2006/2007 Season Review...

Whilst at the end of the previous season we were disappointed not to have escaped Yorkshire Two, at the end of last season we were mightily relieved to be still in it.

We opened the season with a win in the first round of the Yorkshire Shield against Roundhegians, but had to concede our second round match due to fixture problems. We also won our opening game in the national knockout with a 33-29 victory at home to Burnley, following a bizarre chain of events, before falling at the second hurdle, at home to Scarborough.

Our league form was a bit hit and miss, due mainly to us not being able to field a regular set of backs, and throughout the season we never gained a position higher than sixth in the table. In our opening nine league games we won five, but three defeats on the trot in December left us just two points off a relegation spot and slightly on edge.

We began the New Year with victory over North Ribblesdale but then lost the next four league games which put us next to bottom in the division with five games to go. There was a distinct feeling of resignation to relegation in the club but fate was on our side as we won our next three games. We beat bottom of the table, and already relegated, York R.I. 44-0 before putting in a momentous effort at Barnsley, surviving with two men in the sin bin at one stage, to snatch a vital 10-0 victory. This proved to be decisive as it turned the pressure onto Barnsley and when we beat West Park Leeds we were four points clear with two games to go but had an inferior points difference. We went through several permutations as to how we could avoid relegation but Barnsley, in the end, failed to win either of their last two games to leave us safe in tenth position and with a few more grey hairs!

The Second XV struggled for most of the season as they found victory very elusive. They had a run of twelve consecutive defeats in the middle of the season but this was mainly due to them not being able to field a settled side; they used a total of 81 players.

The Third XV had a much better season forged on an excellent team spirit. They were involved in numerous close games and were only on the wrong end of big defeats on two occasions.