Rugby
THE Barnard Castle RUFC faithful gathered in sell-out numbers at the club to celebrate another fantastic season on the pitch.
Although the first team narrowly missed out on promotion in the final games of the season, they regathered themselves for the County Cup final against their bogey opposition South Shields Westoe and took them to the cleaners.
The second team, with a very young squad, had a much improved season scoring more try bonus points than any other team in their league and finishing in the top half of the table.
The icing on the cake was the selection of three Barnard Castle players for the county squad who went onto win all their games and got through to the final at Twickenham where they comprehensively beat Warwickshire.
Congratulations to Mike Hughes, Rob Stanwix and the county skipper Chris Wearmouth. Awards presented on the night were:
1st team forward: Rob Stanwix; 1st team back: Miles Brookes; 1st team players player: Greg Upton.
2nd team forward: Lewis Wigham; 2nd team back: Dan Swires; 2nd team players player: Jon Lucas:
Coaches player: Danny Souter.
Rose & Crown Trophy – most improved player: Rees Doyle.
Eggs Memorial Trophy – to coach Junior Suluga-Fagalilo (who announced retirement from playing).
David Hobson Memorial Trophy – outstanding service to the club: Dave Bottoms.
Special awards were given to Moira Smart and the referees award for touchline support went to Malcolm Kicks.
Huge thanks was also given to Chris Morse for his fantastic photography over the course of the season.
Thoughts are now already turning to the new season with starting dates for training and warm-up games already inked in.
Dave Bottoms
