Ryedale | Archive | 2005 | July | 21
From the archive, first published Thursday 21st Jul 2005.
During the break in the season, there have been one or two changes at Malton & Norton Rugby club.
The first major change is that they have entered a new league, but not the one you might expect. After being relegated from the North2East division at the hands of Huddersfield, it looked as if the club would return to Yorkshire One. However, the team have side-stepped into the Northumberland and Durham League, where they will face the likes of West Hartlepool, Gateshead and Durham.
Coach Richard John said instead of being a step back, the change in league will provide the team with new challenges.
And speaking of Richard John, he won't be alone on the sidelines anymore. The club has a new coaching team, comprising of John, former chairman Pat Stephenson, and Australian Phil Ryan who has retired through injury. Sam Armitage has replaced Stephenson as the chairman.
Typically for a team that has tasted promotion for three years in a row prior to heir relegation, John says their main focus is going to be getting back on top.
He said: "We're hoping for promotion. We've identified some key areas to focus on, and we've got some younger players coming up."
With the loss of Jason Simpson and Liam Vaughn, back to their native Australia at the end of last season, and Steve Piercy and Alan Aitkin sampling life down under, Malton have been given Tim Carney in exchange, who will play as centre. Malton are back in training now and will have a couple of friendly matches to play before the season starts. They will face Bridlington over the Bank Holiday weekend, and York.
Then things will get serious with the first kick of the ball on September 3 when Malton will visit Ponteland.
Updated: 16:43 Wednesday, July 20, 2005
© Newsquest Media Group 2008