There was real-life drama before the season started when former skipper and firefighter Mark Hunt was involved in the dramatic rescue of a man threatening to jump off the Tamar Bridge. he received Chief Officers Commendations at a special ceremony in Exeter.

On the field, The Chiefs had a reasonable season, finishing 5th in the Devon 2 league of 10, with 8 wins from their 18 fixtures. There was a promising warm-up win over a combined Plymouth Police side in which the free-scoring Darren Wills featured heavily. In the league however it was a very slow start with only one win (83-3 over a severely depleted YMCA side) in the first 6 matches but thereafter only 1 defeat from the next 6. Having secured safety there was only a couple more victories culminating in a fine 47-15 home win against Dartmouth, tries from Phil Hall (4), Mike Louise (2), Dominic Hill, Paul Venkort (a prolific scorer this season) and Danny Morgan. The Chiefs went out to Civil Service in The Lockie Cup.

There was a feeling that the side was perhaps not fulfilling its potential and at the end of the season coach Andy Davey resigned, citing training numbers as one of the major issues. Discipline was also a problem – the club had to attend four Devon RFU disciplinaries in the season.

The Tigers, captained by Chairman Paul Pring, had a decent season managing to fulfil the majority of their fixtures. This included a fine 48-0 win over Tamar Saracens II in the early season. The side also reached The Pedrick Cup Final after beating Liskeard-Looe II 8-0 in the semi-final, fly half Andy Rees with all the points at Lux Park. In the final, held at The Rectory, Old Techs second string were just a bit too strong and run out comfortable winners in the end.

Bristol-based British Aerospace were April visitors to Bickleigh Down whilst the Annual Easter Tour was to Cardiff with a trip west to play Swansea uplands on the Saturday with Llandaff North on the Sunday. This completed the ‘Five Nations’ Tour. At the end of the season, on a very hot July evening, the club played a Charity match against Hazlewood Hornets. The match, organised by Colin Hickson, was in aid of The Crohms and Colitis Charity.

The social front included a Scalextric event and a very successful Millennium party. The Bar Chairwoman reported that barrel-age was once again down (around 30 barrels, including 5,896 pints of lager) but it was noticeable that the club’s tastes were widening with a plethora of bottled drinks. One item standing out is the 64 bottles of Cockburns Ruby Port alongside another 10 of the front-row’s favourite tipple from the optics! Bearing in mind that club members were also doing their bit to support 2 sponsor’s establishments in town, then this was a fair effort!

At various points during the season, the committee were informally approached by OPMs, Tamar Saracens and Plymouth Albion with a view to using the furthest pitch at Bickleigh Down. Although currently used for football, there were plans to convert back to rugby, but nothing came of it in the end.

There was a concerted effort by the club this season to get better coverage both locally (regular reports in The Herald) and further afield (features in Rugby News and Rugby World). The club also made tentative steps to establish a presence on the ‘new-fangled’ internet with basic pages on the RugbyLegends.net platform being established over the summer.

The end of season Dinner and Dance was held at The Novotel, at which the following awards were made:
Captain’s Trophy: Paul Venkort
Player’s Player: Paul Venkort
Effort Award: Toby Liberson
Clubman: Mick Organ
Jenny Daniels Award: Jo Cooper
Most Improved Player: Mark Foster
Teddy Thrower: Mike Louise

The post The 1999-00 Season first appeared on PLYMOUTH ARGAUM RFC.

After last season’s flirtation with relegation, The Chiefs found life a little bit easier this season but eventually finished 7th in Devon 2 with 6 wins from their 18 matches. Once again the division ended up with less teams than it started when Salcombe dropped out early season and took a break from league rugby for a few seasons. They became regular opposition for The Tigers while they regrouped during this period.

The season started off with promise when the first two away matches were won against Plymstock (25-0) and DHSOB (12-8) but thereafter the going was tough and the next league victory wasn’t until the New Year against Prince Rock. A couple of good wins towards the end of the season in the return fixtures against DHSOB (19-5) and Plymstock (47-5) saw the club comfortably above the relegation places. The club withdrew from what was now called The Tetley Bitter vase at the start of the season. There was quite a turnover of Players at the time with some, including Barry Evans and Colin Hickson, leaving the area completely.

