Alleyn Club Newsletter 2014

Clubs & Societies

Old Alleynian Cross Country Club

was a close run thing for the OAs. Newly promoted, we struggled in the higher league and the fact that we had one of the wettest seasons on record did not help as the boggy conditions hampered our traditional fast-paced, rucking game. We only managed to secure our place in the league in the very last game of the season, coming back from 24-9 down at half time to win 24-26 away at Portsmouth. This was a superb effort and, by happy coincidence, occurred on the day of the annual dinner, meaning the celebrations continued on well into the night. At the end of the season, Johnny Wright stepped down as Captain of the 1st XV. We thank him for being a great servant of the Club who led us back to our rightful place in the higher London leagues. He is succeeded by Rhys Hopkins, a solid Welsh prop from the Valleys. The 2s, 3s and 4s continue to thrive in the Kent Invicta and Metropolitan leagues, playing a good blend of serious and social rugby. One of the biggest success stories from the season has been the development XV, conceived as a way of transitioning players from the junior sides of the club into the seniors. After a difficult start it has really come into its own, mixing new players to the Club, school leavers - and a few grizzled veterans – with a number of the players advancing to the 1st XV, a trend we hope and expect to continue. A large part of the success of this side has been down to Ditch Boultbee (66-75) who has provided good organisation and support, and an invaluable link between the junior and senior sides of the club. The Old Alleynians travelled to Old Whitgiftians for the traditional Boxing Day game. Having dominated the fixture in the last few seasons, it came as something of a shock for the team to find themselves involved in a much more closely contested game than usual, in which the Whits missed the conversion from a try scored in the last play of the match that would have given them a draw. The junior side of the Club is in a healthy position with numbers continuing to grow though, like the rest of the Club, they suffered from the adverse weather conditions with many weekends lost because the pitches were waterlogged. As noted above, there has been a good flow of players moving up through the development side into the senior section. On the more social side, the veterans managed, by Fabrice Bollet, played a few matches including a memorable game under floodlights on a Friday night at Sutton and Epsom. The traditional May Bank Holiday tour was to Cologne in Germany where I am assured they actually do play rugby. An occasion of note was the ten year anniversary reunion organised by James Franklin (90-98) for the players who won the Powergen Junior Vase at Twickenham in 2003. It is interesting to reflect how much the club has changed over the intervening years. Ten years ago the 1st XV was playing in Surrey Division 2 and we were only able to run one other side, the 2nd XV, and the junior side of the Club was in its infancy.

Secretary: Jerry Watson (71-78) Email: thewatsonsroundhay @ yahoo.com

A shortage of numbers in the team held the OAs back in the 61st edition of the Thames Hare and Hounds Alumni Race on 14 December 2013. While injury played its part, the inability of the OA team organiser to send out a timely reminder to get fit also did not help. He promises to do better next year! Wimbledon Common was wetter than normal this year but the parts of the race around the Windmill are always firm under foot, so there was some fast running. The race was won by Wurr of Warwick School in 26:00. The OAs running were: Jerry was also first in the over 40s and over 50s categories, helped in the former age category by the inability of a few in front of him to follow the marked course. Rob was second in the over 40s but, alas, without a third runner we scored last finisher +1 for our third counter and so lost our grip on the Old Brentwoods Trophy (for the over 40s teams) to Ampleforth. This is a trophy that Dulwich College had won six times in the preceding eight years. Sherborne won the Open Race from Winchester and Ampleforth, with Dulwich 11th. The 2014 race will be on Saturday 13 December on Wimbledon Common (the A3 side). If anyone else (including those I have lost touch with), of any standard, would like details of the five mile cross country race and to wear an OA singlet, then please get in touch with Jerry Watson (see above for details) and I will send details nearer the time. Further cross-country news: The Oxford v Cambridge Varsity Race is held over Wimbledon Common on the first weekend in December. Lewis Lloyd (07-12), representing Cambridge, won the race and led his team to overall victory. Jerry Watson (71-78) 12th 30:25 Robert Rider (77-83) 31st 32:15 David Gibson (89-94) 114th 39:48

Jerry Watson (71-78) Secretary

Old Alleynian Football Club

Chairman: Roger Looker (62-70) Hon Secretary: Owen McEntee Email: owen_mcentee @ hotmail.com Web: www.alleynian.org/rugby Rugby is flourishing in Dulwich: the Old Alleynians retained their position in London 2 SW and the College 1st XV won the Daily Mail Cup for the second year running. It

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