2013 Awards Dinner

December 20, 2013, 12:25 pm

≪ Previous: AGM 2013

This years awards dinner took place on Nov 30 at Different Strokes in Grimsby (they have let us back two years in a row- albeit as the Grimsby Male Precision Skating Squad) and the meal was much better (but more expensive) than last year. Significant others (aka designated drivers) were present to increase the audience although it was a little bit smaller this year. The ambiance was Christmasy and we ate and got the awards done by about nine and moved to another pub, Rickochez, for a few drinks before heading off as is the custom to the Canadian Legion to bring some cheer to the veterans there. The delight in their faces just melts the heart.

Your president described the season as generally a positive one (mainly because we regained the Brooker Cup from St. Catharines and ended ahead of them in the standings) with some good wins and close losses. The tour to Philadelphia and their return visit to us was a highlight as sit was our first tour party to the clubhouse. The first ambulance came onto the field to pick up Nick and we had the first sleepover at the clubhouse with matching pyjamas as everyone huddled around to watch the movie Grease with John Travolta (I heard there also was a sing-a-long .

Our first award went to Jamie Farrell as Rookie of the Year and was a real rookie only taking up the game in May with Grimsby Secondary School (their first boy's team) and then joined the club as a back three player. Jamie brings speed and determination and smartness (he is at UBC in business) to the game.

Most improved player went to Colin comfort in his second year of playing for Grimsby (when he is not herding cattle). Colin gives a great Matt Damion impression impersonating Francois Pienaar former captain of the Springboks.

Bob and Kyle with their keen eyes on the Grimsby rugby scene then presented their awards. (You had to be there, at least Milli got his pants back)

Having several strong performances over the season, the awards committee had to make a tough decision and awarded Martin Colyn with Player of the Year for 2013 for his contribution to Grimsby at #10 for much of the season, scoring multiple tries on a couple of occasions and man of the match awards several times by the opposition despite wearing yellow socks.

The award that is presented to a member who goes beyond to make the club a better place this year was presented to Vic Blaney who ran the social events, raised money, played strong rugby and caused a shortage of pea meal bacon in North America. Thank you Vic.

The deer's rear award is given to a player who makes a significant mistake on the field and does not get ridiculed enough at the time. For his inability to actually ground the ball in the opposing try zone without knowing it on with no one within twenty meters also went to Vic. You don't have to dress like this to try to get the award again next year, but it helps.

The last presentation is often called the Rob Ford Award as it is often the result of a drunken stupor.This year it went to Derrick Weber who broke one of the valuable pictures on the clubhouse wall by making a poor pass of an empty syrup bottle during the "Canadian Boat Races" with the Philadelphia. Derick's coveted award is a slightly used fly strip from the clubhouse. Derrick has set a record as the first two time winner of the award that has been presented twice.

Thanks to Jennifer below for making our game day salads and taking most of the (good) pictures at the games.

Jennifer is new to the sport and finds she ends up with a lot of pictures of butts (unlike me) but is willing to continue to work on it.

A few pictures of the happy group.

Martin pondering the lack of the Ike Turner Award

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“Detritus”By Les Barker

December 20, 2013, 12:29 pm

≫ Next: The annual New Years Day recovery touch game and chilli contest for 2014.

≪ Previous: 2013 Awards Dinner

"Detritus”By Les Barker

Go placidly amid the noise and haste
And remember what peace there may be in silence
Do not walk behind me for I may not lead
Do not walk in front for I may not follow
Go over there somewhere

Speak your truth quietly and clearly
Be open-minded, but do not lean forward or your brain may fall out
Know that there will be good days and there will be bad days
And this is one of them
Always dismantle and clean the dog before going to bed
But avoid the use of spot remover, you may never see him again
You are a child of the universe
It is a small world unless you have to paint it
Do not wish for everything unless you have a really big cupboard
Avoid loud and aggressive persons
Sleep well
If you cannot sleep well, practice more often
Borrow from pessimists, they don’t expect it back
Remember if you give a man a fish he will eat for a day
Teach him to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink himself stupid
It is always darkest before the dawn
That is the time to steal your neighbors newspaper
Be gentle with yourself
Bear in mind that depression is anger without enthusiasm
And good health merely the slowest way to die
Never argue with a fool for he is doing the same
Know that if at first you don’t succeed sky-diving’s not a good idea
And that timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance
Always remember that all is not lost
Though I haven’t seen it for some time
Be yourself
If you cannot become wiser try to be older
Never stand between the dog and the lamppost
And never hit a man with glasses
Always use something bigger and heavier
And remember that some people are only alive because it’s illegal to kill them
A closed mouth gathers no feet
Nature abhors a vacuum cleaner
Be cheerful
Strive to be happy
And remember that your sole purpose in life is to serve a warning to others
Go far
And start as soon as possible

↧

The annual New Years Day recovery touch game and chilli contest for 2014.

January 12, 2014, 10:08 am

≫ Next: Article 2

≪ Previous: “Detritus”By Les Barker

A peaceful snow covered morning (actually early afternoon) before the game and not as bright as last year (fortunately). Actually the temperature was cold -6 C.

Some of the action:

If I had to run for my life, I would die.

A discussion about lines of touch and if this try was scored out of bounds (Franky wins)

The 2014 group after (only one in shorts this year)

The most important part of the day is the chilli contest and thanks to the following members (Brendan, Jennifer, Nick with Paul in the back row) who entered. Some stayed up all night working on it (or perhaps they were just drinking all night). Winner for the second year in a row was Nick Lord (holding the Bob Mavrothalassitis over-eating trophy).

