Minutes of Meeting Held on Thursday 14Th
Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire Rugby Football Union
Senior Competitions Committee Meeting Minutes
Date of meeting: Monday 15th February 2016
Action1 / Present
Steve Allford (SA), Phil Gordon (PG), Dave Miller (DM), Dave Duddles (DD) Steve Whiteside (SW).
Apologies
Tracy Edmundson (TE), Fred Pell (FP), Mike Waplington (MW), Melvyn Ashton (MA).
2 / Minutes of last meeting / The minutes of the meeting on 2nd November were agreed as an accurate record.
3 / Matters arising / These are dealt with under the appropriate section.
4 / RFU Structured Season / There have been no changes since the last meeting.
5 / NLD Structured Season / The venues for the County Championship matches need to be published. The matches are Staffordshire (A) on 30th April and Cumbria (H–at Mansfield) on 7th May. / DM
6 / National RFU Cups / The later rounds have been severely disrupted by the weather, to the extent that matches are having to be scheduled midweek in order to hold the finals date.
Buxton are the only remaining NLD representative with their away Junior Vase QF against Uttoxeter having fallen foul of the weather. The winner of this tie will be home to Birstall in the SF. The other NLD clubs in the latter stages of the competition were Ashfield and Kesteven who both went out in the QF of the Senior Vase and Bourne in the QF of the Junior Vase.
Bakewell, Belper, Boston, Stamford College OB and Tupton all conceded matches so will not be invited to participate next season.
7 / MDOC Report / There is nothing to report from the latest meeting.
8 / League Reports / All leagues have been affected by the weather but most are back within one match of the original schedule. The exception is M2E(N) where Ashbourne and Bakewell are both three matches behind.
There have been eleven matches conceded by NLD clubs so far. These have been at levels 8 (1-off), 9 (7-off) and 10 (3-off). Three clubs have conceded two matches.
9 / NLD Knockout Cups / There were three tenders for hosting the finals day on 23rd April. From these the bid from Mellish was successful.
Round 1 and the QF have been completed satisfactorily. However, the SF have been severely disrupted due to rearranged league matches. At this time there are still sufficient spare Saturdays to allow the matches to be played without having to resort to Easter or midweek fixtures, but these need to be retained as options in case of further cancellations.
There is a potential issue with the Cup final as Scunthorpe may be finalists but also have an RFU league play-off match on the same date. If this is the case then the final will be deferred to Weds 27th April at a venue TBD. This venue needs to be agreed but the proposal is Mellish. Mellish need to be contacted for their agreement.
There is also a potential issue with the Shield final as Glossop may be finalists but also have a re-arranged league match on that date. If this is the case then the proposal is that this match is played as a curtain raiser to the NLD County Championship match on 7th May at Mansfield. This proposal needs to be agreed with Mansfield.
Finals Day timings (all matches played on 23rd):
- Vase (11:30)
- Plate (12:30)
- Shield (13:30)
- Cup (15:30)
- Vase (11:30)
- Plate (13:30)
- Cup / Shield (15:30)
Cup: Scunthorpe
Shield: West Bridgford
Plate: Belper
Vase: North Hykeham
If the number of matches able to be played on Finals Day drops to two, there is a proposal to play a Ladies Exhibition match to fill out the programme. The practicality of this needs to be assessed. The possibility of having a full Ladies knockout competition in future seasons also needs investigation.
This season Nottinghamshire deferred the Finals Day venue decision to this committee. Lincolnshire have stated that they wish to retain the right to nominate the venue and Derbyshire have yet to make a statement. As this is an NLD Competition and not organised by a DU the decision should lie with NLD. However the committee agreed that they would abide by the wishes of the majority.
Bourne had stated (via MA) that they wanted to be included in the knockout competitions for the 2016-2017 season. However, they also said that there were certain dates early in the season when they would not be able to honour NLD knockoutfixtures. The Committee noted this but reserved the right to use these dates if necessary.
There is an issue with arranging fixtures where clubs play in a league structure whose fixture matrix is not aligned to the Midlands structure. This has led to problems in finding suitable dates to play these matches and led to walkovers as the matches had to be arranged for midweeks. In order to reduce this issue the committee discussed and agreed to implement a version of a regulation that had previously been used in the RFU national knockout competitions. i.e. any club that plays in an RFU league structure that is not aligned to the Midlands model will automatically be given an away draw, even if drawn out of the hat as the home team. The rationale behind this is that it is the decision of these clubs to play in a non-aligned structure they should be the ones to travel to a midweek match if there is not an available weekend.
