CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME A warm welcome to all our supporters and visitors at Eccles RFC today. The Spring has arrived bringing with it sunshine and renewed growth. Our pitches are looking in fine condition due in no small part to the weekly efforts of our grounds team. If you see a 'fossil’ in the bar please buy him a pint and whilst you’re there, please buy the referee a pint too. Without the dedicated commitment of these old farts we’d have no rugby to enjoy. Our 1XV opponents today, Ormskirk, find themselves at the foot of the division battling alongside Eccles, Oldham and Wigan for points, with their last win on the road away at Liverpool Collegiate back in January. The reverse fixture at Ormskirk, on the opening day of the season last September, featured a very youthful Eccles side with over half of the squad under 21 years of age and four fresh 18 year olds making their senior league debuts. Eccles started brightly that day, ‘ veteran’ Chris Fortune opening the scoring within 7 minutes and we were comfortably ahead at the break, before second half errors eroded our lead and put the result in the balance, before regaining composure and winning the game 22-24 through a second try from stand off Dan Reed late in the game, who slipped through a gap to dot down behind the posts. Since then Dan has gone on to enjoy a good season in the Lancashire U20 squad and the Eccles 1XV has continued to suffer from an inconsistent line up due to injuries and player availability. I expect today’s team sheet will again feature a number of our homegrown former colts who are showing great promise as we build to the future. I wish both teams the very best of luck in their endeavours today Although our Senior teams have struggled to find consistency and victories on the field this season, the atmosphere in the clubhouse at the weekend is now returning to its best. We’re working hard at Eccles to overcome the set backs of COVID by promoting the game and invigorating its growth within our community. Since last summer, the club has taken big strides forwards with its Mini & Junior rugby, with increased players across all 10 teams. Whist other clubs have curtailed their development of youth due to a decline in numbers, we’re a hive of activity on Sunday mornings and we’ll continue to invest our energies into cultivating our own #homegrown talent - the future team mates of our senior teams at Eccles. Our Community Rugby Coach is engaged with local schools and the club is now growing at a healthy pace with over 470 members. Of course, this surge in participation and the maintenance of our facilities would not be possible without the invaluable assistance we receive from our sponsors and the continued commitment of our volunteers. Supporting the club's activities can be very rewarding so if you’d like to get involved and put something back in to this community please do step forward. Whichever team you’re supporting this weekend, I hope you enjoy your match experience at Eccles. Thank you for your support in this our 125th Anniversary year. Let’s get stuck in! Chris Gaffey // Eccles RFC Chairman
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