We had an inaugural meeting with four girls ( Chanel, Stephanie, Mary and Kendra) representing a number of girls (25) who want to re-establish the Grimsby Ladies Rugby Football Club. About twenty years ago Grimsby had one of the first women's teams in the NRU but it died out after a number of years. We are all looking forward to this addition to the rugby landscape in Grimsby.

And congratulations to long time member Bob and his new wife Vanessa who got married on Dec 28th. It was a real traditional Greek wedding (in Greek) with a wonderful reception including lots of food and dancing and smashing plates on the floor.

Kyle soon turned it into a Scottish wedding by smashing the plates on people's heads (the plates were harder than the heads). "I thought they were break-away plates", said Kyle, after the third hit.

The blog was looked at by 5 557 times in 2013 which was an increase of 50 hits over 2012. Out total number of hits over 5 years is 16 694. This year our post about the new strip was looked at 60 times.

↧

Article 2

May 20, 2014, 5:19 am

≫ Next: American football

≪ Previous: The annual New Years Day recovery touch game and chilli contest for 2014.

If you can keep your feet when all about you,

Are doing their level best to lay you low.

If you can vow – though all present will doubt you,

That you didn't mean to make that crushing blow.

If you can sing and not forget the lyrics,

Or drink and not fall down upon the floor;

And keep on when there is nothing in you,

Except the Will which says to them: “One more!”

....

If you can ruck and not get killed while rucking,

And send the ball when needed into touch.

If neither kicks nor scrapes nor cuts can hurt you,

But you can return the same, though none too much.

If you can fill each unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds worth of bruising run;

Yours is the game and everything that’s in it,

And-which is more-you'll be a Gentlemen, my son!

As If they care, my apologies to George Orwell and of course Rudyard Kipling

↧

American football

May 23, 2014, 8:47 am

≫ Next: Brooker Cup VIII

≪ Previous: Article 2

↧

Brooker Cup VIII

June 1, 2014, 10:54 am

≫ Next: Oakville Crusaders IV away

≪ Previous: American football

Grimsby Gentlemen 54: St. Catharines Tigers 10

Venue: Alway Field

Sponsors: JJ Cores, ProFast and maybe Steamwhistle.

Referee : Jeff Dahl (well done Jeff)

Weather: Sunny, warm day (mid twenties with enough breeze to make you not want to be bothered putting on sun block - but it was explained to me that it was not the sixties anymore - thanks Vanessa)
Congratulations "Grimsby roofers", the roof did not leak today.

Attendance: quick estimate would be in the hundreds

The first home game of the season and the great day brought out some former famous alumni.
Below is Martin Wolff (former long time fixtures) in the middle flanked by Dean Nasby (former president) on the left and Andy Breuls (former president). Frank was around but came late.

Team: By Saturday morning we had 24 registered (Friday afternoon we had 17) with two unavailable: Jake D'Achille (away checking out the rugby team of which I was a founding member at Trent University) and Nick Lemieux (broken thumb: forgot the Frank Schilte first principle of rugby -" get someone else to tackle forwards")

1. Nick Lord, 2. Brendan Sculland (45 min), 3. Ross Matheson (first league game as a member of the club in 15 years) (75 min) , 4. Jeremy Young (40 min) , 5. Mark Woodgate (40 min) (first game with Grimsby), 6. Kyle Wilson(60 min), 7. Bob Mavro (40 min), 8. Adam Meehan(40 min) (first league game with Grimsby), 9. Derrick Weber, 10. Martin Colyn, 11. Will George(40 min) (high school student and first men's game), 12. Vic Blaney, 13. Dillon Trimble (first game with Grimsby), 14. Pat Brown, 15. Jamie Farrell, 16. Jon Millington (40 min), 17. Colin Comfort (40 min), 18. Martin Van Der Hurk(40 min), 19. Alex Easton(40 min)(back playing after 6 years retired), 20. Dirk Reichow (20 min), 21. James Vienneau (40 min), 22. Alex Millar(40 min).

Game:

A rather ambitious (for us) pre-season meant that some people played in Buffalo and in Niagara (bur not full teams). We cried off Rochester without enough players registered. Out first game against Stoney Creek was not played last week, so this was the first actual full game the club put together this year. And despite the fact that the opposition is in rebuilding mode and was not strong, we had a good afternoon. Martin made a nice breaking run and Vic scored at 10 min with Derrick converting. Six minutes later Pat broke open and got the ball to Dillon to score. At 20 min Vic hit with a penalty kick and scored a try about 5 minutes later with Martin assisting. A blocked kick led to a long run and score by the Tigers. Then Derrick did the same thing as Vic a few minutes later (penalty then try). Dillon scored his second try at the end of the half.

Half time score: Grimsby Gentlemen 35: St Catharines Tigers 5

A lot of changes were made (subs came on - Dillon went to 9, Derrick to 10, Martin to 12 ,Vic to 8, Ross to 2 and it took a long time to get comfortable again. The Tigers scored first with a long run and it was not until about 20 min in that Martin played for an interception and ran about 60 m for the score and conversion.

Milli took advantage of playing only a half and burnt up the field. Martin scored his second a few minutes later. The final score was a nice phase from the lineout inside the opposition 22, through hands to Jamie coming from fullback. This try was converted by a drop kick by Dillon.