The Tigers under Tommy Cooper had a varied fixture list including new boys Woodland Fort and to illustrate how Argaum’s former tenants had developed, OPM IV. Argaum did win the Boxing Day match with OPM and also received tourists Old Elizabethans in April, which brought a four figure taking in for the club that day. In October a match against Salcombe was arranged to celebrate Chris Sillitoe’s 50th birthday, the Crab’s opposite number being of a similar age.

Perhaps the most successful tour to date, with a party of 28, was undertaken to Glasgow at Easter, with matches against Drymen, up in the Trussocks, on the Friday night and Moffat on the Saturday.

The social side continued to develop with a Sony Playstation Rugby World Cup Event at the club, alongside more traditional events like the club supper. The drinking ability appeared to be tailing off a little, at least in terms of pints, with the season’s tally reportedly down by almost 5 barrels to 39 for the season. There was a promise of additional income when The Eagle pub in town expressed interest in sponsoring the club.

The club were busy off the field with plans for relocation forming part of The Woolwell Sports Centre Project alongside local football and cricket teams. Paul Pring had the centenary history typed up and started bringing elements of that history into the club. Hon Sec Jane Davey stepped down in October to be replaced by Louise Needham. An approach was made from Tamar Saracens for potential use of the pitches as their own ground was under threat from football.
At the pitch side, the old hut was in need of replacing whilst, towards the end of the season, Tom Hitchins advised that a farmer would be putting bullocks in the field for a few weeks. The result was that summer training would prove to be an exercise in evasion!

At a very successful Dinner and Dance at The Novotel the following awards were made:
Captain’s Trophy: Martyn Walker
Player’s Player: Nigel Pinder
Effort Award: Ashley Dunne
Clubman: Terry Hills
Jenny Daniels Award: Louise Needham
Most Improved Player: Kelvin Webb
Teddy Thrower: Darren Truscott

The post The 1998-99 Season first appeared on PLYMOUTH ARGAUM RFC.

The news about Angus Colville dominated the closed season and the club were involved in a couple of events alongside Tavistock RFC including a memorial breakfast and vets fixtures. There was further sad news when it was learned that Jenny Daniels, who alongside Ken Daniels had been prominent members of the club in the 1970s, had passed away. It was agreed to create a new end of season award in her name.

The Devon 2 division was now 10 teams strong (including new boys Wessex) with a 6 team Devon 3 now below it. The first league match was postponed due to another funeral, that of Princess Diana, on 6th September. When the fixtures did get underway, the Chiefs found themselves a bit off the pace, suffering a bit of a hangover from last season’s near-promotion. Missing some key players who had departed during the summer, notably Rob Humphries and Mark Hunt to Civil Service, victories were much harder to come by. Compounded by availability issues, consistency of selection was a major factor and the Tigers squad were plundered regularly. There was no lack of spirit though and a hard fought draw at North Tawton on the Saturday before Christmas sticks in the memory. During the season, coach Ron Boyd stood down and Andy Davey took over the role.

Argaum’s league aspirations weren’t helped by a couple of administrative errors which cost the club both financially and in points. Such was the determination of coach Davey to avoid the drop that special Saturday training sessions were organised in place of friendlies. Results did pick up in the New Year but,at the end of the season, despite a demolition of North Tawton in the final home league game, the Chiefs fate was in the balance as they finished one off the bottom. In the end only one team, Bovey Tracey, were relegated, Cullompton being champions.

The Tigers under Darren Truscott, struggled early on with numbers, but rallied such that, in the January Committee Meeting, Pete Duff reported that they had won 5 out of their last 6 matches. With stretched resources, creativity was sometimes required to get everyone game-time, a Sunday fixture with OPOs being one example. Many Plymouth Combination clubs were struggling for numbers at this point, although a new team, Woodland Fort, were requesting fixtures for the following season.

Roger Arthur was now coaching the county juniors and had assistance from one event from Andy Davey. Based at Lipson Community College, he was keen to establish a connection with Argaum as a partner club.

