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their number one Rugby League team.

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Although the Rabbitoh's lost against the league winners in the semi-finals of the Yorkshire and Humber Merit League by a 74- 0 score line,ALL the lads that played can hold their heads high!

At the beginning of the 12 week summer season our team consisted of 5 sixteen year olds 6 under 20yrs,5 others that had played before and 3 old farts that should know better  and 1STALWART rugby union player that thought rugby league was GAY, so the season looked set to be an uphill battle with players and our fixtures.

To add a little more pressure there were concerns voiced about us playing the young lads from parents and club members and rightly so,Our intentions were to lightly play the boys just to give them a taste.So to our first fixture PARKSIDE, baptism of fire was an under-statement and as for a taster the young un's got a full sunday roast and seconds.From that moment on the idea that the boys were to be treated with kid gloves was thrown out of the window,the parents that had travelled and witness the guts and sweat the lads put in agreed. As captain this season has been a true DEVELOPMENT team and to see the progress of

Jack , Seb ,Sam, Rory,Jordan W , Alex, Ryan, Adam Roberts has been fantastic,it has been a whole team effort all season, to look at our away fixtures we travelled with at least 20 players every away game which to me shows the commitment to each other.The Rotherham away game showed the team spirit, after a high tackle which resulted in Matt Pettifotrd recieving a fractured cheek bone a scuffle insued and first into the affray was Young Ryan 'clubber'Carr whom decided to pick on a player that out weighed by some 9 stone, then came Nathan the 'GNAT' Watson who flew in and missed all their players and hit one of ours (its the thought that counts).Matt was taken out for the rest of the season but he still travelled to rest of the fixtures!!!!!

Some of our star players this season for me as captain have been Neil Corry the stalwart union player,His passion and will to win,his ability to talk to any player and command their respect thanx Neil

Shaun and Steve Clough both lads come from Castleford every week to play,Shaun puts in tackle after tackle and was one of the main play makers,Steve again a war-horse puts in a full 80 and talks a full 80 too keeps the lads focused.

Then we have Shane Lowery who at the wrong end of thirty something still manages to make 30 tackles plus every game,Jamie Clough who has only recently got over a serious shoulder OP put his body on the line more than once to tyhe point of dislocating the shoulder twice.

I COULD GO ON ALL NIGHT BUT AS OUR SEASON ENDS I JUST WANT TO SAY ITS BEEN AN HONOUR AND A GREAT PLEASURE TO PLAY ALONGSIDE YOU ALL ,THIS TO ME HAS BEEN THE BEST SEASON THE RABBITOH'S HAVE HAD WITH RESPECT OF THE  DEVELOPMENT OF OUR TEAM . thank you all

Hope to see you next year xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rabbitoh’s hosted the game against the unknown quantity of The Rotherham Giants. Their name seem to summarise their pack quite well, large would be another description.

On the back of a two win run the home side were in good spirits, with Giants to receive the kick off they took it on straight up the middle of the park, Chambers put the first tackle in only to be knocked over like a ten pin, from then on the home side knew that one man tackles were not going to work. The Giants were extremely good at off-loading the ball in contact and were able to make great yards, from their first set of six they powered their way straight to the try line to score.

This was like a cold shower wake up call to the Rab’s, From the kick off the Giants knocked on so the Rab’s tried three power runs down the centre of the field through legs of Chambers, Roberts and Steve Clough and Pettiford but their defence was solid, forth play saw the combination of Spreadbury and Mcdaid shift it out wide for Mcdaid to score. So ten minutes into the game and it was 6 – 6.

The Rabbitoh’s Coach Col Clough and Capt Chambers thought that the weakness in their game would be the youngsters not being able to cope with size difference of their opposite numbers.

Vickers, White, Wilson and Rendall-Tyrrell all of which are 16 yrs old carried the ball into contact without fear or prejudice and if that was not enough their tackling was second to none .The home side received a scrum on their own 10yard line which saw Mcdaid and chambers swap positions, from the back of the scrum Mcdaid picked up and looped right and run a 91 yard try after the conversion he needed replacing with veteran Steve Clayton. The Game was evenly matched in the first finding both teams 22 points each.