Scoring (I think- there will be changes)

Derrick 1 T, 4 C, 1 P (16 pts)

Dillon 2 T, 1 C (12 pts)

Vic 2 T, 1 P (13 pts)

Martin 2 T (10 pts)

Jamie 1 T (5 pts)

New players: Welcome to the new and long time missing players.

Will (high school player)

Dillon (Brock University)

Alex (another former club president and a former soccer player)

Adam (has played everywhere)

Mark (a former Kiwi and Creek player)

Ross (in red) from our farm team in Stoney Creek

Player of the game (as selected by the Tigers) was Martin Colyn

Friends after the game

A lot of Brooker Cup records were set this year.

Most number of total points in a game (64)

Most number of total tries in a game (9)

Most number of tries for one team (7)

Largest point differential (44)

First in a series: Tats of the Team

Congratulations to the Beamsville Senior boys team who defeated McNabb of Hamilton to play Stamford of Niagara Falls in the SOSSA final and came from 10 points down only to lose in overtime.

Also congratulations to the Beamsville Girls team who are seeded second at OFSAA in Belleville starting Monday June 2nd. Well done girls.

No sure what is going on here, but thought you could use your imagination.

Hi Dink, made you read the whole thing to find your picture. Jeff Innis has played in all the Brooker Cups for St. Catharines although he only comes to watch. He kicked the ball right at me after I took this picture.

Next game a little harder against Crusaders in Oakville.

↧

Oakville Crusaders IV away

June 9, 2014, 9:24 am

≫ Next: Flag tournament June 7, 2014

≪ Previous: Brooker Cup VIII

Grimsby Gentlemen 15: Oakville Crusaders 44

Venue: Oakville Rugby Park (the top field - you need to climb wooden steps to get to it - the one that is very hard with little grass)

Weather: mid twenties with lots of sun

Referee: Dave Nelson - for the third time in a row - although he is not the president of Oakville (he was last year), he is the president of the ORU.

Travelling attendance: Sam was checking us out to play next week and Dillon's little sister was there. Brendans fiancee, Melissa and dog were engrossed in the game (the dog wanted the ball).

Team: 1 Nick Lord, 2. Brendan Sculland, 3. Ross Matheson, 4. Jeremy Young, 5. Alex Easton, 6. Bob Mavro, 7. Kyle Wilson, 8. Adam Meahan, 9. Derrick Weber, 10. Martin Colyn, 11. Will George, 12. Vic Blaney, 13. Dillon Trimble, 14. James Vienneau, 15. Pat Brown, 16. Jon Millington, 17. Martin Van Der Hurk, 18. Dirk Reichow, 19. Jake DAchille.

Game: Missed most of the game due to Flag tournament back in Grimsby but what I saw was a physical set to with lots of bumps and bruises on both sides. A few sore players (but its a good sore) afterwards. In the second half I did see Cru score often. Dillon and Alex scored in the first half.

Half time score Grimsby Gentlemen 10: Oakville Crusaders 24

The fourth team for the Cru is always a tough team as it is the "fun" team that players who are skilled and have played much higher rugby go to when they do not attend practice very much and are not aspiring to play in the first team. It is a good measure for us.

In the second half Dillon moved to scrum half and scored again. Dillion has scored two tries in each of the two games. However, with the exception of some good individual runs which should have led to trys but we could not finish - the Crusaders dominated the second half in territory and scoring.

Final score: Grimsby Gentlemen 15: Oakville Crusaders 44

Dillon at work at the back of the scrum

Milli placing the ball after a long run (for him)

Some observations were that we need to work on the scrum to control the push and work on kick off returns to catch the ball. With players like that we need to set the posts faster to control the pick and go. We were also missing ball at the back of the lineout.

Above is Alex (on the right) who was chosen man of the match with their man of the match on the left. Just try to forget anything else you might see in the photo (like Alex with a cape on). Below is a picture of our man in flight.

You might have noticed out team picture in the Grimsby Lincoln News for winning the Brooker Cup last week (thank Ross for the promotion). It will not be in the paper this week.

Tats of the team (second of the series)

Good time was had at Nick and Mary`s Stag and Doe Saturday evening. Congratulations.

Next game is a rare Thursday evening game at Alway against Waterloo IV starting around 7:15 (or when ever they get there).

↧

Flag tournament June 7, 2014

June 9, 2014, 10:44 am

≫ Next: football vs rugby

≪ Previous: Oakville Crusaders IV away

The first flag tournament for the Niagara Flag Rugby Club took place in Grimsby and was hosted by the Grimsby Grubbers. Probably a hundred players and parents enjoyed the sunshine or got burns (weather brought to you by the Grimsby Gentlemen RFC. Since it was the first there were no scores kept (officially) and hopefully everyone learned how to play a bit better that day.

It was a good day to:

hang with friends

throw grass in each other`s hair

hug the goal post

plan strategy

and use it

Get a dirty face with older sister

even run with the ball

and score tries

Well Done Grimsby Grubbers

↧

football vs rugby

June 15, 2014, 5:31 am

≫ Next: New Zealand Nude Blacks 24: England 19

≪ Previous: Flag tournament June 7, 2014

↧

New Zealand Nude Blacks 24: England 19

June 16, 2014, 6:22 am

≫ Next: Waterloo IVs? at home

≪ Previous: football vs rugby

The annual nude rugby fixture between the New Zealand Nude Blacks and the touring team, in this case the England Invitational team finished with the Nude Blacks winning 24-19. The cold weather
was a great leveler! No comment.