The social side, in sympathy with the on field efforts had a slow start but recovered in the second half of the season. Joan Hill’s report showed that the club had drunk 5.93 fewer barrels than last season to make the total only 44.69!

There was another successful tour, this time further afield to Cork, where matches were played against Carrigaline RFC and Presentation XV. The tour organiser, Paul Pring, was to take up the role of Chairman at The AGM, when Brian Willcocks stood down from the position.

At The Royal Fleet Club the following awards were made, including the inaugural Jenny Daniels Memorial Award and The Teddy Thrower (hopefully no explanation needed!).

Captain’s Trophy: Dominic Hill
Effort Award: Richard Belli
Clubman: Steve Chappell
Jenny Daniels Award: Martyn Walker
Most Improved Player: Phil Morgan
Teddy Thrower: Dominic Hill

The post The 1997-98 Season first appeared on PLYMOUTH ARGAUM RFC.

The Chiefs improved one place on the previous season by finishing 3rd in Devon 2, although much clubhouse debate was generated in subsequent seasons as to whether this was a promotion that ‘got away’. Hooker Richie Ayson was a new signing for the club, completing a powerful front row alongside Carl Lake and Paul Gardener. Spoilt for choice in the back row, this was a pack that was capable of dominating most teams in the division. A power game meant that the tries were shared across the team and perhaps one weakness was the reluctance to play a more expansive game to allow the backs to capitalise on the forward dominance. The season had seen the introduction of the five point try and therefore crossing the whitewash was more important than ever. Nevertheless the league double was completed over St Columba, Bovey Tracey and Salcombe, whilst only champions Ilfracombe did the the double over Argaum.

In The Devon Cup, new boys Wessex claimed a convincing victory at Bickleigh Down whilst Prince Rock, a bit of a bogey team around this period, won by 3 points in The Havill Plate. Argaum did get revenge on Rockies a couple of weeks later in the league. The Chiefs reached the semi final of the Lockie Cup, after beating St Columba and Plymstock, but lost out to Devon 1 side Tamar Saracens (7-21) at the penultimate stage. Prop Carl Lake, suffered a very nasty jaw injury, during the match with Old Techs at the turn of the year, and sadly retired from the game.

The Tigers, under Gary Gillan, suffered from a number of late cancellations and therefore struggled to get into a rhythm during the season. They were knocked out of the Ellis Cup by Saltash III.

It was a season of struggle for the colts who after playing some matches in the early season, lost influential players which meant that they didn’t operate from December onward. It appeared other clubs were in a similar boat as approaches had been made by both Civil Service and Plymouth Albion to merge teams. It was recommended that the club start to look at running a much younger age group next season. A dispute when the visiting Saltash youngsters caused some damage after a match in October, wasn’t resolved until Bill Ryan intervened at the end of the season. He also agreed to assist the club with grant applications.

Off the field, Paul Pring was investigating a possible relocation of the club to adjacent fields, but the subsequent search for the clubhouse deeds proved fruitless. The social events continued to bring in much-needed income with the establishment of darts team as well as an approach from former tenants OPM to use a pitch for their 3rd team. The Young farmers were back on the scene, this time with plans for more sedate events including amateur dramatics, their tardiness in paying for such facilities hadn’t changed.

There was no tour this season, but Cardiff Civil Service visited in Easter and were very pleased with the hospitality they received. At the AGM Bar Chairwoman Joan Hills expressed disappointment that ‘only 56’ barrels of beer had been drunk this season – although looking at the estimation of pints drawn – Lager (7,260), Bitter (4,686) and Guiness (1,498) – this would appear to be drinking on an epic scale!

The following awards were made at the Fleet Club Dinner and Dance:
Captain’s Trophy: P.Gardner
Player’s Player: M.Lane
Effort Award: A.Davey
Clubman: C.Humphries
Most Improved Player: R.Belli

In June, the committee were shocked to learn that club trustee, former player and referee Angus Colville – ‘a long and true friend of the club’ had been murdered whilst on holiday on central America. Over 1000 people turned up for his funeral in Tavistock, which brought the season to a very sad conclusion.

The post The 1996-97 Season first appeared on PLYMOUTH ARGAUM RFC.

