Ben Rhydding
Ben Rhydding lift Veterans National title
 |
| The victorious Ben Rhydding team |
Ben Rhydding Veterans 2
Hampton in Arden 1
The stage had been set for an historic first ever National Final at senior level three weeks previously when Ben Rhydding had scraped past visitors Jersey in a thrilling 3-2 victory.
Not surprisingly the full squad suddenly became available for the Bank Holiday denouement at Old Loughtonians Hockey Club, the venue for a series of vintage and veteran finals, with the plate final last on the bill with a 5pm push back.
Rhydding's opponents Hampton in Arden are a very useful side from the Midlands. The two sides had met two years previously and Ben Rhydding had narrowly won the last 16 encounter. Would this count for anything on neutral territory, on a waterbase pitch, with the pressure of final glory only 70 minutes away?
Rhydding started well and forced an early short-corner and then settled into a good spell of possession hockey with Andy Sumnall marking his man tightly from the start.
This allowed the defence of Lambert, Locke and Moore time and space to move the ball around the back and into midfield where twin centre-halves Neil Horsman and captain Mark French held sway. John Skinner and Brian Kempson worked hard to create openings on either midfield flank, as well as work back when required.
Up front John Till and David Cutter set about moving the Hampton defence about and it wasn't long before Cutter forced another short-corner opportunity. Lambert injected to French and his shot-cum-pass from just inside the D bobbled awkwardly for their keeper and found its way into the net for the first goal of the match.
Coach Andy Musgrave, with the aid of manager Robin Snook, doctor Matt Milbourn and the experienced Alistair Woodhead, all mindful of the hot playing conditions, were quick to make changes and Guy Keating, Howard Pickard and Ian Cussons were soon in the action. The latter quickly created havoc with his trademark dribbling and speed of thought.
After the break it was Hampton who stepped up a gear and began to create more of the chances but a series of short corner chances were wasted either by poor finishing, good goalkeeping by Butch Terry, or fine intercepts by Neil Horsman.
Cutter remained a potent threat up front and it was his good play that brought about a first yellow card for the opposition after deliberate feet.
John Dowley entered the fray and was immediately in the action as he had to deal with two extreme unpunished tackles against his old clubmates. In more ways than one the game was coming to the boil.
With 15 minutes left a flowing Rhydding move involving Cutter, Cussons and Kempson resulted in a deft reverse-stick strike on the angle at the far post for Johnny Till and suddenly it was 2-0 to the Ilkley side.
But just when supporters and players were beginning to count the minutes down Hampton struck with a penalty stroke which they deservedly scored off the underside of the bar past a helpless Terry to make it 2-1.
Game on again, and then a mad flurry of forced substitutions as Brian Kempson finally got his message to the bench to take him off and put French back on for the last ten minutes.
Then Horsman limped off with hamstring trouble which led to Cussons dropping back into midfield. Great defending by Locke was wrongly penalised by the award of a short-corner which thankfully was wasted again by the opposition.
With three minutes remaining Mark French chased through to reach a fine through pass from Cutter and was unceremoniously up-ended by the keeper who was harshly adjudged to have cleared the ball with his body, and this resulted in a five minute hiatus as he was yellow-carded and a teammate donned his gear and replaced him.
Whilst this gave the players chance for a breather, it only added to the tension. From the resulting short corner, Cutter's shot was deflected on to the post before one final scare when a short corner was harshly awarded against John Skinner for not retreating five yards, and this time it was captain French who hurled himself at the ball to clear the danger.
Thankfully that was that and the crowd and players erupted with joy at the final victory which was deserved though in true tradition had been achieved the hard way.
There were several outstanding performances.
Till for his winning goal which incidentally also wins him the David Sellars Cup for leading club scorer this season, French for his inspirational captaincy and hard work, Cutter for his ability to run the opposition ragged, Moore for his no-nonsense defending at left-back, and Locke who displayed trademark coolness when needed which fittingly earned him the Man-of-the-Match award.
