On a very heavy muddy pitch, Ross put in a professional performance last Saturday to shut out the home team and run out comfortable 13-0 winners. The conditions said this would be a hard fought battle up front, however Ross also looked to play rugby when the opportunity arose and it was this skill level that set the teams apart.

From the outset the Ross set piece at scrum time and lineout was dominant, with full debutante, Jake Christopher disrupting the first four Hucclecote lineouts. At scrum time, the Ross eight were far too strong for Hucclecote. It was from this platform that Ross dominated the first half and the first score duly arrived after fifteen minutes. After some strong ball carrying from Gavin Oates and Matt Redman had set up ruck ball 10 yards out, scrum half, James Hughes took the ball blind. He dummied a pass to wing, Casey Morgan before wriggling his way over to score wide out on the right. He failed in his conversion but Ross were worthy 5-0 leaders.

Ross continued to dominate up front and on the half hour, extended their lead. From a ruck on the Hucclecote twenty two, James Hughes kicked the ball through for Winger, Casey Morgan to outpace both Winger and full back to touch down in the corner. A difficult conversion was missed and Ross went in at half time 10-0 ahead. Hucclecote did rally in the second half, with their forwards working hard with the ball in hand. However, a resolute Ross defence ensured a clean sheet and a Ross penalty saw them run out comfortable 13-0 winners.

The Ross on Wye man of the match was full debutante Jake Christopher for his great work in the lineout and around the park.

Next Saturday, 6th March, Ross are away to Bristol Saracens.

Martyn Pocknell of Ross Rugby Club was honoured when he was invited by the North Midlands RFU to not only go to watch the England v Ireland International game at Twickenham last Saturday, but also to attend the post match team dinner.

Whilst there Martyn met many great players, past and present and in the photograph below, Martyn can be seen with Paul O'Connell, British Lions Captain and Irish 2nd Row.

Needless to say, Martyn had a ball.

Following our first walk of 2010 at Bishopswood when 35 members enjoyed the walk over Leys Hill on a beautiful day, prior to lunch at the Inn on the Wye, the weather then thwarted our plans for much of January, with snow and ice making conditions too tricky for safety.

Our mountain walk, due on 17th January was postponed until April. However, walkers were able to enjoy an alternative walk in the Forest of Dean instead of seeing snowdrops on Garway as the flowers declined to put on a show on 21st January. On 27th January, seventeen members enjoyed a bright, clear day's walk from Colwall Church, via Coddington Church and vineyard, up Oyster Hill, where a brief stop was made on top of the Hill for a picnic, and then back to Colwall.

Next day, sixteen members went on a ramble around Hereford which proved to be very enjoyable and informative. On 4th February, five intrepid walkers made the decision to have a walk in spite of the rain and the very wet conditions underfoot. All were glad they had enjoyed the fresh air as the rain stopped just before they started walking.

Brockhampton and Bringsty Common was the chosen walk for 9th February, when sixteen members took advantage of good weather to see many points of historical interest, including Brockhampton Court. Seventeen members enjoyed a hilly walk which included English Bicknor, then the Coldwell walk to Yat Rock and steeply down to the River Wye. To stay in the sun, the group crossed over Biblins Bridge for their lunch stop, then returned to climb steeply back up through the woods to Hillersland and back to cars.

This week's walks will be at Garway and Offa's Dyke above Tintern.

For further information about membership and our programme, please see our website: www.rosswalkinggroup.co.uk The group also works closely with Ross Walkers are Welcome Group.

Ross completed a comprehensive victory over local opposition Ledbury in a convincing 45 to 12 rout at Ross Sports Centre on Saturday.

Impressive back row, Stuart Veale set the tone in the first couple of minutes with a storming run to score the first of seven tries. In the next play Ledbury were deemed off side at a ruck and Gage stepped up to convert the penalty, to make the score 8 - nil with only 5 minutes gone. Ross were now playing free flowing rugby, the ball moving through the backs with ease, only for the Ledbury Winger to latch on to a loose ball and sprint the length of the pitch for a converted try to bring the score to 8 - 7. Undeterred by this setback, Ross kept the ball moving in the backs which resulted in tries. for centre Tim Chainey, Wing, Tom Hariss and a second for Stuart Veale. This brought about half time, with Ross holding a 23 points to 12 lead.

Ross started the second half on the attack. Even the yellow carding of no. 8, Tim Hanks could not help Ledbury back in to a game so dominated by Ross's forward power and flair out wide. Andy Bevan was the next on the score sheet with a fine try. Scrum half, Powell's quick ball to outside half, Taylor saw Bevan come on to the ball at pace and with a superb delayed pass, the outside centre sprinted the 30 metres to score a superb try. Gage added the next try with a powerful solo run converted by Powell.

Ross now used the opportunity to bring on fresh legs, replacing hardworking Ellis Williams and Paul Hayward by C. Robertshaw and J. Kay in the forwards and N. Stevens for D. Lawrence on the wing. Ledbury, to their credit never gave up and with a fine forward drive were awarded a dubious consolation try for all their efforts.

With the game now nearing its end Ross produced one more fine try. Good ball from Powell to Taylor found Chainey. Taylor on the loop, received the ball back and on an arching run scored out wide. Powell converted to finish a very good display by Ross. Ross would like to thank this weeks match sponsor Mrs Josie Bundy from the Drop Inn.

