Welcome to this edition of our InTouch Newsletter

Our bar again,  will be run by club volunteers this weekend, with our Duty Manager being supported by various members of the club from juniors, seniors and netball grades. Our continued message is – how can you help? Team spirit and a great attitude isn’t just for the playing field – we want our clubrooms to be a warm and welcoming environment for all and this means, everyone stepping up to help make things run smoothly where they can.

This week, with three senior teams playing at home and the junior season kicking off, we expect our clubrooms to be busy. We hope to see as many of our club members as possible, making the most of the opportunity to spend some time at the club. As we are likely to be busy, helping to dispose of your rubbish, bringing up your glasses and being supportive of our volunteers is even more important!

Things to remember:

1. If our bar staff don’t recognise you, they will ask you to confirm you are a club member. You can either provide your 2021 card (that does not expire until the end of May), or we can look you up on our system. Please remember to bring your membership card wherever possible – the new ones should be here by next weekend.
2. We cannot serve minors or intoxicated persons – please respect our bar staff and their judgement and don’t be offended if we ask you to prove your age.
3. NO alcohol is to be consumed outside of the permitted area, which is limited to the clubrooms, restaurant and the concrete and pit area directly outside the main clubrooms by Field 1. Car park, shed and bringing your own alcohol is strictly forbidden under any circumstances.

Whilst we all enjoyed a great afternoon at Linfield Park with a great crowd enjoying two good games of footie. However sadly we won the ‘Crying Towel’ for the first time in seven years and enjoyed the hospitality of the Matadors it was not a good day for teams in Red and Black, excepting for our Colts who enjoyed a good win on their first day out.

We all enjoy our day at Linwood with some great banter and camaraderie. It was especially good to see Murray McEwan in attendance. Murray was our only ‘original ‘from the first game in 1969.We had an apology from Bruce Francis our hooker that year and Derek “bluey’ Arnold who was the ‘original’ captain. Other players from the 70’s in attendance were Jerry Rowberry Club President, Peter “burger’ Coleman, Ray Waghorn, Eddie Cutts and myself.

My message re the Red and Blacks however is simple ‘keep the faith’. Like you all I was both surprised and disappointed by the Crusaders result. While the Tahs played very well something is amiss with our lads, but as I said earlier, keep the faith. The Force will be no easy beats in Perth either. It is clear the Aussie sides have closed the gap and how good was it to see the huge crowd in Suva cheering on the Drua.

It feels like we’re getting into our rugby locally with the JAB about to kick off and Div One home v Shirley this week. On a more negative note I was very disappointed with defaults to both the Women and The Nomads, the latter group just wanting a game of footie with their mates on a Saturday. I really hope things get sorted very soon, so that our players can enjoy as much game time as possible!

Anyway, see you Saturday.

Give Em The Axe

Bob

Draw Details for Sat 7th May

Senior Draws

Junior Draws

Premier Men’s Report

Played Linwood at Linfield Park  30 April 2022
“Crying Towel” fixture.
Loss: 27-29

First Saturday of footie for all the grades.
In the early games Colts had a first up win and Premier Reserve lost by one point against their Linwood rivals.
The scene was set for the 54th “Crying Towel” match between the two great rivals.
A midday function hosted by the Linwood Matadors for the Christchurch Axemen fuelled the appetite of many who had been before. The scars of those battles where no quarter was given still in the memory, if not in the body features of some.
Another great day for rugby. Sun shining and no wind. Excellent crowd.

Linwood kicked off and were awarded an early penalty after 1 minute which they converted..
Christchurch got on the front foot early with Centre Will Gaulter featuring in 3 strong runs, one of which with excellent support from Hunter Wilson No7 resulted in 10 phases near the Linwood line from which they managed to clear with a penalty.
Two quick penalties to Christchurch, one a long range effort from Josh Ree put Christchurch ahead 6-3 after 20 minutes.
Linwood then came back and with a move looking promising on the Christchurch 22 as they went wide Christchurch Half Back Reuben Spicer intercepted and got to beyond half way. Looking around he had no support, but put in a kick ahead, young talented No 6 Pele Atonio won the race for the ball over the line. Conversion successful
At the 30-minute mark. Linwood threw a long wide ball inside their half and swept down the field and moved through the middle with good support play. A good inside pass and they were over. 13-8
5 minutes to half time Reuben Spicer who had been playing well went off injured replaced by Nick Annear.
One last opportunity when Gaulter who was a constant danger broke on a 60-metre run which nearly resulted in a try. Linwood scrambled and finished the half with a drop out off their line.
Christchurch were placed under considerable pressure early in second half after an early mistake.
Linwood had at this stage brought on some heavy artillery in their forwards and with some barraging runs took them over the advantage line.
However 11 minutes into the half, Hunter Wilson went on a tremendous driving run from inside the Christchurch half. In the tackle the ball was picked up by No2 Sam Stewart who broke to the Linwood 22 finding Nick Annear in good support under the posts for an excellent try. Converted 20-8 and Christchurch should have put the game away at this point as soon after Nathan Evans went on a strong run, but the opportunity was lost with a dropped pass.
The game suddenly changed. A kick ahead by Linwood found them pressing inside the 22. After a scramble the ball was picked up and they went through a big hole unopposed. Conversion successful.
Soon after a strong run by the Linwood 8 had them pressing again and after a number of phases they scored by the post. They had hit the lead 22-20 for the first time in the match. Nathan Evans who had a strong game then had to leave the field injured.
Christchurch then hit back in the 70th minute when a good run by replacement Angus Hammett down the flank resulted in Christchurch moving the ball from side to side inside Linwood 22 for Cole Spinks the Fullback to beat two tacklers and go over for a good try. Back in front 27-22.
Then an element of drama set in with firstly Sam Stewart being yellow carded and then with 4 minutes remaining Nick Annear suffering the same fate as Christchurch struggled to contain Linwood on their own line.
Three consecutive penalties turned down by Linwood under the Christchurch posts seeking the try they needed.
The pressure became too much and with a minute remaining the big No8 crashed over.
The conversion was a formality from in front.
A short kick off from Josh Ree was ruled as having not gone 10 metres but after allowing it to bounce, wing Jovilisi Talega grabbed it and was on his way to the line.
There were some observers and certainly the ChCh players who thought it had gone the required distance when he picked it up. Not so the referee. Such is life!
Full time and Linwood the victors for the first time since 2015.