From Super Rugby Tips

↧

Waterloo IVs? at home

June 16, 2014, 6:54 am

≫ Next: Norfolk away

≪ Previous: New Zealand Nude Blacks 24: England 19

Thursday June 12th: k.o. 7:15

Grimsby Gentlemen 7: Waterloo IV 23* (not sure -no game sheet)

Venue: Alway Field - freshly cut - never looked better

Sponsors: Steamwhistle, JJ Cores, Pro-Fast, Your Electrician, Rickochez Tavern

Weather: mid twenties a little humid at game time, clear skies (there might have been a full moon or it seemed like there could have been)

Referee: Mike Hargrave: first time in Grimsby for Mike (who was immune but not unaware of helpful ((they claim))sideline criticism)

Attendance: Not our usual hundreds (many out voting) but a few prospective high school players and parents and a few, but loud followers.

Team: 1. Nick Lord (60 min), 2. Brendon Sculland (60 min) 3. Ross Matheson, 4. Dirk Reichow (25 min), 5. Jeremy Young, 6. James Vienneau, 7. Mark Woodgate, 8. Adam Meehan (50 min), 9. Dillon Trimble (75 min), 10. Martin Colyn, 11 Will George, 12. Vic Blaney, 13. Pat Brown, 14. Jake D'Achille, 15. Jamie Farrell, 16. Jon Millington, 17. Martin Van Der Hurk (60 min), 18. Sam Berg, 19. Alex Millar

We unfortunately have four injured (one falling off a tractor) and two missing (no doubt helping to get the vote out so Burlington can go red).

Game: Waterloo controlled the ball and territory for the first minutes but we did well keeping them out of the try area and they could not finish until about 15 minutes into the game. Comments from the gallery led to several penalties against us - one of which was kickable. We kind of limped into half time 10 points down but with some encouraging plays.

Unfortunately, Waterloo started the second have hard and scored within a couple of minutes of the kickoff. We started to play better and got a few runs in the backs ( Jake was re-positioning the ball when he knocked it on) but ultimately got chased down. Waterloo scored again with about 10 minutes in the game but Grimsby put Waterloo under a great deal of pressure in the final few minutes to enable Nick Lord to touch down near the sideline. The last play of the game was Vics long kick from the edge to add two points.

Final Score: Grimsby Gentlemen 7: Waterloo IV 23

First game for Sam Berg for The Gentlemen (Sam had his first season with Beamsville this year) and played very well in the backs. Sorry about the picture Same - I will get one that is in focus.

Nick Lord scoring in the last minute of the game after our most competitive 10 minutes of the game.
Vic got the long conversion from this spot.

We got our first yellow card of the season to James near the end of the game - the first in quite a while. However in James' defense the other player was being a jerk and came afterward, apologized and brought James a beer. Classy. We scored with 14 players. We also got our very first "get out of the park" call.

Canada's game against Scotland (a 19 - 17 loss) was a good time and probably a good game, to bad I was there. (I missed all the ending stuff for some reason). I was speaking with a Welshman who is was the video annalist for the game. They have expensive GPS instruments in the back of each jersey and can tell how far and how fast a player runs. They can determine how many sprints a player makes at what speed. They can also tell how hard you hit in a scrum and a tackle. He also said they had a drone hovering over the field taking action pictures. Brave new world.

Next fixture is in Norfolk on Saturday June 21 but our drone is unavailable.

↧

Norfolk away

June 23, 2014, 9:55 am

≫ Next: Crusaders IV at home

≪ Previous: Waterloo IVs? at home

Grimsby Gentlemen 10: Norfolk Harvesters 48

Venue: Waterford High School, Waterford Ontario. This is our farthest fixture this year. I was in Fort Erie for the flag tournament and drove through southern Niagara to get to Waterford (no direct route between them). In case you are ever that way there are a lot of roads between us and Lake Erie. I should have taken down better directions.

Weather: Great day for watching, a little hot for playing.

Referee: Luke Doehn: We have never had Luke before and he did not order any spectators off the pitch.

Attendance: Nick Lord's dad (who also came from Fort Erie) with little Dylan who was a bit overwhelmed at the flag tournament. Kyle was there and myself. The supporters bus must have gotten lost coming from Fort Erie.

Team: The team was skimpy with only 15 players. We always have trouble getting players this particular weekend in June which always coincides with the Pride Parade (this year the World Pride Festival) in Toronto. Just sayin'.

1. Nick Lord, 2. Ross Matheson (C) 3. Jon Millington, 4. Jeremy Young, 5.Martin Van Der Hurk, 6. Dirk Reichow, 7. Brendon Sculland, 8. Mark Woodgate, 9. Dillon Trimble, 10, Martin Colyn, 11. Will George, 12. Vic Blaney, 13. Bob Mavro, 14. James Vienneau, 15. Jamie Farrell.

Game: I arrived just before half time and saw Norfolk score off a kickoff. Then the last 10 minutes of the half we controlled the ball in their end and Ross spotted the ball down at the half. Everyone but the referee thought the extra points kick by Dillon was good. Although I missed the first half, it seems like we were comparable in the scrums and were doing well in the scrums.

Half time score Grimsby Gentlemen 5: Norfolk Harvesters 24

In the second half, lack of reserves and the heat wore us down but we kept in there. Probably we should have been kicking more and trying to disrupt their lineouts. As usual Norfolk played a very physical game and knocked us around a bit. Jamie did score a try in the second half but Norfolk scored more often.