Jane Davey became hon sec and Brian Willcocks chaired a hard-working committee that included Paul Pring, who produced a new internal club magazine, ‘The Extra’ reviving memories of ‘The Argos’. Dennis Littlejohn, skipper a coupe of years before, left the area to move to New Orleans.

The Chiefs finished a creditable 4th in the 12 team Devon 2, which included decent early season wins over Axminster (16-15), Prince Rock (28-3) and North Tawton (65-15, Humphries hat trick). There was somewhat of a slump in the mid-season before a reasonable finish saw a win over Jesters (46-20) compensating for a disappointing loss at Bovey Tracey (Taff Cummins early sending off proving decisive).

Plying their trade in a higher league, Exeter Saracens saw off the Chiefs hopes in the Pilkington and Devon Cups whilst Devon One OPOs did the same in The Lockie Cup.

The Tigers, under Barry Scott, had a great start to the season winning 8 of their opening 12 fixtures, including the scalps of Wadebridge II (29-15), St Austell III (12-0) and the second strings of Tamar Saracens (39-0) and Seale Hayne (42-10). There was also a double over Buckfastleifgh Ramnblers, who were a second XV fixture at the time. Tavistock II convinckly killed off Ellis Cup hopes, Genial Scotsman, Gary Gillan, took over the reigns of the Tigers for the latter couple of months of the season.

A small surfeit of players meant that, The Drifters, plying their trade on a Sunday, ensured all got a game. This included wins over Channings Wood Prison (15-10), OPOs (35-10) and a team from the nearby Child Support Agency at Woolwell. One narrow loss was recorded, against Tuskers at Mary Tavy.

The colts was rebooted with some initial input from Lee McDowell and Pete Duff; Roger Arthur returned to the area to take up the reins as the colts looked to enter competitions the following season. Lee Pundsack, previous colts skipper, was presented with an Argaum Captains tie before going off to University.

With OPMs 3 teams now resident at Elburton, there was pressure on that facility, which was also the home of OPOs amongst others. Spotting an opportunity, the club offered its facilities to The Combination. The offer was taken up and fixtures including Prince Rock v Axminster and Plymouth Uni Ladies v Exmouth were hosted at Bickleigh Down.

A very busy social scene saw a number of events held throughout the year and the Sunday afternoon Club, under the benevolent eye of the Hill’s stewardship, becoming a regular fixture for many.

A successful tour to Morlaix in Brittany took place at Easter, with matches at RC Chateaulin, RC Landerneau.

Off the pitch the main attention of the committee was organising repairs to the clubhouse roof and resurfacing the car park. For a club who deliberated on the purchase of a black and white portable TV a few years back, this committee agreed that a sky TV package should be obtained in far shorter order. Another sign of the times was that the Chairman misplaced his mobile phone, although with the ‘bricks’ prevelant then, one wonders how?

In mid-season an extraordinary meeting was held by the RFU in Birmingham. The club didn’t attend but learned that, amongst other things, the leagues were to be restructured and fixtures were to (at last) be on a home and away basis would be brought in next season. The club also gave its blessing to a new team from Exeter (Phoenix/Wessex) to join Devon RFU.

Having won The Combination Sevens Alex Dow Plate the previous season but not receiving until the autumn, the club had somehow misplaced it and a frantic search was on (presumably successful) to find it before the Combo’s AGM in June.

The Dinner and Dance was held at The Grand Hotel on The Hoe in which the following awards were made:
Captain’s Trophy: Carl Lake
Player’s Player: Danny Morgan
Effort Award: Rob Humphries
Clubman: Martyn Walker
Most Improved Player: Tony Dyble

The post The 1995-96 Season first appeared on PLYMOUTH ARGAUM RFC.

After a season out, the club applied to rejoin the Plymouth Combination and at the first general meeting in September were apparently welcomed back with open arms.