Once coach Clough had pointed out obvious first half mistake, Not being able to stop the Giants offloading at will the 2^nd half commenced .The Giants carried playing the same game and after a series of excellent offloads broke free to a near certain try had not been for the outstanding covering tackle of Ryan Carr that put their man into touch.

The Rab’s kept using the drive up the middle of the park via players like Roberts, Steve Clough, Pettiford, Vickers White, but quick thinking Clayton at Dummy half released Andy Shaw at center to score.

Not to be out done the Giants responded with their next set six to pin the home side in their own 20 metre , a handling error from the home side gave The Giants another set and made it pay with a converted try again all square.

A couple of changes for tired legs for the Rabbitoh’s saw Galenski,Griggs Mcdaid and debutant Downie come on this seem to spur them on with tries from Clayton, Mcdaid, Wilson and Vickers to clinch the win   36 – 26.

An excellent result boys and you should be proud because it was an extremely physical game in more ways than one .A special thank you to the younger players from the coach and Scottie would like to say Thank you to  Steve Clough for Spurring all the lads on !!!!

A small foot note Gentlemen the GREAT GAME but expect CRITISISM on wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

REFEREE M DUNN Had an excellent game comments on this from both sides

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Rabbitoh’s  V Junior –Saracens  30/05/2009

28   - 22 win to Rabbitoh’s

After an excellent win the week before The Rab’s should have been full of confidence but news through the week of two key players (Silcox and J Clough) out for the foreseeable future due to injuries dampened their spirits. This week they hosted the Junior Saracens and as the name suggests the team was built on youth and fitness average age of nineteen.

The home side knew that the younger members of their side, Alex Wilson, Rory Rendall-Tyrrell,Jordan White and Sam Vickers  would have to be relied on to step up to the mark, and step up they did it was a young mans game with fast paced plays of the ball and faster covering tackles.

The first score of the day saw Lowery play the ball to  a waiting Shaun Clough whom sucked in the defenders to release Mcdaid to slide through three defenders and score under the posts. Undeterred by this the Saracens responded by forcing the error from the 3^rd play of six and took quick ball to leave the Rab’s scratching their heads .

The lack of the home side being able to complete a set of six tackles seem to upset their coach immensely , but please their opposition as it was these mistakes that let them score tries. The main game plan for the Rab’s was to run the ball straight down the middle using the big hitting runners of Roberts, Vickers ,Pettiford and Shaw, this worked well, yardage was made and from one such set of six Shaun Clough backed himself chipped over the top collected and scored under the posts.

From the restart the home side defended like  a team should defend as one line of bodies, Players such as Vickers, Pettiford ,Baker putting their bodies on the line, From a breakaway the Saracens had a great overlap , they ran it wide gave the try scoring pass only to find their receiver being chased down and run out of play by Alex Wilson. The Rabs took the re-start and Mcdaid ran his second try in.

At half time Coach Col Rang the changes Corry, White ,Steve Clough came on. Nobody was sure what the Saracens coach said to their lads but they came out whooping and yelling every time they put a tackle in, the odd swinging arm and late knee all added to their game. The Rabbitohs half time replacements soon made them pay, Jordan White took the ball into contact and playing quick ball released Corry to score his 1^st try. The game seemed to see- saw from one end to the other but the main difference between the teams the heart the Rabbitoh’s showed in the latter part of the match, try stopping tackles from Hill,Wilson,Rendall-tyrrell,Lowery and our debutant Jack Galenski.

From a re-start after a Saracens Score Galenski chased the kicked and had to wait for the ball to fall into the oppositions hands, he tackled, then tackled the 2^nd player and forced the error, From the resulting scrum the Rab’s had three bullocking runs from Chambers , Steve Clough, Griggs and finally Corry picked the ball and went for the try ably assisted over the line by Jack Galenski. The Referees’ Man of the Match was again Shaun Clough

A Massive thank you from Capt Chambers to the whole team outstanding performance

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Rabbitoh’s  v Barton  Bulldogs Rugby League

The South humber Rabbitohs’ first home game was welcomed by a glorious summer day.The visiting team of Barton Bulldogs came ready to do battle full of high spirits.

Rabbitoh’s fielded the same team as last week but with one major difference a full  Wednesday night training session on how to run support play. Rabbitoh’s  received the kick off and from that moment on the training had paid off the first set of six yielded their first try from Shaun clough who danced his way through the Bulldog’s surprised defence.