French accepted the silver plate trophy, thanking the opposition for a great game, the umpires for their part, Old Loughtonians and England Hockey for staging the finals, but saving the main praise for the happy band of supporters who had travelled down for the event.
l Reports of how Ben Rhydding U-11s and U-13s reached their National finals on page 30.
12:30pm Thursday 8th May 2008
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CommentPosted by: HAROLD, ADDINGHAM on 5:29pm Fri 9 May 08
[bold]WHY IS THE ILKLEY GAZETTE NOT ALLOWING ANY "COMMENTS" ON THE FOLLOWING "FRONT PAGE" STORY ?!!!
'Fear hitting support for trail' claim[/bold]
By Paul Langan
FEAR may be preventing supporters of a path on the old railway line between Bolton Abbey and Addingham coming forward to help turn the idea into a reality, a campaigner has claimed.
Andrew Scull has been at the forefront of the local drive to create the cycle, foot and bridle path and he feels that the recent consultation exercise shows that there is strong support in the village for it.
But Mr Scull thinks people are put off from displaying their backing by the behaviour of a minority of the opposition group.
advertisement
Mr Scull was on the Wharfe-dale Trail Forum which carried out and arranged the funding for the consultation exercise and has been criticism because of his role. He was reported to the Standards Board for England accused of misbehaviour as a parish councillor - an accusation the board rejected.
Mr Scull has tried to keep his role as a parish councillor and his involvement in the Sustrans project separate.
But it is the harassment he has been subjected to which has caused the most difficulty for him.
He said: "I have been subjected to an organised campaign of personal harassment for the past year - most of it carried out anonymously.
"I have had hate mail - people have been ringing up people who employed me 20 years ago and someone has even rung up my Dad posing as someone else.
"A lot of people who would support it are a little shy because they don't want to be harassed themselves."
Mr Scull said it was only a small minority of opponents who were responsible for harassment.
He said it was now up to other supporters to get on board as members of a new steering group to take the project forward.
The group will have no support from Addingham Parish Council which has resolved to ignore the matter until landowners have been persuaded to support it.
And Bradford Council seems to have washed its hands of the project, after providing £4,000 worth of Council Tax payers' money for the consultation.
A council spokesperson said: "We have noted the consultation report but we have no plans to take any further action.
"If we receive any plans or applications for the trail in the future then we will deal with them through the usual planning process."
Mr Scull said that he would help with the setting up of the steering group if people contacted him through the Wharfedale Trail website.
He said: "The bottom line is that the consultation has shown that there is a great deal of support for this.
"It is up to the people who support it to come forward and drive it forward."
He said unless that happened the majority would lose out, adding: "My role from here would be to facilitate people who are taking it forward."
[bold]
It is perfectly clear to all now why the Australians refer to us as a nation of ......
"WHINGING POMS" !!![/bold]
How we must all now pity poor Councillor Andrew James Scull.
I am sure it has not gone un-noticed by the readers of the Ilkley Gazette
that every time he comes up against opposition or bad news, poor Councillor
Scull is the first to throw his rattle out of the pram.
Yet again poor Councillor Scull whinges on because things are not going his
way and ... yes ... yet again blames his various failures on mysterious
persons unknown.
For the record, Councillor Scull, let's get those verified facts back in the
public eye.