With the re-introduction of the newly amalgamated Plympton-Victoria, Devon 2 started off as a 13 team division. Unfortunately DHSOB had to withdraw which made it an even 12. The Chiefs finished 7th with 6 wins and 5 defeats but, in common with most of the division, had points deducted for fielding an unregistered player. With the skipper leading from the front there wre good home wins against YMCA (41-6, Hunt hat-trick) and Plym-Vic (22-5, Hunt sent-off). The Chiefs did struggle a little against the top teams in the division but still ended up 50 points in credit. Winger Phil Morgan dislocated a shoulder at the Cullompton match.

In the national cup, now known as The Pilkington Shield, St Columba were beaten 38-0 in the first round, which included a couple of tries apiece by Terry and Cartwright with full back Steve Tomlinson adding four conversions. In the next round the Chiefs were to face Salcombe – unfortunately the result is unknown as is the scheduled Devon Cup fixture with Axminster.

Si Poole’s Tigers continued with some impressive results. Rejoicing in a name with just a hint of tartan, Ian Robert Bruce ‘Faddy’ McFadzen grabbed both tries in the win over Prince Rock II and a hat-trick in the match against Plymstock II.

The Drifters also took on second team opposition, losing to Plymstock and Tamar Saracens but beating Jesters II 55-5.

The league structure was still having an impact on traditional fixtures with much correspondence relating to cancellation of matches both for and against the club.
Ian Roberts was an industrious fixture secretary planning well ahead for the following season as well as being the club’s resident referee.

OPM and Stonehouse Saints were still operating from the premises but there was less support for the Sunday fixtures. The social side continued to thrive, bolstered by wives and girlfriends and a Charity Match held on Easter Monday was hailed a s a great success raising almost £600 for a Special Care baby Unit.

In April the club had its first tour for some time in what would become a bit of an Easter tradition. A 16 man party visited Gloucester to play matches against Tredworth and Bishopston. Amongst the party was prop Paul Pring, who was to become social secretary the following season and an even more influential role thereafter. The club also won The Alex Dow Plate at The Combination Sevens in May.

At The Devon AGM, Chairman Alan Stevens looked forward to the 1995 World cup in South Africa but with not without some trepidation about the proposal for the game to go professional later that year.

The Dinner and Dance was held at The Strathmore Hotel at which Rob Humphreys picked up both the Captains Trophy and Players Player awards, full-back Steve Tomlinson The Effort award and Martyn Walker The Clubman. A new award of most improved player was presented to prop Barry Scott.

The post The 1994-95 Season first appeared on PLYMOUTH ARGAUM RFC.

After successive promotion and relegation The Chiefs were keen to consolidate and that is what they did with a mid table finish in the 12-team Devon 2, including victories over Tamar Saracens and St Columba. The league had started off with 14 teams but both Plympton and Victoria withdrew to form a new side during the season. Argaum had contact with both clubs and were to benefit from an influx of players from them (notably ‘Whisky’ Walker this term) in the next season or so. Argaum were themselves to lose players to other clubs with previous captain Steve Mole using what became a well trodden path to Civil Service’s Beacon Down. Coach Ron Boyd praised the increase commitment of the young squad but suggested that they lacked experience in key areas. With league fixtures still only a single-venue arrangement there were plenty of friendlies and winger Phil Morgan touched down twice in the 34-12 victory over Torquay Quins in March.

Si Poole’s Tigers also produced some good performances during the season but were deprived of their usual Ellis Cup adventures as the club had (somewhat inexplicably) withdrawn from the Plymouth Combination at the start of the season. Investigations were made into joining a similar organisation in the South Hams. In the Autumn there was an unsavoury incident in one match which resulted in Argaum player Chris Sillitoe receiving a horrific injury. The matter was pursued outside of the normal rugby disciplinary process and attracted quite a bit of press attention. The more pleasing side of rugby was shown when Services’s players aided hooker Ian Ramsey after he had received a nasty head injury.

There was little progress on The Colts but an event was held with Southway School – a 6th form disco – where apparently the noise after the event’was unacceptable’ – some achievement at Argaum! The social scene flourished with plenty of willing volunteers for running events such that a sub-committee, including Andy Critchley, was formed. One of the most successful events was a VPs evening, organised by Chairman Brian Willcocks and attended by the Lord Mayor.

