Sunday was the annual St Albans Street festival. With the temperature at 30 degrees, the town centre cordoned off and filled with food stalls, live music, creative activities, live performance and much more - and the Cents had a stall in the middle of it all.
The stall was organised and run by Cents physio Len McMain, with help from committee member Brian Parker and several players and volunteers. The idea was to let the people of St Albans know about their local rugby league club, answer any of their questions, socialise and of course, raise a bit of cash. Photo left - club stalwart Joe Shaw and fianace Ellie working hard on the stall. Photo below - the Cents stall in all it's glory. Len McMain added "It went very well, there was huge interest and support in the club. We sold a fair bit of stuff and I must say that the raffle went very well. We had lots of interest from potential new players and all of our leaflets and flyers were taken. A very successful day." We'll leave it to Brian Parker to sum up the day - " Soaring temperatures, smiling faces, mouth-watering prizes and at least one corset … yes, St Albans Centurions market stall was in town. At the Annual St Albans Street Festival, sandwiched between a spicy-lemonade stall and The Portland Arms, Len McMain and his glamorous assistants enticed passers-by to buy raffle tickets, purchase merchandise and sign up to rugby league. A number of the 1st team rocked up to help the physio-cum-entrepreneur promote the Club to a wider audience. Special thanks to Roy who started things off, to Simba, Alex, the entire Lawrence clan, Mr & Mrs Swede-To-Be and Niall Braniff who not only donated a raffle prize but also sold raffle tickets like they were going out of fashion. However, the biggest thanks of all must go to Len who manned the fort all day long and turned his original idea into a hugely successful day, with dozens of new contacts made and over £200 + raised for the Club. Well done Len and everyone else who supported the club. " St Ives Roosters 32 -v- 16 St Albans Centurions
Cent made their longest away game journey on Saturday but sadly did not return with the two points. Sometimes consistency is a curse. Just as against North Herts seven days earlier, the Centurions were neck-and-neck after half an hour only to concede three unanswered tries in the last 10 minutes of the first half and a fourth in the opening minutes of the second. The home side had raced into a lead with a converted try but a Joe Shaw touchdown saw the visitors draw it back to 6-4. Looking organised and compact, there was nothing to suggest the wheels would come off again but they did. Starting in the 30th minute the home side took the game away from the visitors despite the Centurions’ obvious effort, with all but two players making 10 or more tackles in the searing heat. By the time Will Curtis crossed for the Centurions’ second try in the 48th minute, converted by Toby Daley, the contest was effectively over. The Roosters stretched their lead with a further unconverted try before Alex Curtis followed his brother onto the score sheet with a try of his own, again converted by Daley. A last-gasp St Ives try added salt into the wound but the real damage, like last week, had been done late in the first half: a pattern the Cents cannot afford to repeat. After four consecutive away games, the Centurions are finally at home this weekend when they’ll have an immediate opportunity to exact revenge against St Ives Roosters. Kick-off 2.30pm, Saturday 30th at Toulmin Drive, New Greens. Unfortunately no match day photos this week. London Junior League
St Albans Centurions 28 -v- 14 Bromley Bengals St Albans Centurions are now third in the London League after this impressive win against fourth placed Bromley Bengals. Coach Gary Tetlow said "I just want to say how really pleased I was with the boys yesterday. Their effort, determination and no little skill made the victory was very pleasing. Bromley were a tough outfit, and having played the top two teams, Hemel and Brentwood, and with the return fixture against Brentwood to come before the play offs, this is the level we need to maintain. Well done each and every one of you." The last game of the regular season is on 30th June when the Cents play second placed Brentwood away, and with only one point difference in the league table, it's a must win game for the Cents if they want to finish in second place and have home advantage going into the end of season play offs. East RL Cup Semi Final