This week's man of the match could have been any one of eighteen, but in the end, for 2 tries. and endless work, the Drop Inn man of the match was Stuart Veale.

Next Saturday, 16th March, Ross 2nds are at home in the Midlands Merit Table to high flying Old Halesowen's. Kick off is at 2:15pm.

Eight hundred competitors entered the annual Southern Championships in Lydney Park on Sunday, 21st February. The Forest of Dean comprises one of the best areas in England for orienteering, with terrain suitable to create challenging courses for our world class orienteers as well as local and regional club members.

The Organiser, Roger Coe, along with Planner, Paul Taunton and Controller, David May had to meet many challenges before the event was able to take place. Not the least of their problems was the fall of snow, which meant that the usual parking field was not suitable for the number of cars which would be arriving from all over the south of England. Arrangements were then made with Watts Tyres to use their site in Lydney itself, and the car parking team directed competitors to fit in with the change of plans. But how were the competitors going to get up to the competition area? Classic Coaches came to the rescue and competitors had a 15 minute bus ride to enable them to then walk from the road to the start of the race.

The Enquiries Team, ably led by Carol Stewart kept folks informed on changes, and enabled them to either enter a colour coded course on the day or to change their allocated start times where necessary. David Jones who was in charge of the race Start area, along with his team, kept people moving and as competitors start one minute apart on each course, this meant a constant stream of men, women and children making their way from the bus.

Continued . . .

As folks started returning by bus, they made their way to the Download Team, led by John Fallows, to receive their overall time and split times for each control visited. The early runners created a number of 'elephant trails' through the snow, but which is the one to follow? With a large number of courses to suit age groups and technical difficulty, it is easy to think the competitor in front may be on the same course only to find that you end up a long way away from your own control. The elite competitors, the 18 to 21 year olds, have much longer and more difficult courses than any of the other runners. The majority of competitors came back saying that the going was tough but they really enjoyed it! There were courses for ages from 10 to 80, which varied in length and technical difficulty. There was also a string course, organised by Alan and Ellen Starling, for the younger members of the family aged 2 and upward.

Eligible winners (those who live in the Southern Regions) of the trophies were as follows:- M10 - David Bunn, Thames Valley Orienteering Club; W10 - Gemma Gostick, Happy Herts; M12 - Edward Lines, South Downs Orienteers; W12 - Fiona Bunn, Thames Valley Orienteering Club; M14 - Harry Butt, Sarum; W14 - Becky Young, Happy Herts; M16 - Jack Benham, Sarum; W16 - Lucy Butt, Sarum; M18 - Thomas Butt, Sarum; W18 - Bryony Harding, Happy Herts; M21 - Matthew Crane, Eng Bristol Orienteering Klub; W21 - Anne Edwards, Oxford University Orienteering Club; M35 - Kostya Lutsenko, Chigwell; W35 - Christine Farr, Bristol Orienteering Klub; M40 - Ifor Powell, Bristol Orienteering Klub; W40 - Melanie Rayner, British Army Orienteering Club; M45 - Steve Keyes, Southern Navigators; W45 - Jackie Butt, Sarum; M50 - Mark Saunders, Bristol Orienteering Klub; W50 - Jane Morgan, South Downs Orienteers; M55 - Axel Blomquist, British Army Orienteering Club; W55 - Janet Rosen, Happy Herts; M60 - Jim Prowting, Thames Valley Orienteering Club; W60 - Sue Hands, Wimbourne; M65 - Mike Murray, South London Orienteers and Wayfarers; W65 - Carol Pearce, Devon; M70 - Andy Macgregor, Basingstoke & District Orienteers; W70 - Janet Gibb, Berkshire Orienteers; M75 - Bill Vigar, Quantock Orienteers; W75- Anne Donnell, Bristol Orienteering Klub; M80 - Ron Ley, Sarum; W80 - Pat Grenfell, Bristol Orienteering Klub.

For more detailed information on the results and future events, please go to our website www.ngoc.org.uk.

Ross United U13’s were home to second in the league, Kington on Sunday morning. The game started with Ross attacking through Ryan and Robbie up front, supported by an excellent midfield of Josh, Daniel L, Jake and Max, making his debut. The home teams’ pressure told in the 10th minute, when a lovely set up by Robbie allowed Josh to strike outside the box into the opposite corner to make the score 1-0.

Ross were then forced on the back foot as Kington started to put some good moves together, with the defensive quartet of Jacob, Dan, Ollie and Ralph working well as a unit. Kieran was forced into action, tipping a shot around the post. Ross continued to apply pressure and a battling move involving, Ryan, Robbie and Max, led to a chance for Jake, who poked the ball past the Kington keeper to make it 2-0 after 23 minutes.

Colin and Liam were introduced before half-time and slotted well into their respective positions. Kington continued to attack in the second half but Ross worked well as a team to soak up the away teams’ pressure. Ross had numerous chances to add to their score with shots from Liam, Ralph, Max and Josh all drifting just past the post or over the bar. There was no further addition to the score which at the finish, was Ross United, 2 Kington, 0.

The Manager and Coaches praised all 13 players for their hard work in winning the match against a very good Kington team.

The Ross United Team were Kieran, Ralph, Dan, Jacob, Ollie, Dan L, Josh, Max, Jake, Robbie, Ryan, Colin and Liam.