Final Score: Grimsby Gentlemen 10: Norfolk Harvesters 48.

I have no pictures as the camera was not working.

Thanks to Ross Matheson who stepped up to act a Captain the last two games due to injury to our regular Captain. The following is his message to the team.

Hello Gents,

I want to thank everyone who played Saturday for the effort they put in. Due to injury and other commitments we travelled with 15 players but we all knew that would happen on some occasions this year. The effort everyone put in yesterday was great and won't be reflected in the score. There was some great back play and we dominated the line outs and were very competitive in the scrums. It was a very physical game and I'm sure there are some sore bodies today. Everyone took the hits and kept going. Thanks to the guys that played out of position as well. Let's get out to practice this week and build on the things we did well and work on the things we need to improve on. We have the talent we just need to put it together.

Ross

Third in the series: Tats of the Team

News of the Rugby World:

Mongolia defeated Cambodia 49 to 5 in Brunei (a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo - Wikipedia) to easily win Asian Nations Division 4.

Greece is now 102nd in world rankings because three new teams were added above them.

Also, Canada loses to the U.S for the first time since 2009 by 38 to 35 in Sacramento, California despite being up 10 points at the half.

A

↧

Crusaders IV at home

July 9, 2014, 10:42 am

≫ Next: Stratford at home

≪ Previous: Norfolk away

Grimsby Gentlemen vs Crusaders IV

Venue: Alway School

Weather: mid twenties - a really nice day for a game

Referee: Brian Chapple (supposedly)

Team: Oakville did not show

Where's the beef?

Crusaders could not get enough players for the game on Saturday (a little late in telling us) so we had a small practice. New acquisition, Chris Fothergill missed his chance to play his first game with Grimsby but should be able to play this Saturday against Stratford (if they don't cry off).

Chris

Last November Canada hosted and played the New Zealand Maori All Blacks at BMO field in Toronto and even though we lost it was a sell out game of about 22 000 spectators. The most ever to watch a 15 a side game in North America (there have been 50 000 at the Las Vegas Sevens). So why do the real All Blacks play the USA in Chicago this November and not play Canada? There are 6.6 million rugby players in the world in 119 countries of which 2.36 million are registered and 4.3 million are non-registered. Of those England itself has 2 028 348 players itself (that is where the All Blacks go after the USA) but the number two country is the USA with 1 402 962 players. There is a huge audience in the Chicago area and half the tickets for Soldier's Field were sold in three days.
The third most players are in Australia (483 000) then South Africa (387 000), France (359,022), Ireland (177,604), Fiji (156 140), New Zealand (150 000),Canada at 129 131 then Japan (119 500). Note Fiji has more rugby players than New Zealand.

Hopefully Grimsby will get a few more players in the next few years with the introduction of rugby at Blessed Trinity a triple A catholic high school in Grimsby. We have being trying to get in there for awhile and Jim Graff made a proposal which they seemed to have accepted.

I tried to send around an email with a picture of myself getting stitched up on the sidelines early in a game in 1977. It was the last game of the season and the Hamilton Hornets playing Balmy Beach and the winner would be the Ontario champs (present day Marshall). This was before substitutes were allowed and we would have had to play one man sort but the referee held up the game to allow one of the players, Dr. Mike Taylor, to put in a couple of stitches and I returned. Hamilton won the game 15 to 3. It was sent to me because it is the 60th anniversary of the Hamilton Hornets this year. This picture and the article appeared in the Hamilton Spectator. Some people could not open it because they were using their phones (get a real computer) and I wanted to put it here but I can't figure out how to do it.

An announcement will come very soon about our Trillium grant which will be good news.

Next game (hopefully) is this Saturday July 12th at home against Stratford.

Hey did you see that those skinny under-fed football fall downs from Germany beat Brazil with a converted try. Way to go boys.

↧

Stratford at home

July 13, 2014, 7:05 am

≫ Next: Guelph away

≪ Previous: Crusaders IV at home

Grimsby Gentlemen 24: Stratford Blackswans 30

Venue: Alway Field

Weather : Mid twenties,lower humidity,clear skies,high uv.

Referee: Ian Stewart

Atterndance: a poor guess would be in the hundreds (mainly made up of old presidents of the club (5 in fact) I am the present president but I count because I am old. The presidents are (in order) Bob Hepburn,( the clubs first president in 1977) Scott Nickerson, Alex Easton (who played in the game) , Andy Breuls and Bill Stuart.
I would normally have pictures of them all but I forgot to bring that thingee that fits in the camera that holds the pictures. But Jennifer, our staff photographer and salad maker, took some and I will attach them when I get them. Keep checking.

Team: 1. Nick Lord, 2. Ross Matheson, 3. Jon Millington, 4.Jeremy Young, 5. Adam Meehan (40 min), 6. Brendan Sculland(60 min), 7. Mark Woodgate, 8. Alex Easton, 9. Dillon Trimble, 10. Derick Weber (C)(10 min), 11. Will George, 12. Vic Blaney, 13. Martin Colyn, 14. Jake D'Achille, 15. Jamie Farrell, 16. James Vienneau (20 min), 17. Martin Van Den Hurk, 18. Dirk Reichow, 18 T.J. (40 min) This is Tafari Cole's first league game with Grmsby although he played an exhibition against Buffalo this season and against Philadelphia last season. T.J. has been playing rugby league all spring, (yellow card) 20. Chris Fothergill (70 min) This is Chris's first game with Grimsby and he has played with Redeemer College in the past.