Photo of four CFC men enjoying the hospitality post-match at Linfield on Saturday.
Brad Mooar ( Current Coaching Asst to All Blacks) ). Former player and successful premier coach with the club. Peter Hunter former Manager Premier side. Dean Thyne former premier player. Brent Harvey Former Premier player and Canterbury Representative. 1986-89

SUMMARY:

One of the best Crying Towel games for several years. The game flowed with both teams moving the ball around. It would be fair to say that Christchurch had the better of the first half and Linwood took their opportunities with a strong bench in the second period. The Christchurch defence was again strong until the last 10 minutes when with an injury to a key player and two players binned Linwood capitalised.
The scrum was again strong. The line outs however remain a work on. One criticism perhaps that Linwood continually threw their ball to their No7 at the back. Christchurch never countered this ploy and Linwood won all their own ball.
The penalty count favoured Linwood 15-6, a bit of a turnaround from last week’s game.
More importantly Linwood were awarded 8 penalties to ChCh’s 1 in the second half.
Christchurch should have put the game away, but Linwood to their credit never gave up and with the Crying Towel at stake, raised their performance to another level.
Hunter Wilson No 7 ( Player of the match) for Christchurch had his best performance in the jersey. The young Pele Atonio carried on the good work from his debut last week.
Showed plenty of speed to score his first try.
Will Gaulter broke the line at will in first half but saw little ball in the second half. Sam Tatupu took the ball up strongly and contained the dangerous Keegan McGregor.
Cole Spinks Fullback was safe and scored a good try.
Josh Ree at first five did not make the impact of last week, but kicked his goals.
To Linwood The Tom George Cup as the victor.
To Christchurch as the losing side , the Crying Towel for the first time since 2015.
Missing this week were William Mills, injuries still to Zac McKay, Sam Cotton. Blake Thompson was a last hour withdrawal with Covid.
Let’s hope the injuries to Reuben Spicer and Nathan Evans are not too serious.
My apologies to Reuben (Jason), Zac (Josh),  Cole (Coke)  for my misprint of your names last week. I trust your teammates haven’t given you too much of a hard time at my expense.
Next week, Shirley at home coming off a comprehensive victory over University on Saturday.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK:

Ask the question of yourself before you go on the field next week.
How good will I be going forward.
How good will I be going back
How good will I be in the 3 minutes I may have the ball in my hands and for the 77 minutes of which I won’t.
For the good player there are no priorities.
You must be equally as good in all these disciplines throughout the match.

“ Run until you’re buggered and then increase the pace.”
Give ‘em the Axe.

David Stuthridge
Sponge

The nail in the coffin. The try from Linwood in the closing minute which took them ahead of Christchurch to rid themselves of the “Crying Towel” which they have held since 2015.

CFC Sponsorship Update

This week we would like to acknowledge and thank Jimmy Summerfield and his team at The Richmond Club for their continued hard work and support of the club. TRC are yet again the main sponsor of our CFC Junior balls, provided to every junior player this season.

In addition, Jimmy and his team go above and beyond every week to help our teams in whatever way they can. Providing free team transport options, event space for team building activities and help and assistance wherever we need it, Jimmy has time and again provide to be a true club supporter – thanks for all you do Jimmy, it’s great to have such a strong partnership relationship with TRC!

For anyone who isn’t aware, we do have reciprocal rights with The Richmond Club, with a $5 rebate from any new TRC sign up coming back to CFC if you make sure you let TRC team know you are part of CFC – so please head along to TRC soon and support both clubs in the process!

You can find more info about TRC by clicking here.

CFC Junior Corner

How lucky are we, to have such awesome families as part of our CFC Community! We were delighted to kick off the season with our first event last weekend, when we invited Sumner, New Brighton and Belfast teams down to the club for some friendly pre-season games.

As anyone who was at the event would have seen, the turnout was fantastic, and all players and supporters were great. It is so good to be able to work with other local clubs to provide opportunities for our families and we were delighted to see everyone enjoying themselves and most importantly having heaps of fun!

 

 

As we head into our first official games this weekend, we want to remind all our families and players of our CFC Core Values – please live and breathe these. Remember to thank your team, your coach/manager, your opposition, and supporters. Be kind, have fun and try your best!

We encourage our teams and families to post your pictures to our CFC Junior Facebook page, so we can see all the action over the weekend.

Please remember your junior committee are parents, workers and have commitments too. We are all volunteering our time and we are doing our best. We will get back to you when we can, but if you can try and look on our website, CFC App and Facebook page first, most often the info you need is already there.

Finally – wishing all our Mum’s a very HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! We really do appreciate all you do to get our CFC families to where they need to be. We hope you all have an awesome weekend!

CFC Junior Committee

CFC Apparel

All gear bags should now be with the coaching teams and playing jerseys should have been handed out. If any issues or swaps needed, Tina from our Junior Committee oversees running this side of things. She can be reached on 027 2288411 if needed.

For anyone needing new shorts and socks, please go online to order via the CFC Gear Store: Christchurch FC Sports gear Store | Impakt

Article added: Thursday 05 May 2022