(All of the following facts having previously been verified AND, for
Councillor Andrew Scull's benefit, are in the "public domain")
[bold]LIES ABOUT LANDOWNER SUPPORT
(made by David Hall of Sustrans)
FACT - David Hall of Sustrans was quoted in the minutes of a meeting held on
12th July 2005 (where Jeff McQuillan just happened to be present) as
saying:- "He (David Hall) said he had spoken to the major landowners and
received a positive reaction, particularly from the Bolton Abbey estate"
UNBALANCED CONSULTATION LITERATURE
i.e. All the "pros" BUT none of the "cons"
(prepared by Jeff McQuillan)
FACT - Previously reported in the Ilkley Gazette
UNBALANCED AND OFFENSIVE FORUM WEBSITE
(created by Councillor Andrew Scull)
FACT - Councillor Scull apologised to the other Forum members AND
acknowledged full responsibility for the content on the website
UNFOUNDED ACCUSATIONS OF INTIMIDATION
(made by Jeff McQuillan)
FACT - North Yorkshire Police confirm no action taken
UNFOUNDED ACCUSATIONS OF THEFT
(made by Jeff McQuillan & Councillor Andrew Scull)
FACT - West Yorkshire Police confirm no action taken
ATTEMPTS TO BULLY LANDOWNERS
(carried out by Sustrans)
FACT - Previously reported in the Ilkley Gazette[/bold]
How dare poor Councillor Andrew Scull cast the first stone (as per usual)
and accuse others of harassment when, on 12th July 2005, this sorry affair
was kicked off by his pal David Hall of SUSTRANS with a lie about landowner
support for this Trail.
Proof of this lie has been clearly minuted AND, under Freedom of Information
legislation, is available for all to see.
Councillor Andrew Scull, is it really a surprise that the good folk of
Addingham do not wish to be involved in the continuing harassment that those
against this Trail proposal have had to put up with for the last 3 years ?
Councillor Scull's suggestion of a new "steering group" is laughable .......
no doubt it is his intention that it will have the same ethos as his failed
(so-called) "Forum" which .....
[bold]NEVER MET AS A GROUP
NEVER ISSUED ANY MINUTES
NEVER PRODUCED ANY ACCOUNTS[/bold]
What a relief it is that the good folk of Addingham & Ilkley are represented
(and protected) by other local Councillors who have a better understanding
of such matters:-
FACT - Addingham Parish Council have resolved not to support the concept
unless all the landowners are in agreement
FACT - Bradford Metropolitan District Council have no plans to take the
Trail proposal forward
[bold]
THE WHARFEDALE TRAIL
A CORRUPT, FLAWED & HIGHLY PREDICTABLE CONSULTATION
STOP WHINGING COUNCILLOR SCULL ..... "The bottom line is that the consultation" ...... IS OVER !!![/bold]
WHY IS THE ILKLEY GAZETTE NOT ALLOWING ANY "COMMENTS" ON THE FOLLOWING "FRONT PAGE" STORY ?!!!
'Fear hitting support for trail' claim
By Paul Langan
FEAR may be preventing supporters of a path on the old railway line between Bolton Abbey and Addingham coming forward to help turn the idea into a reality, a campaigner has claimed.
Andrew Scull has been at the forefront of the local drive to create the cycle, foot and bridle path and he feels that the recent consultation exercise shows that there is strong support in the village for it.
But Mr Scull thinks people are put off from displaying their backing by the behaviour of a minority of the opposition group.
advertisement
Mr Scull was on the Wharfe-dale Trail Forum which carried out and arranged the funding for the consultation exercise and has been criticism because of his role. He was reported to the Standards Board for England accused of misbehaviour as a parish councillor - an accusation the board rejected.
Mr Scull has tried to keep his role as a parish councillor and his involvement in the Sustrans project separate.
But it is the harassment he has been subjected to which has caused the most difficulty for him.
He said: "I have been subjected to an organised campaign of personal harassment for the past year - most of it carried out anonymously.
"I have had hate mail - people have been ringing up people who employed me 20 years ago and someone has even rung up my Dad posing as someone else.
"A lot of people who would support it are a little shy because they don't want to be harassed themselves."
Mr Scull said it was only a small minority of opponents who were responsible for harassment.
He said it was now up to other supporters to get on board as members of a new steering group to take the project forward.
The group will have no support from Addingham Parish Council which has resolved to ignore the matter until landowners have been persuaded to support it.