From that try came the confidence the Rabbitohs had been lacking in the first two games, the forwards consisting of Silcox , Roberts,Lowery,Pettiford,Shaw,and Chambers took on the hard yards with excellent crash ball running and some slight of hand off-loading , this released time after time the half backs S Clough and J Clough to work their magic with the centre combination of Dudley and Thompson.One such run saw Thompson hand off four would be tacklers and with one to beat unselfishly pass to a waiting Rory Rendal-Tyrell to score.  

The Bulldogs however NEVER let their heads go down even though the score line 10 minutes fom the end of the 1^st half was 58-0, they battled back to push the Rabbitoh,s back to their 10meter line ,An offside decision gave them another set of six and with 4 yards to go they tapped and with their prop screaming for the ball he set his run only to get stopped with a crunching tackle from Chambers, the ball was intercepted by Yes that man Shaun Clough to run it the full length to score (Half Time)

For the 2^nd the Bulldogs had run out of subs and rather than have the game called it was agreed to lend some players , The players lent were Capt Chambers and Rick Silcox,The Rabbitoh’s coach decided to play some debutants to the game Corry,Spreadbury, also the benched players were changed  Mc Daid, Vickers,White ,Goose,Steve Clough and Seb all came on.

With the change of players came a completely different game the Bulldogs seem to get a second wind,their defence started to plug the holes and they started to make some real yardage to the horror of Coach Col of the Rab’s.

On a good set of six from the Bulldogs they found themselves camped in the oppositions half, they took  a quick by their Capt Ratter who got stopped 5 metres from the try line, First to react to take a quick play of the ball was loaned player Chambers who took it and stretched through the legs of defender Goose to score the Bulldogs only try.

This rallied the away team to defend better and harder, they showed real steel  to withstand the on slaught that Rabbitoh players such as Corry ,Hill ,Thompson and Mcdaid put them under .There were further tries for Rabbitohs from Mcdaid(2) and Hill(3). Although the score seems one sided Barton can take some solice from the fact that they NEVER GAVE UP and put tackle after tackle in.

The Referee was asked to give the Rabbitoh’s man of the match and although on the day there were contenders such as Thompson,Hill ,Wilson and Silcox the Coach house sponsored MOM was………………Shaun Clough with 6 tries

                Well done boys lets do back to back  home wins (WEDNESDAY TRAINING 7pm)

DAN McDaid scored a hat-trick but could not stop a threadbare South Humber Rabbitohs going down 52-32 to a strong Nottingham Outlaws side.

The Rabbitohs travelled to Nottingham with only 13 men, with the Outlaws naming 20 players. The match started well for the Rabbitohs and scored first when, from a good set of drives, they put the Outlaws on the back foot. The Rabbitohs were on their last play when McDaid passed to Lee Gallagher, who stormed over the line for a try. Buoyed by this, the Rabbitohs made life hard for the Outlaws with some resilient defence. The resistance lasted until over-zealous running resulted in the ball being spilt and from the resulting scrum, the Outlaws went on to score under the post. The heat was taking its toll and, with a lack of replacements available, the Rabbitohs tired. The Outlaws sensed this as they strolled over for two unanswered tries. Rabbitohs fought back, however, and just before half-time, McDaid went over for a brilliant individual try. Jamie Clough added the conversion. The Rabbitohs' hopes of making a strong start to the second half were dashed when the Outlaws took advantage of confusion in the visitors' ranks to score against the run of play. Rabbitohs then suffered injuries to two players, leaving only 11 fit players to see the match out. Despite this, a quickfire double from McDaid saw him complete his hat-trick to give Rabbitohs a lifeline. It was short-lived, however, as the Outlaws went on to score three more tries. Steve blank hit back to push his way over from two metres and the game's best try came from prop Col Matthews when he picked the ball up in his own half to race away from the outstretched Outlaws defence to flop over the line. Final score 52 - 32 to the Outlaws.

The opening match of the season for the South Humber Rabbitohs rugby league team was marred by confusion and disruption due to their opponents, Barton, almost pulling out. Fortunately, they were able to field a team and the game went on.