North Herts Crusaders 50 -v- 22 St Albans Centurions A disastrous 10-minutes either side of half-time cost the Centurions dear as they crashed out of the cup at the hands of runaway League leaders, North Herts Crusaders. Having been comprehensively outplayed by the Hitchin outfit on the opening day of the season, the Centurions started brightly enough with tries from the Jake Lawrence and the returning Nick Woolley ensuring the sides were neck-and-neck after half-an-hour. But then as legs began to tire, North Herts’ speed merchants stepped up a gear and took the game away from the visitors. Ten minutes into the second-half and the game was already gone at 34-10 down. But this Centurions’ team has heart and continued to put everything into the tackle and to drive the ball in without fear as typified by the impressive Niall Loughlin. Player-coach Simba Mupamhanga rolled back the years, with a match-leading 20 tackles whilst missing none. An inspirational Woolley grabbed his hat-trick with two more tries under the posts but resolute defending from the Crusaders kept the Centurions out when other sides would have conceded. Sheer exhaustion from the visitors allowed the home side to score late breakaway tries to add a little extra gloss to their well-deserved victory. “Those guys were good”, admitted Coach Mupamhanga “really good, but when we were organised and stuck to the game plan we had their measure. Our first try was straight off the training ground and simply tore them apart. It was our inability to stay organised for the whole 80 minutes, to stay focused when we were tiring, that’s what made the difference and what we’ll be working to put right for Saturday.” The Centurions are away to St Ives Roosters on Saturday 23rd, 2.30pm start. Match day photos now on our photo website What happens when the team you were about to play pulls out of the game and you have 30 + players chomping at the bit to have a game … divide your squad up into two teams, the Blues and the Yellows, and have still have a game. That's exactly what Under 14's coach Gary Tetlow did on Wednesday evening at Toulmin Drive. " I divided the boys into two equal groups and then I let them get on with it. Each group was responsible for their own warm ups, their own pre game briefing, game tactics, picking their own captains, everything I usually do" said Gary.
And what a great game it was. The weather was warm and bright, the supporters vocal and the rugby free flowing and enjoyable. Well done the Under 14's. Photos from the game are on our photo website. St Albans Centurions 60 -v- 4 Bath Rugby League With both teams having a free weekend due to cancelled games, St Albans Centurions from The East Rugby League took on Bath Rugby League from the West League. The game was played half way between the two towns at Oxford Rugby Club, home of the Oxford Cavaliers. St Albans ran out comfortable winner in a very free flowing and enjoyable game. Match day photos now on the photo site. Match report - On neutral ground in Oxford, St Albans from the East League took on Bath from the equivalent league in the West and destroyed them. Picking up from where they left off against Brentwood the week before, the Centurions raced into an early lead when Josh Lawrence powered through some weak tacking to cross the line. Within 10 minutes a second was added when Callum Porter ran a great line to split the defence and register his first of the season. The Bath outfit found the Cents’ strong, direct running impossible to live with and Josh Lawrence crossed twice more before the break following more powerful running. In between, Will Curtis picked up his own grubber kick to touchdown and Captain Joe Baker rounded off a lightning breakaway following an intercept from Alex Powdrell. 28 – 0 at half-time an it could have been more if Jake Lawrence had brought his kicking boots. With their coach’s word ringing in their ear, Bath flew out of the blocks to score an unconverted try of their own after 46 minutes. But that was as good as it got for them. Baker, Scott Clewlow and Baker again for his hat-trick, put the contest well and truly to bed before Jake Lawrence joined the party with two late tries. The best of the lot though was scored by debutant Hallam Chapman, capping a barnstorming performance with a well-deserved try of his own. Baker was delighted with the inter-league victory: “This was all about maintaining the momentum from last week’s cup win. There’s still room for improvement, of course, but there’s real structure in everything we do and a growing sense of confidence in the squad. We’re beginning to click and Bath just couldn’t live with our pace and power.” Kent Invicta Panthers 30 -v- 54 St Albans Centurions
The Cents juniors travelled to Maidstone on Saturday, but the journey was worth it as they came away with another win. Coach Gary Tetlow said "Our attack was spot on but defensively we made a few naïve plays and that's where we need improvement." Gary then added " Oxford have pulled out of our game on Wednesday, but we will play an 'in house' game instead - arrive by 6pm / kick off 6.30pm - with all players (not just those originally selected) getting a game. I have already organised the referee so it will be a full game, full contact, with two teams. Show me what you can do. Any newcomers welcome. I will advise on the kit in due course." Cents are now in second place in the London League. |
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