And Bradford Council seems to have washed its hands of the project, after providing £4,000 worth of Council Tax payers' money for the consultation.
A council spokesperson said: "We have noted the consultation report but we have no plans to take any further action.
"If we receive any plans or applications for the trail in the future then we will deal with them through the usual planning process."
Mr Scull said that he would help with the setting up of the steering group if people contacted him through the Wharfedale Trail website.
He said: "The bottom line is that the consultation has shown that there is a great deal of support for this.
"It is up to the people who support it to come forward and drive it forward."
He said unless that happened the majority would lose out, adding: "My role from here would be to facilitate people who are taking it forward."
It is perfectly clear to all now why the Australians refer to us as a nation of ......
"WHINGING POMS" !!!
How we must all now pity poor Councillor Andrew James Scull.
I am sure it has not gone un-noticed by the readers of the Ilkley Gazette
that every time he comes up against opposition or bad news, poor Councillor
Scull is the first to throw his rattle out of the pram.
Yet again poor Councillor Scull whinges on because things are not going his
way and ... yes ... yet again blames his various failures on mysterious
persons unknown.
For the record, Councillor Scull, let's get those verified facts back in the
public eye.
(All of the following facts having previously been verified AND, for
Councillor Andrew Scull's benefit, are in the "public domain")
LIES ABOUT LANDOWNER SUPPORT
(made by David Hall of Sustrans)
FACT - David Hall of Sustrans was quoted in the minutes of a meeting held on
12th July 2005 (where Jeff McQuillan just happened to be present) as
saying:- "He (David Hall) said he had spoken to the major landowners and
received a positive reaction, particularly from the Bolton Abbey estate"
UNBALANCED CONSULTATION LITERATURE
i.e. All the "pros" BUT none of the "cons"
(prepared by Jeff McQuillan)
FACT - Previously reported in the Ilkley Gazette
UNBALANCED AND OFFENSIVE FORUM WEBSITE
(created by Councillor Andrew Scull)
FACT - Councillor Scull apologised to the other Forum members AND
acknowledged full responsibility for the content on the website
UNFOUNDED ACCUSATIONS OF INTIMIDATION
(made by Jeff McQuillan)
FACT - North Yorkshire Police confirm no action taken
UNFOUNDED ACCUSATIONS OF THEFT
(made by Jeff McQuillan & Councillor Andrew Scull)
FACT - West Yorkshire Police confirm no action taken
ATTEMPTS TO BULLY LANDOWNERS
(carried out by Sustrans)
FACT - Previously reported in the Ilkley Gazette
How dare poor Councillor Andrew Scull cast the first stone (as per usual)
and accuse others of harassment when, on 12th July 2005, this sorry affair
was kicked off by his pal David Hall of SUSTRANS with a lie about landowner
support for this Trail.
Proof of this lie has been clearly minuted AND, under Freedom of Information
legislation, is available for all to see.
Councillor Andrew Scull, is it really a surprise that the good folk of
Addingham do not wish to be involved in the continuing harassment that those
against this Trail proposal have had to put up with for the last 3 years ?
Councillor Scull's suggestion of a new "steering group" is laughable .......
no doubt it is his intention that it will have the same ethos as his failed
(so-called) "Forum" which .....
NEVER MET AS A GROUP
NEVER ISSUED ANY MINUTES
NEVER PRODUCED ANY ACCOUNTS
What a relief it is that the good folk of Addingham & Ilkley are represented
(and protected) by other local Councillors who have a better understanding
of such matters:-
FACT - Addingham Parish Council have resolved not to support the concept
unless all the landowners are in agreement
FACT - Bradford Metropolitan District Council have no plans to take the
Trail proposal forward
THE WHARFEDALE TRAIL
A CORRUPT, FLAWED & HIGHLY PREDICTABLE CONSULTATION
STOP WHINGING COUNCILLOR SCULL ..... "The bottom line is that the consultation" ...... IS OVER !!!
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