In one of the hottest days of the year, the young, new-look Rabbitohs side - which had debutants Scott Stanley, Pete Southwell, Tom Love, Andy Shaw and Jamie Clough all in the starting team - were hopeful of a good start to the campaign. New club captain Dan McDaid got the game underway, and Stanley quickly opened the account for the Rabbitohs with a well-worked try. With Australian Shane Lowery out injured, it was up to veteran John Hamill to take charge and give direction to the team. Guiding his side up the left flank, enough space was created for Stanley to charge in from seven metres and power over the try line.Further quick tries were added by McDaid and Rick Silcox who, in his third season with the club, looked very useful. The Rabbitohs also showed their power in defence although, as the game went on, it was clear they were tiring and it was up to young full-back Callum Hill to cover and make several try-saving tackles.

With representatives present from the club's new main sponsor, the Coach House Inn, Humberston, and matchday sponsors Secure Mail Services, it was important that the Rabbitohs put on a good display.

The Rabbitohs are away at Nottingham Outlaws this Sunday. The team are leaving Springfield Road at 9pm. Supporters are welcome to go along and watch. Visit www.rabbitohs.net for more information and news.

THE South Humber Rabbitohs were beaten 46-28 but kept their pride intact after a bruising encounter with Crewe and Nantwich Steamers in the Midlands Merit League.

It was a long journey for the Grimsby squad against a team which has been steam-rolling every team they come across.

Crewe are a well-drilled team made up of players mainly from the hardcore rugby league base of surrounding areas such as Warrington.

The Rabbitohs' cause was not helped by some late withdrawals and they could only manage a squad of 14 - thanks to the late call-up of Ash Watson and Phil Dann.

The Grimsby side kicked off and the Steamers ran back, hard and fast, with their captain taking the ball into contact.

He ran into Gareth Cookson, who stood firm, bouncing the young captain backwards, with the tackle finished off by the two powerhouses Matt Pettiford and Scott Chambers, and the stage was set for a bruising game.

On the third tackle, the Steamers spilled the ball, allowing a breakaway try from Andy Shaw

The Steamers answered with a couple of quick tries but the Rabbitohs were not out of it.

Bulky forwards Pettiford, Rick Silcox, Cookson and Chambers continued to make powerful runs.

One resulted in Chambers scoring a line-breaking try, carrying over with him several of the Steamers players.

Old war horse Steve blank kept the Steamers at bay with some beautifully-placed kicks, and darting runs.

Shane Lowery scored a fine try for the Rabbitohs, skimming two players and taking two more over the line, after a classy pass from Andrew Johns.

At the interval, the Steamers had their noses in front by just one try.

In the second half, Rabbitohs conceded a flurry of tries, but fought hard to stem the tide.

Dan McDaid made one try-saving tackle which literally knocked the steam of out of one opposition forward, leaving him out cold for more than two minutes, although he was able to make a full recovery.

The Rabbitohs scored another try of their own thanks to their Australians, Johns and Lowery, the latter diving over the line.

The forwards continued to make inroads as Cookson caught a bobbling ball and was hit by four Steamers players as he made a break down the wing.

Silcox, with a wound taped up after a clash of heads, continued to hammer away with some probing runs.

The Rabbitohs were camped on the Steamers' line for some time, and it finally resulted in a typical winger's try from Dann, who managed to get his body over the line chin first, after some great play by Nathan and Ash Watson, leaving Nathan reeling after a winding hit.

The Springfield Road side put another try on the board through man-of-the-match Chambers, who smashed his way through five players who had been trying all match to stop him.

Towards the end, the Rabbitohs became engulfed, due to their small squad, and an injury meant Pettiford had to leave the field, with no replacement.

All the Grimsby players had put in a full 80 minutes, unheard of in rugby league, while the Steamers had a squad of nearly 20 with substitutes arriving on a regular basis.

In the last 10 minutes, Rabbitohs conceded a couple more tries due to sheer physical exhaustion.

The game finished three minutes early when a Steamer tried to tackle Silcox on a powerful run, resulting in an ambulance call when the Crewe player's shoulder buckled on impact.

Rabbitohs left the pitch defeated, bloodied and bruised but proud of the efforts and performance.

The Steamers said it was the most physical game they had played all season and were glad they didn't have to meet the Rabbitohs every week.

The Rabbitohs' home game against Worksop Rossington tomorrow has been postponed but they are back in action at Springfield Road on Saturday, June 28, against Nottingham Outlaws (2pm)