The 1st XV last played Barnard Castle at home four years ago, in a 56-17 victory to secure promotion from Durham/Northumberland 2. The six try scorers from that day were Bollado, Squire, J. Parkinson, Twetnyman, Wallace and J. Ward (some footage from that day attached in the video). Finlay Brown was the referee on that occasion, which saw him partake in a rendition of Father Abraham after the game in front of the venerable 1988 North East 2 Winners Reunion - a far cry from refereeing International Under 18 fixtures in France last weekend!

However, times change! Barnie have had a meteoric rise in recent seasons which sees them vying for the title. Novos on the other hand, require as many points as possible to stop them sliding down into the division where these sides last met at Sutherland Park in 2013.

Only two players from that (in)famous day four years ago will be in the squad again tomorrow. The squad is as follows:
Ollie Dearden, Pete Twentyman*, Tommy Goodman, Iain Dodds, Chris Ward*, Sam Rowntree, Martin Fearon, Nick Arbuckle; Sam Dayson, Greg Humphreyson, ,Rory Duncan, Jeremy Nash, Sam Busby, Ben Wollerton, Carl Parkinson. Subs: Andrew Steinberg, Richard Dodd, Lewis Chater.

The 3rd XV also look back to history; only 12 months however! Under the guidance of Ben Melrose, the 2nd XV won the Northumberland Junior Cup last season, a trophy we had only won twice before: in 1912 and 1987. This allowed the 2nd XV to be promoted back into the Northumberland Senior Shield with the best 2nd XV's in the county (the 2nd XV narrowly lost 14-13 to Percy Park II last month in the Quarter Final). The 3rd XV were therefore promoted into the Junior Cup looking to win the club back to back trophies in the same competition for the first time since 1990. Although they will have some way to go to beat the Old Novos Under 18 side who managed to win the Northumberland County Under 18 trophy four years in a row from 1953-1956 (Jim Lewin who stood down as treasurer last year, scored 6 tries in the 1st round of the 1953 U18 cup run; scored 2 tries in the 1954 final; 1 try in the 1955 final; and was team manager in 1956 after leaving the RGS!).

The starting line up to achieve a fantastic achievement is still TBA with Ian Pratt looking over his potential squad with a keen eye to make sure he can bring the trophy back to Sutherland Park for another year. However the squad will be picked from:

Forwards: Milton, Stowe, Addison, Graham, O'Connell, Fife, Gardiner, Wallace, Merrett, Pratt, Gamble.

Backs: Richardson, Selkirk, Bulfin, Leonard, Shackleton, Mains, Marshall, Bradford, Fenwick, Ball.

Here's to a great weekend!

Fortiter Defendit Triumphans!