Game: We are playing the number one team in the league with four wins and one loss and have scored 224 points vs 96 against in those games. We are near the bottom with two wins (one by default) and have scored 86 points and have 125 scored against in four games. So you would expect Stratford to be fairly confident even though last year they came to Grimsby and we tied them to spoil their perfect season. However they were not expecting Dillion. We kept the ball in the Stratford end for much of the first part of the game and were rewarded at about 10 minutes Dillon grabbed a loose ball and scored the first try. Unfortunately we lost our Derrick on the play with a suspected broken toe so Martin moved to 10 with Chris playing outside center. We kept control of the game and at 19 minutes Dillon scrambled again to score and completed the conversion. Unfortunately Stratford started to work the ball and hit a penalty at about 30 min and scored a converted try just at the end of the half. We were doing very well in the lineouts both getting our own and spoiling theirs. Except for the last 10 minutes it was the best first half this year.

Half time score: Dillon Trimble 12: Stratford Blackswans 10.

At the start of the half, the Swans controlled the ball and a penalty quickly put them up by one point. However a driving maul from a lineout resulted in an unconverted try by Alex Easton at about 50 minutes to give us the lead. Not sure about the exact time as they kept having water breaks (not in my day). Then Stratford scored by a good run in the backs at 60 minutes to put us down by 3. But we (Dillon) were not done and we scored at about 70 minutes with Dillon again converting. We needed to control the ball for the last 10 minutes but could not and several high tackles led to a yellow card. Stratford eventually scored a converted try near the end and on then they kicked a penalty to end the game.

Final: Grimsby Gentlemen 24: Stratford Blackswans 30

The obvious choice of man of the match by the other team should have been Dillon with 19 of our points but they chose Alex Easton who stole a lot of their lineout ball. Dillon probably was relieved as even though he plays like a big man he does not guzzle beer like one. Dillion has scored seven tries in four games.

Vic did a great job with the food and Jennifer with the salads. Thanks to Elizabeth who worked behind the bar.

Coaches Remarks:
Stratford suggested they did not play well and they might not have but we played better than we have in the last few games.We came out strong in the first twenty minutes which we do not usually do and we took them in the lineouts and attacked well from the base of the rucks. Ultimately our tackling was not accurate and aggressive enough and could not pin them back in their end nor stop them when we needed to. It was a good game with six lead changes in the second half. We did get 2 bonus points (one for scoring 4 tries and one for coming within 7 points) which is the most you can get for a loss. Good practices last week and lets take this particular show on the road against the Redcoats away in Guelph.

I am going camping with the family so I do not know when pictures will be added to the blog.

.

↧

Guelph away

July 23, 2014, 5:31 pm

≫ Next: Flag Rugby in St. Catharines

≪ Previous: Stratford at home

Grimsby Gentlemen 12: Guelph Redcoats 69

Venue: Exhibition Park, Guelph (not the turf field under lights at the University like last year)

Weather: overcast, a little rainy about 25 degrees

Referee: Peter Darbishire (did well and we are hard on refs)

Attendance: not many (probably a good thing - no witnesses so I can lie)

Team:: 1. Nick Lord, 2. Ross Matheson(C), 3. Jon Millington, 4.Jeremy Young (40 min), 5. Adam Meehan , 6. Brendan Sculland(60 min), 7. Bob Mavro, 8. Alex Easton, 9. Dillon Trimble, 10. Martin Colyn, 11. Will George, 12. Vic Blaney, 13. Chris Fothergill (60 min), 14. T.J.(70 min), 15. Jake D'Achille, 16. James Vienneau (40 min), 17. Colin Comfort (40 min), 18. Dirk Reichow (10 min).

Game: It was probably a record loss for us (at least since records have been kept). We lost to Waterloo (their Cambridge team) 66 - 10 on June 5th 2010 the difference being 56 points compared to the 57 last Saturday. There was a game against Hamilton seconds in Hamilton on July 7, 2012 which was pretty big but I did not record the score because I didn't want to (Hamilton firsts were not playing that day). I have it on tape and could find out but that would mean I would have to watch the whole game again.

Anyway, I missed the first half trying to get through Toronto from camping near Peterborough. It seems like I missed a lot of good rugby by the Redcoats. They seemed to have a team who have a lot of players who play together for the University. I hear we started slow and got slower.

Half time score Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Guelph Redcoats 40

The second 40 min seemed to go a little better although Guelph scored off the first series of plays and then scored fairly quickly again after that. At about 55 minutes with some strong forward work and keeping possession, Dillon scored to put us on the board. We continued to have trouble containing Guelph. We missed a lot of tackles by not being aggressive enough which allowed them to continue to score pretty regularly. Near the end, Martin made a strong run (hard line back towards the ruck) off a breakdown and broke through their defense to score under the posts. Dillon converted to complete our scoring.

Dillion scoring his 8th try of the season

T.J. getting down to Guelph's five meter

We did well in our lineouts

Martin making a break

And Chris Aston scoring

Vic was selected as man of the match as he had some good runs and did a lot of tackling. Great tackling was also done by our fullback Jake D'Achille.
So back to the practice field and at least we are not St. Catharines (who we play this weekend) so stay tuned.

Sometime in the last few days we passed 20,000 hits on the blog since it started in Nov 2008.

Bonus: Fourth of the series: Tats of the team

Added Bonus: Pictures of two former presidents of the Grimsby Gentlemen in its early years.

