Tragic Deaths

Ray Francis died from a heart attack at the age of thirty-two after a Second XV match at Longtonians in April of 1995.  Rays funeral journey included a visit to Tilehouse Lane where OYs lined the drive as the hearse made its way to the clubhouse led by Tony Fitzgerald playing a lament on his bagpipes.

Roger Martin also sadly died in South Africa aged fifty.

 

Intended Improvements to the Clubhouse

At this time the pitches were in excellent condition thanks to the constant attention by Brian Spock Collingwood our tractor / mower driver. To improve the clubhouse, a successful application was made to the Sports Council for 24,000 to enable us to extend the changing room facilities.  The offer was subject to our obtaining a new twenty-one year lease.  Unfortunately we could not achieve this in time and the offer was withdrawn.

The Mid to Late Nineties

Gary Bobbo Robinson captained the First XV for three seasons from 1995 to 1998. The first year Rick Thorne was Club Coach and the team included Steve Chinn and Mick Young as outstanding half backs.  Micks skills were badly missed when he left England to teach in Peru.  The following year a change in the laws allowed lifting in the line-outs. Steve Chinn, now as coach, introduced several changes in the team.  Bobbo moved to Loose Head Prop, Darren Collingwood to Scrum Half and Dave Howlett to Full Back. New faces included Marcus Hope, Steve Grainger, Sean Toothill, Ian Craig, Brett Packer and Antony Thompson. We finished fourth in the league.  The Easter Tour was to Guernsey winning the local tournament by beating Worthing RFC in the final. Darren Collingwood broke the club record with thirty  tries scored in a season and was awarded Player of the Year.

Eric Cartwright and Brian Hyde were made Life Members in 1997. Later in the same year the club received a 1000 award from Lucozade when Gail Orton won one of their competition prizes.

In Bobbos final year the squad, again coached by Chinny, saw the addition of Phil Painter, Simon Davies, Steve Wright, Ben Honey, Guy Smith, Ian Walker and Richard Formaston. We finished third in the league including a record score of 102 points to 8 over Coventry Saracens. The season included wins in friendlies against Stafford, Stourbridge, Bromsgrove and Aston Old Edwardians.  Darren Collingwood again scored thirty tries and was top points scorer with 226.