The finals day requirements document needs updating to include reference to segregated changing rooms and showers, and sole use of the club facilities for the duration of the day. / PG
SA/PG
SA
DM
DM
10 / Domestic Cups / Nottinghamshire Knockout Competitions
All matches are planned. There will be two finals days. The “junior” matches will be played on 25th April (4 matches) and the “senior” finals day will probably be 14th May at a venue TBC (4 matches).
Lincolnshire Knockout Competitions
The competition is progressing.In the Senior Cup both SF are still to be played. In the Intermediate Cup Stamford College OB are one of the finalists with the other still TBD. In the U17 Cup there are four teams still involved. Finals day will be Monday 2nd May at a venue TBC, but likely to be Sleaford. There will be three finals (11:00, 13:00 & 15:00).
Derbyshire Knockout Competitions
The competition isat the semi-final stage. Finals day will be 14th May at Derby. There will be four finals.
11 / Merit Tables / Lincs Merit and Notts Pennant continue but lots of matches are being played as double headers.
12 / Referees Representative / There are no competition issues to report.
13 / Any other business / In general terms, it is now expected of all RFU Committees (and this includes the DOCs), that “Declarations of Interest” must be made where appropriate, even where such appropriateness is marginal. This expectation will also apply to this Committee.
There is legacy funding available for a “3 Counties Turbo Tens” competition. This will be reviewed at the next meeting. / All
14 / Future meetings / Next meeting will be Monday 14th March, 7:30 start.
Venue, NLD Office, Newark.
Dave Miller - Secretary 2015-2016
Knockout Competitions Semi Final Results/Draw
Cup
Ilkeston / 23:17 / DerbyScunthorpe / v / Newark / Play on 12 Mar
Shield
Dronfield / v / Glossop / Play on 27 FebCasuals / v / Stamford / Play on 12 Mar
Plate
Grimsby / v / Worksop / Play on 27 FebEast Retford / v / Ashfield / Play on 27 Feb
Vase
Ollerton / 12:14 / Meden ValeSkegness / 11:3 / Gainsborough
Knockout Competitions Results
Cup
Quarter Final
Market Rasen / 31:34 / NewarkWest Bridgford / 7:38 / Scunthorpe
Paviors / 10:55 / Derby
Matlock / AWO / Ilkeston
Shield
Round 1
Dronfield / BYE / BYEChesterfield / AWO / Glossop
Mansfield / 53:15 / Ashbourne
Melbourne / 45:0 / Belper
Sleaford / 3:34 / Boston
Stamford / 27:12 / Spalding
Kesteven / 28:17 / Southwell
Casuals / 36:13 / Lincoln
Quarter Final
Stamford / 25:19 / KestevenMansfield / 23:28 / Casuals
Glossop / HWO / Melbourne
Dronfield / HWO / Boston
Plate
Round 1
Grimsby / 90:7 / CleethorpesNorth Hykeham / BYE / BYE
Stamford College OB / 17:49 / East Retford
Bingham / 32:5 / Bourne
Buxton / 73:0 / Amber Valley
Worksop / 19:12 / Tupton
Moderns / 36:19 / Mellish
Ashfield / 54:0 / Long Eaton
Quarter Final
North Hykeham / AWO / AshfieldEast Retford / 63:10 / Bingham
Worksop / 21:5 / Moderns
Grimsby / 17:3 / Buxton
Vase
Round 1
Woodhouse Giants / HWO / Castle DoningtonNottinghamians / HWO / Leesbrook
Meden Vale / BYE / BYE
Ollerton / BYE / BYE
Skegness / BYE / BYE
Gainsborough / BYE / BYE
Barton and District / BYE / BYE
Horncastle / BYE / BYE
Quarter Final
Gainsborough / 55:5 / Barton and DistrictHorncastle / 14:69 / Skegness
Meden Vale / 25:15 / Woodhouse Giants
Ollerton / 24:0 / Nottinghamians
Circulation / For Information
Steve Allford / Chairman / Melvyn Ashton / Lincolnshire Rep / Sam Heath / NLD President
Dave Miller / Secretary
MDOC Rep / Phil Gordon / Nottinghamshire Rep
League Secretary / Tracy Edmundson / Hon Sec NLD
RFU Council Member
Steve Whiteside / Referees Rep / Tim Bembridge / League Secretary / Mike Waplington / RFU Council Member
Fred Pell / Derbyshire Rep / Chris McLaren / Reserve League Secretary / Nicole Brown / NLD Office
Dave Duddles / Head of Competitive Rugby