There was quite a bit of administration with other teams using Bickleigh Down. Plymouth Police, Marjons and OPM were all utilising the clubhouse, the latter perhaps abusing the hospitality a little by signing some Argaum players! The common theme was that they all needed regular chasing for payment.

It wasn’t just union; Underhills football team were also playing on the fields – soon to be replaced by a team from Fine Tubes. Rugby League was also still a feature with a new team Stonehouse Saints playing on a Sunday morning. Unlike previous incarnations this side featured a number of Argaum players and probably benefited both codes with the additional fitness gained. The only stipulation was that the Sunday morning union matches, still thriving, would take precedence over the 13 man game.

With all these activities there was pressure on the club’s facilities, so to help an agreement was made with the tenant of the small field opposite the club. The idea was to use this for additional parking but it also became ideal for pre-match warm-ups, instead of the long trek to the pitches.

At the AGM, treasurer Ian Ramsay stressed that the club was still struggling financially despite all the events taking place during the season. Evidently the ongoing repairs and continual upkeep of the clubhouse and pitches was a drain on resources. A possible return to the Plymouth Combination was also discussed and a proposal to call the Rugby League team ‘Plymouth Argaum’ rejected. Ceri Critten was elected President after Bill Hitchins decision to stand down.

The Dinner and Dance was held at The Imperial Suite where the following awards were made: Tommy Cooper (Captains Trophy), Martyn Walker (Player’s Player), Lee McDowell (Effort) and Si Poole (Clubman).

The post The 1993-94 Season first appeared on PLYMOUTH ARGAUM RFC.

The league structure, now under the auspices of First XI, became much more onerous in terms of administration with scrutiny on player registration and match cards. New Hon Secretary Phil Evans spent much time dealing with the latter which incurred the occasional fine (not the last time the club would incur such expense!).

Pre-season an approach was received from Marjons to play matches at Bickleigh Down, to which the club, ever eager for additional income agreed. It proved slightly harder to obtain payment from the student side for the pitch use but eventually this was recovered toward the end of the season! The fees were increase for resident tenants OPM to £15 per match or training session.

The Chiefs were unable to build on their promotion the previous season and were relegated from Devon Division 1. Teams were still adjusting to the leagues, which were played on the basis of playing each team once rather than home and away. It was becoming clear that the larger town clubs, such as Kingsbride and Newton Abbot were starting to come into the ascendancy. As if to illustrate the point Tavistock, in a letter to The Combination, asked for their second team to enter the cup competitions as they now sported 3 teams and had put over 70 points on Devonport Services II. The Club’s Lockie Cup ambitions fell foul of a dispute with Civil Service over the fixture date.

The Wanderers were knocked out of The Ellis Trophy by Old Techs III for the second successive season, this time at the quarter final stage. This would be the last season (for a while) that the 2nd XV would be known under this name for, at the AGM, it was agreed to rename them ‘The Tigers’.

Unfortunately the colts were not able to fulfil their fixtures this season but must have pressed on as there was some hope of restarting the following year. At the AGM it was reported that the ‘colts team’ at Southway School (influence of John Ellis?) would merge with Argaum’s youngsters. Also at the AGM it was announced that Bill Annandale would become a Life Member.

The Dinner and Dance was held at The Astor Hotel, where Rich Harpham received The Captains Trophy, Steve Tomlinson The Effort Award and Pete Duff Clubman of The Year.

The post The 1992-93 Season first appeared on PLYMOUTH ARGAUM RFC.

The World Cup action meant the league fixtures didn’t start until November but that didn’t deter the Chiefs who won promotion from Devon 2A alongside tenants OPM. The league fixtures were mainly with Combination clubs so travel certainly wasn’t a problem. In October Coach Howell Phillips had to stand down for personal reasons – his assistant Ron Boyd took up the role.

The Provincial Cup kicked off with a home fixture against Redruth Albany, the result unknown, but it is not thought that the club progressed as much as the previous year.

The Wanderers, skippered by Jim Giles, reached the semi-final of The Ellis Trophy after beating Prince Rock in the quarter final. Old Techs III provided the opposition before a large crowd at Weston Mill but unfortunately it was the home side that prevailed.

In the Combination Sevens Argaum, with a scratch side, won the Plate Competition. Perhaps this was down to all the practice from their own tournaments in recent seasons.

