the lads who in so much hard work.

If you are going to lose a two year run undefeated you may as well get a stuffing, it'll do em good in the long run.

Also hats off to my own lad felt his hand hurting after his first tackle and again a bit later, nothing said with adrenaline pumping . end of game one hand size of mine ,
A&E ***** BROKEN KNUCKLE , FINGER AND TO THE HAND ...... soccer players , we &%£# em .

Absolutely spot on, forgetting how loosing feels makes you complacent hopefully they can get that winning feeling back and it will mean more to them

Think its time for a rant!!!
First and foremost, sincere congratulations to East Leeds for a fantastic winning performance today against the Allblacks. You took the game to us and really deserved to win...well done and good luck with the rest of your season.
However, as Crigg parents we were a disgrace. Whwn they called out the names of our young heroes did we clap and cheer?? No we never made a sound. East Leeds cheered the walls down and their kids knew they were supported.
Many of our players went into this game with their heads down and defeated before the ball was even kicked. Some showed a negative attitude I have never seen from them and quite frankly hope I never see again. But it wasn't their fault. Im not normally one for airing dirty laundry in public but I was ashamed of myself this morning for putting up with a lot of things lately.
We have a coach who would do anything for the lads and who cant have done a bad job winning just about everything with them for the last 2 years but for some reason lately and the week leading up to a cup final, people want to tear this club apart and start a political game for power. This isnt for the benefit of the kids, OUR KIDS, but for the benefit of certain adults. You, WE, sent our children, yes children into battle against a strong East Leeds team, with their heads low and confused. Not only that we did nothing to support them through it. Despite the differences we have with Leeds parents, they actually acted like parents this morning. Many of us just expected our lads to win. Theyre kids, not machines.
Personally i dont care if the moderator thinks I have gone too far today and kicks me off, but I am not willing to put up with what i allowed to happen this morning. Our own parents shouting and berating our own coach and each others kids. Some of the opposition staff were no better with the disgusting things we heard said about some of our lads but I wouldnt dream of spoiling their day. It was their day afterall.
My message is this, loud and clear, get behind your kids and the coach who has never let you down, let them enjoy their rugby and dont try to make it about us, itys JUNIOR rugby and not all about winning, or get lost because these kids deserve better. WE lost them that final today. taking nothing away from East Leeds but you dont go from hammering a team 3 weeks ago to getting an absolout tonking like we did today by the same team. We need to grow up and just enjoy watching our kids having fun.if you dont like what i say, i dont care. Well done again East Leeds.

Just asked "statto" , and quick as a flash 24-14 !

Hope young mutts is ok - certainly didn't show during the game ....brave lad !

Also congrats to East Leeds , they were fantastic today .

In my experience, there are certain people involved in jr rugby who will never, ever, get that message.

I think it is the same every where the winning seams to be more important than playing with smiles on there faces now days. It is a fantastic age group I watch it regular because my nephew plays for panthers there some very good young players every where and in few year we will be watching a lot of them on TV but for now let them be kids.