A full house sat down to dine on Friday night at Minety RFC for the annual Minety Rugby Club Dinner.
Expertly organised by Andrew Somers and his team, the assembled throng enjoyed a 3 course meal, a number of speeches and award presentations and an after dinner speech by ex international referee Ashley Rowden.
From my hastily scribbled set of notes on the back of a napkin:
Dave Peirce, the outgoing Chairman, thanked the committee for their support over the years and made special mention of his thanks to JB for his superb support for the club ever since Dave became a member of the club.
Club coach Andy Grayson thanked his players and the support staff for their efforst throughout the year and named Jack Howse as the Young Player of the Year. Colin French was awarded the “Most Imporved Player”, Garin Garland was awarded the Coaches’ Player of the Year and also picked up the “Players’ Player of the Year”. Andy made particular note of the tremendous support he had received by Hywel Rees during the year.
1st Team Captain Tom Claxton thanked all of the players who had turned out for the 1st team and especially those players from the 2nd team who had to step up, often at very short notice, when injuries and unavailabilities struck the 1st XV. He reported that it had been a successful season with some noteworthy performances. The Captain’s Cup went to Ben Scott while Ben Collins picked up the “Handbag Award” and Gareth Thomas MBE was awarded the Wooden Spoon.
2nd Team Captain Matt Stone thanked the coaches and all of his players for their efforts in what was a difficult season for the 2nd XV. He awarded the 2nd Team Captain’s Player of the Season to Phil Ward and thanked JB for his work on preparing and maintaining the pitches.
Club President Andy Ward introduced the guest speaker, Ashely Rowden, who joined the elite list of rugby referees in 1995, making over 500 appearances as a referee, assistant referee etc. until his retirement in 2006. During his time he sin binned over 90 players including Martin Johnson and Neil Back in the same match.