Roger Arthur’s Colts had a very successful trip to play Wasps Colts, obviously stacked with quality players. Ian ‘Taff’ Griffiths won recognition when he played for a President XV Selection. The colts also retained The Tamar Camel Trophy.

The club received some exchange referees and efforts were made to ensure that they enjoyed the Argaum hospitality. In other news, OPM’s opposition Helston, managed to steal away the Club Sign after one fixture and after some prompting (including presentation of a bill) promised to return it.

Prior to the season the club had been approached by ex Wales, Widnes Rugby League player and Royal Marine Dennis Brown, who was now President of Plymouth City Rugby League Club. They were looking for a venue and Argaum, always looking to bring in additional income were happy to oblige. The arrangement appears to have been not without some incident as a spectator reportedly sued the club for damages, reason unknown.

At The Dinner and Dance Mark Hunt won the Captains Trophy, Paul Critchley (Players Player), R.Collins (Effort) and Ron Boyd (Clubman).

The post The 1991-92 Season first appeared on PLYMOUTH ARGAUM RFC.

The club’s first entry into the prestigious Provincial Insurance Cup generated some interest when The Chiefs started with convincing home wins against Dartmouth (40-4) and Cornish side Roseland (20-3). In the 3rd round they were drawn away to Gloucester side Hucclecote Old Boys where the dreams of Twickenham were ended, the club receiving a £200 3rd round losers cheque. The coach journey and trip must have been good though as thoughts of a tour were stimulated from it. The Devon 1 League campaign didn’t go according to plan as the Chiefs were relegated at the end of the season.

The Wanderers, under skipper Alan Eskriett, couldn’t quite repeat the cup adventure of the previous season and bowed out one stage earlier in the semi final of The Ellis Trophy.

Sevens featured prominently with two events being organised by the club. The first task was to track down the Armada Sevens Trophy which had been mislaid by Newton Abbot, although to be fair they provided recompense (£30) during the season. At the first tournament, on September 2nd, The Cup was won by tenants OPM with Plymstock runner-up, whilst the Plate was won by Honiton with another tenant of sorts, Plymouth Police, runner up. In the second competition, on May Bank Holiday, Jesters won the Cup competition beating Civil Service in the final. In The Plate Teignmouth (tournament favourites) beat Newton Abbot, meaning this time The All Whites left Bickleigh Down empty-handed.

The Junior section continued to progress under Roger Arthur and Ron Boyd including an 8-3 deciding leg victory at Wadebridge to win the Tamar/Camel Trophy. The side were to be entered into next season’s Devon Colts Cup and a fixture against Wasps colts had also been secured. The only fly in the ointment was the apparent ‘raggamuffin appearance’ of the side – a reference to the sides rather dilapidated kit.

Kit wasn’t a problem for the seniors this year as The Chiefs proudly sported their Citybus-sponsored shirts. The reversion to the traditional white shirts wasn’t greeted with universal enthusiasm however (perhaps by the launderer). Income also came in from Match Ball sponsorship whilst attempts were also made to drum up interest in the VP section. One destination for additional income may have been in the repair of the club minibus, whose engine had seized after overheating while transporting the colts back from a match at Helston.

There was a busy social calendar including a visit to Taunton Cider Mill, whilst back at the club a skittle alley (albeit in bits and requiring some assembly) had been acquired. There was some debate about a portable television for the club. The committee were reluctant to purchase one at the time but Alan Eskriett had a black and white one to loan. During the season two club members, Frank Matthews and Laurie Taylor had suffered bad car accidents, collections were made for both by club members.

At The AGM a new position of Life President was established, the recipient TK Hitchins, his son Bill becoming President. It was also decide that due to the demands of the cup competitions and the resulting injury toll that the Chiefs would not enter next season’s Lockie Cup competition.

At The New Continental Dinner & Dance, the following awards were made: Mark Jeffreys (Captains Trophy), Jim Giles (Players Player), Ian Wall (Effort Award) and Geoff Baskerville (Clubman).

The post The 1990-91 Season first appeared on PLYMOUTH ARGAUM RFC.