Super day despite Giants' defeat
POPPED down to Wembley for the Carnegie Rugby League Challenge Cup Final last Friday, suffering on the way the worst ever journey in some 40-odd visits to the old and this new stadium.
The wife and I with elder daughter Charlotte – a Huddersfield Giants fan – plus our friends Calvin and Ann Oates, set off around 1.45pm and it was fine until we hit the long-time road widening works north of the Mansfield turn off.
Along with some horrendous weather, to cut a long journey short, we did not reach our hotel at Ealing Common until 7.15pm. Normally, you would allow four hours at the most on a busy Friday not five- and-a-half.
After checking in it was a quick change and off in a cab to a function at The Fence Bar and Kitchen in Cow Cross Street in east London at the back of Smithfield Market. While awaiting the cab I recognised a local from the Huddersfield Road area of Rastrick Jack Strother and his good lady.
The former police officer is now the vice chairman of the British Amateur RL Association and he has for years been the PRO for the Bradford Amateur RL.
It turned out that they had come down with quite a party and they were off to look at the huge funfair on the common and also head up Ealing Broadway for a meal.
A lovely barbecue, drinks and convivial chat with fellow guests, courtesy of the sponsors and it was then back up west for bed and ready for the next day.
Upon arriving at Wembley after a huge breakfast and parking the car, we split up, the wife and the Oates' heading down Wembley High Street and Charlotte and I walking around the stadium. Near to the Sir Bobby Moore statue heading for a view down Wembley Way we bumped into Rastrickian Jimmy Fitt and his family.
The Rastrick junior football coach and leading West Yorkshire firefighter was down to cheer on the Huddersfield Giants and just a little further round we bumped into lifelong Fartowners and Giants supporters Gerald and Shirley Furness who were schoolteachers at the former Rastrick County School and have, until retirement, also worked at other schools including Rastrick High.
Upon a complete circuit, Charlotte and I split up, she taking the lift to the media centre to take lunch and me to the BBC compound in the bowels of the stadium. Parked right alongside the BBC vans was the Giants' kit van, sponsored by Arrow Rental and also Andrew Jones' Pies 'n Pasties of Brighouse and Marsh.
Participants in the pre-match entertainment right up to kick off were the members of the Black Dyke Mills Brass Band from Queensbury.
The game wasn't a classic and on the day Warrington were too strong in the defensive department for Huddersfield, who it could be argued were unlucky with two 50-50 calls over tries, plus the victors were also more attack minded.
In the first 25 minutes of the second half Huddersfield had no go-forward and made very little headway. If you recall last week I said that they needed to snuff out Lee Briers and Michael Monagahan and it was those two who propelled the Cheshire side home.
It has also to be said that big international forward Adrian Morley was a kingpin in that defensive wall and he is the first man this season to send the real life `Giant' Eorl Crabtree backwards!
Listening to a couple of BBC staff talking before the game I heard that Yorkshire CCC and former England fast bowler Matthew Hoggard had been wanted for Strictly Come Dancing 2009.
They wanted him to follow the likes Darren Gough and Mark Ramprakash after they had been winners and he was also keen, but Yorkshire officials, fighting relegation, were not.
Hoggard, a Bradford Bulls supporter and a member of the Anthony McGrath Testimonial team at Brighouse a couple of weeks ago, asked to miss the last two fixtures of the county season in mid-to late September but Yorkshire said, no, because of the relegation issue. Yet in mid-season there was talk Hoggard, when he was not being selected on a regular basis, could be off at the end of the season to another county.
If he had walked out on the county then Yorkshire may well have sued him for breach of contract.
l A FORMER Rastrick Amateur Rugby League player in the name of George Roebuck Cowley, who was also a keen Fartowner, missed his chance of seeing his beloved Claret and Golds back at Wembley, having passed away aged 80 some two weeks ago.
The well known butcher from Fixby for almost four decades was some character and dressed as you would picture the old fashioned butchers-cum-Yorkshire farmers. Braces and Simon Cowell type-trousers over a collarless shirt.
I have had some meat off him in my time from his Fartown Bar shop and it was spot on and he was never short of telling you a tale.
I know he would have been looking forward to the final but it was not to be, like the result, for George.
l FINALLY, my good friend John Chadwick from Oldham, who is now the companion of Tracy Dawson, wife of the late Les Dawson, and retiring chairman of Blackpool Panthers RLFC, has just comeback from a short holiday to find their 2.5 million mansion at Lytham St Annes suffering from one of these teenage parties that was gatecrashed.
The heartache for Tracy was huge with some rooms left dedicated to Les, badly damaged.
Daughter Charlotte Dawson, 16, who was eight months old when her dad died, had called a party to celebrate getting six GCSEs and the gatecrashers heard about it on the old internet.
Enough of that and just finally to let you know that the lead dancer on the Roly Poly's who Les made famous, is still big mates with Tracy and John and she helps out with the fundraising and teas in the boardroom for Blackpool's matches plus the odd golf days.
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Weather for Halifax
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -2 C to 3 C
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Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light snow
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