First President of the Gentlemen way back in 1977, Bob Hepburn

Scott Nicolson (now lives in Nova Scotia)

As an added added bonus you get some camping pixs

Granddaughter Alexis

24th year of camping

↧

Flag Rugby in St. Catharines

July 27, 2014, 4:10 am

≫ Next: St. Catharines Away ... er... Home

≪ Previous: Guelph away

A few photos of the flag rugby tournament in St. Catharines. Grimsby had 11 (two teams) in the younger group (jk to grade 2) and 5 in the middle group grades 3 to 5). Lots of running. .

pre game organization?

This is our two teams against each other (Grubbers vs Grasshoppers)

running

tagging

scoring

waiting

getting the flag belt back on

Intermediates in Action.

A pretty good day overall. Thanks to all players and parents.

Next two tournaments are in Grimsby

↧

St. Catharines Away ... er... Home

July 27, 2014, 9:21 pm

≫ Next: Wilmot away

≪ Previous: Flag Rugby in St. Catharines

Grimsby Gentlemen 46: St. Catharines Tigers 19

Venue: It was to be played in St. Catharines but some city official was there to tell them they could not play because of insurance problems. Since this was their first backup field we moved to their second backup field in Grimsby. This included including their women's team who were playing Hamilton. The women played at 1:20 and the men went on about 2:35. The women's team included some Beamsville graduates and narrowly defeated the Hamilton team.

Referee: Dave Moffatt from London ** (we were not used to a lot of his calls in the rucks like binding to a player on the ground) but the rest of the games seemed well done.

Weather: Nice day for rugby a bit of a wind. Rain came just after the final whistle (great for spectators and coaches)

Attendance: I think the supporters bus (with Paul Rohner) went to St. Catharines and didn't get the message.

Team:: 1. Nick Lord, 2. Brendan Sculland(60 min) 3. Ross Matheson(C) (60 min), 4.Jeremy Young (40 min), 5. Martin Van Den Hurk 6. Adam Meehan (65 min) , 7. Bob Mavro, 8. Mark Woodward, 9. Nick Lemieux (50 min), 10. Martin Colyn, 11. Will George (Sassy), 12. Vic Blaney, 13. Dillon Trimble , 14. Jamie Farrell, 15. Jake D'Achille (60 min) , 16. Jon Millington (40 min) 17. James Vienneau (30 min), 18. Colin Comfort (40 min), 19. Dirk Reichow (15 min), 20. Derick Weber (20 min)

Injured Alex Easton and Kyle Wilson
Unavailable Chris Fothergill and T.J.
(Call home): Alex Millar, Pat Brown and Sam Berg

Coaches comments: St. Catharines men are having a horrendous season and this complication did not help them morale wise. I was actually thinking we might get an away win for the first time since 2012 when we beat Waterloo in Brantford (they had to loan us two players) but it kind of turned out to be a home win. We started slow and St. Catharines pressed us to our line and probably should have scored a try but it was called back by the referee for being held up. We survived that and perhaps a bit of dirty play on their part led to us getting riled up (or at least Bob). A longish stretch of us moving the ball into the backs then recycling for several phases resulted in a try at about 10 minutes (I think Vic had his hands on the ball three times in the drive before he scored.). Conversion by Dillon. However St. Catharines, using the wind, got the ball into our end and managed to disorganize us enough to score at about twenty minutes. At thirty minutes from a scrum, our number eight Mark, quickly picked the ball and was not to be denied as he ran twenty-five meters to score in the corner. Dillon dropped the conversion as coolly as anything. However the last play of the half led to St. Catharines roaring back to score and tie the game up (it was the best time for them to score). We were playing well with a good scrum against a always strong Tigers scrum and very competitive in lineouts and running well with the ball so the team was still fairly confident.

Half time score: Grimsby Gentlemen 14: St. Carharines Tigers 14

We got the upper hand at the start of the second half and after a good driving lineout, Mark broke and fed to Nick Lemieux who scored near the posts with an added conversion by Dillon at about 45 minutes. Dillon then slotted a penalty to put us up by 10. However, here come the Tigers who, at about 50 minutes, score and with a missed conversion. These are points by the Tigers while Grimsby keeps going.
A few minutes later, Dillon, who has moved to scrum half, takes a feed from the #8 (Mark again) and scores for his ninth try in only 6 games and he also adds the conversion. And a couple of minutes after that Vic takes the ball for a 50 meter jaunt, knocks over a few would be tacklers, and kindly offloads to Sassy (Will) for his first try of the season. Dillon does not hit the conversion but at 60 minutes kicks another penalty to make up for the miss. We change tactics and start to kick more often but do not do as well as when we have ball in hand. The final try, at seventy-five minutes, is a heads up play by Bob and is converted by Dillon.

Final Score: Grimsby Gentlemen 46: St. Catharines Tigers 19

Dillon Trimble 1 T, 5 C, 2 P (21 pts)
Vic Blaney 1 T (5 pts)
Mark Woodward 1 T (5 pts)
Nick Lemieux 1 T (5 pts)
Will George 1 T (5 pts)
Bob Mavro 1 T (5 pts)

Well done Gentlemen, most players took the change in venue well although we did not know how to warm up when a women's game is being played ahead of our game.

This is us trying to figure out how to warm up

Fine series of recycles led to the first try by Vic

Scoring after a great run.

