August 2011
The Smell of the Crowd and the Roar of the Liniment
We live in strange times. At the time of writing, the News International allegations and counter-allegations carry on unabated. My only contact with journalism is via this article, once a month, but it seems to me that if somebody hacked into my phone and Dear Reader, I am not encouraging them to do so, as they would soon learn all about who is playing in our next match, what sponsors we have attracted this season and how we are going to pay the electricity bill. I cannot see any of that being particularly newsworthy or of use to a rival Club but I might be wrong. Who knows, if all the rugby secretaries were victims of hacking it could destabilise the price of liniment. It is perhaps something of a regret that I have nothing worth hacking into. Still, I remain optimistic that one day I will become privy to real news which I will of course sell to the highest bidder.
It may be deepest mid-Summer to you and the time of eagerly anticipated school holidays for the teachers, but rugby is upon us once again with pre-season training for our youth and senior teams having already started at 6.30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Harlequin’s Ground. New players are always welcome and new good players, particularly those of Maori descent, are even more welcome. We have both senior and youth pre-season matches planned (see the website) in order to hone our guys into the peak of fitness after the long lay-off since the end of May!
Before we look forward to a Rugby World Cup and another 6 Nations campaign I wanted to remind readers that we have other Summer sports being played every week and have successful cricket, baseball and bowls teams within our organisation. The baseball teams include ladies, mens and juniors.
This month we invited Vince Sullivan, our Bowls Secretary, to say a little about the Bowling Club. Anyone called Vince will of course always be given priority in this column. St Peter’s Bowling Club was formed almost 30 years ago. It was Friday, 19th November 1981 when the inaugural meeting was held in the front upstairs room at No. 9 Richmond Road (former Club premises owned by St.Peter’s Church). This was of course a licensed premises and there are photographs of that early group. By 1983, following a season of ‘Friendlies,’ the club entered the Cardiff & District League. St Peter’s Bowls Club and St Peter’s Rugby Club have always had very close links, with several ex-rugby players joining the Bowls Club from the beginning. Most of the early games were played at Howard Gardens and Hailey Park. The Rugby Club subsequently moved to 118 Newport Road and then to Minster Road and the Bowling Club followed it. It was to be many years – in fact the 2004 season – before they transferred to play at Roath Park and settled at the Green they now happily share with Fairoak Bowls Club.
If anyone reading this has never played bowls they could be forgiven for thinking it’s a game for gentle folks in the Autumn of their days. This is not the case. Whilst competition can be fierce there are seldom any yellow-card incidents or pulled hamstrings and the one big plus is that after a gruelling game the bowlers are free from aches and pains in stark contrast to their rugby and soccer playing days. The banter though is just as intense as ever it was. If you are interested in joining or would like to give it a try please contact Vince Sullivan on 029 2048 7133 or speak to any member of the Club.
To continue the non-rugby theme we have had some excellent news on the baseball field. John Dunleavy our Club Rugby Coach was picked to play for Wales against England at Liverpool on 9th July and was on the winning side. The Dunleavy sporting success continues as his two sons, Lewis and Josh have been picked to play baseball for Wales B against England B at Rumney RFC on 23 July. Not to be outdone three of our juniors Ben Thomas, Conor Nagle and Josh Nolan (my nephew – but no biased reporting) have been picked to play for Wales Under 12 baseball team against England at Tremorfa Park on 24th July.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank a neighbour of ours who lives in Minster Road for letting us know that our burglar alarm was going off at an ungodly hour recently resulting in her new baby being woken up. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to her and to all our neighbours but her quick action in phoning the non-emergency Police number 101 resulted in our key holder arriving at the premises with the Police to find that an attempted burglary had been thwarted. Nobody likes burglar alarms, security cameras, movement sensitive lighting or indeed the gated lanes around the Minsters but unfortunately they are a necessary evil and do help to prevent crime. This is why we, at St. Peter’s RFC, have spent so much money and time on security measures which help ensure that not only our premises but our surrounding community discourage criminal activity. On this note, we are shortly due to host another Police And Communities Together Meeting. This will be advertised on the website at www.stpetersrfc.co.uk.
Just to finish off, the Club joke. I told a mate that I had tried Pelican the other night in a new fusion restaurant which had just opened in Roath. He asked me what it was like. I said it was not very good… and it came with a large bill!
If you have any questions, issues or ideas please do not hesitate to contact us at the Clubhouse on 029 20 460461 or e-mail: admin@stpetersrfc.co.uk
Our website can be found at www.stpetersrfc.co.uk
Vince Nolan
Youth Secretary
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