It was a day when Kiwi number eights were just on fire (leading to a try by Dillon)

Actually Dillon's 9th try in only six games

Although you cannot see him,. Sassy has just scored. he is somewhere beside Vic

Thanks to Jamie Farrell, Tim Millar, Paul Rohner, Dillon Trimble and Alex Easton to puting up the fence for the Happening at the Forty for the Jazz and Wine event Friday afternoon. And to Ross Matheson, Dillon Trimble, Paul Rohner, Billy Stabler and Martin Colyn for taking it down. It was worth $500 to the club (minus some thank you beers).

There has been one hit from New Zealand on the blog today so Hi Dean. There have also been sixteen from China this week (I apologize if you are trying to learn English from this blog)

Next Game Aug 9th in Wilmot.

↧

Wilmot away

August 15, 2014, 11:39 am

≫ Next: Clubhouse Announcement

≪ Previous: St. Catharines Away ... er... Home

Grimsby Gentlemen 26 (4 tries: good) Wilmot Warthogs 59 (9 tries: bad)

Venue: Waterloo Oxford High School.(somewhere between Waterloo and Stratford) at 2:15 p.m.

Referee: ? (There was an announced shortage of refs on Saturday)

Attendance. ? (There was an announced shortage of supporters on Saturday)

Weather. Mid twentiies, partially cloudy

Team: 1. Ross Matheson (c), 2. Brendan Sculland(60 min) 3. Jon Millington, 4.Jeremy Young , 5. Martin Van Den Hurk 6. Adam Meehan (20 min) , 7. Nick Lord, 8. Mark Woodward, 9. Dillon Trimble, 10. Martin Colyn, 11. Will George (Sassy), 12. Vic Blaney, 13. Chris Fothergill , 14. James Vienneau 15. Jamie Farrell , 16. Dirk Reichow (60 min)

Game: I missed the game so any information is actually hearsay and probably made up. I was with the Niagara Rugby Union under 17 sevens teams at the Ontario Summer Games in Windsor ( I am the director of representative teams for the NRU). After a Friday in which all four team (boys and girls, A and B, ) went undefeated, the finals on Saturday led to a Gold and Bronze for the girls and a Gold and fourth place for the boys. (last year at the interbranch, the NRU got one silver by the boys). The tie in to Beamsville High School is that Annie Berg would have made the girl's team but made the Ontario team instead and Dakota Unrau who made the boy's squad but could not go to the tournament due to work.

Anyway back in Wilmot, there was a slow start as usual and we did not score until near the end of the first half when Martin touched down. The conversion was missed.

Half time score: 1 try by Grimsby and 4 or 5 by Wilmot

At about 56 minutes Martin got a yellow for a little hockey but we scored at 60 minutes when Nick made a run and fed to Dillon (tenth try this season). Dillon made the conversion. At 65 minutes a long run by Vic led to a try and which Vic converted himself. At the end of the game a tripping penalty on Martin gave us a penalty try which Vic also converted.

Final Score: Grimsby Gentlemen 26: Wilmot Warthogs 59

Congratulations to the Canadian Women's team who made it to the final of the world cup by defeating France by 18 to 16. Canada was up 11 to 6 early in the second half but France had a scrum on Canada's 5 meter line. A great push by the Canadian left side caused a steal and Canada were off running the ball out of their end. A pass to the very fast Magali Harvey send her flying down the wing and with a Milliesque head fake on the fullback and she was gone. Harvey is short listed for the IRB Womens Player of the Year.
Canada plays England for the championship on Sunday.

Another player learning from the master was Dillion who after a difficult post-game reception and while observing a poker game on TV said: "Poker - that's just like playing cards!". Milli you will live forever in the young men and women of this nation.

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Clubhouse Announcement

August 15, 2014, 3:20 pm

≫ Next: flag rugby championship

≪ Previous: Wilmot away

July 31, 2014

GRIMSBY, ON - The Grimsby Gentlemen Rugby Football Club is pleased to announce that they have been awarded a grant of $66,000 from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

The grant will allow the club to redo the roof, create home and visitor change rooms with showers, and to finish off the main hall which will create a functional community space for Grimsby. "This grant will help our club with much needed improvements," said Bill Stuart, President and Coach of the Grimsby Gentlemen Rugby Football Club.

The Ontario Trillium Foundation’s mission is to build healthy and vibrant communities throughout Ontario by strengthening the capacity of the voluntary sector, through investments in community-based initiatives. "The team is extremely appreciative of the Ontario Trillium Foundation for recognizing our application as a priority," said Nick Lemieux, Director for the Grimsby Gentlemen Rugby Football Club. “We cannot thank them enough for their support.”

The rugby club has been working closely during the application process with Bruce Atikson, Director of Recreation, Facilities and Culture at the Town of Grimsby, to ensure the Town’s support for the project. “We wouldn’t be here without Bruce’s continued support," said Mr. Stuart.

The majority of the work will be completed by Marty Vorstenbosch of D.F. Gerow Plumbing and Heating and Sara and Reg Perry from Your Electrician along with the club’s many volunteers. “The club would also like to thank its sponsors on the project, Paul Rohner from Permacon, Any Colour you Like, Aqua Flow, JJ Cores, Profast and Rikochez Pub. Your help is truly appreciated,” said Mr. Stuart. The club has twelve months to complete the work and report back to the Trillium Foundation on progress.

What the clubhouse looks like at present.

What the president envisions it to look like when finished.

Stay tuned to see progress on this next phase of the club's history.

Vic arrived at the clubhouse with new t-shirts. They are fetchingly modeled by Brendan and Chris.