Wheelchair RL 4 Nations: England v Wales

England claim Four Nations title

England 80 Wales 6

The 2014 Wheelchair Rugby League Four Nations event concluded at Medway Park, Gillingham with England thrashing Wales by eighty points to six to claim the Four Nations Championship.

England stared the game with the ball and it took them just three minutes to get on the scoreboard as Mike Knight and Declan Roberts and they linked well before passing ball out to Jodie Boyd-Ward on the wing and she did just about enough to hold off Harry Jones to score the first try of the match.

Robert McLeod then scored his first try of the match as Wales were caught napping in defence and McLeod got the ball from James Simpson and he did just about enough to get the ball over the try line before getting tackled to score for England.

England got their third try of the match after the Welsh defence were again caught napping and Mike Knight and Robert McLeod gave to good passes before McLeod passed the ball out wide to Jodie Boyd-Ward who simply held off her defender and got the ball over the try line to score her second try of the match.  

Boyd-Ward completed her hat trick as she got the ball on right side of the pitch and he held off two welsh defenders before cross the try line as England opened up an early twenty point gap to Wales.

Wales again were cost them more points as Adam Button mishandled the ball and he immediately gave to Declan Roberts who simply just ran the ball into the comer to score his first try of the match.

Adam Barnett then scored his first try of the match as Wales were caught napping at the back and Declan Roberts worked hard to get the ball out to Barnett who was just in front of the posts and he simply ran the ball past the try line to score his first of the match.

Barnett's Medway Dragons team mate Joe Coyd was introduced into the action for the first time and it didn't take him long to get on the score sheet as he got the ball on the left side of the pitch and he hit an excellent diagonal run before cross the try line to score his first try of the match.

Coyd then quickly added a second try as he got the ball in the middle of the pitch and completed an excellent run whilst avoiding three welsh defenders and he was unchallenged as he rushed away to score his second try of the match.

Paul Mather was the fifth player from England to get on the Score sheet as Ian Kenny and Joe Coyd worked well on the right side and it was Coyd who hit a delightful ball to an unmarked Mather who ran the ball in to score another try for England.

McLeod finished off the scoring for the first half as a Wales missed another tackle and it was McLeod who took full advantage and he got the ball on the left and easily rushed the ball over the try line to score his second try of the match.

Half Time: England 52 Wales 0 

Wales started the second half with the ball as they looked to get on the board, but despite working the ball well, they lost the ball on a turnover in their first possession of the half.

Declan Roberts then got the first score of the second half for England as Mark Williams missed his tackle and this let in Roberts  to get the ball and he simply ran the ball from the middle of the pitch to score an easy try for England.

Roberts was then involved in the action again as he hold a great pass from Mike Knight and he zipped past Jones and Williams to score under the posts  and grab his second try in quick succession for England.

Robert McLeod was next England player to score a try as he worked well on the right side of the pitch and easily held off his defender before scoring a try deep in the corner on the left side.

Wales didn't give up and after some good work pushing they got a richly deserved try as Jones passed the ball out to Mark Williams and he did enough to ahead of Mather and score Wales's fist try of the match.

Jodie Boyd-Ward then added more points to England's total as she got the ball on the right side from a great pass from Roberts, and she took a dive past the try line in at the corner to put England past the seventy point barrier.

Robert McLeod then continued the English dominance as he worked hard down the right and he got away from his defender before going over the try line on the left side to score England fifteenth try of the match.

Ian Kenny scored his first try of the match with over four minutes left to go as he did well to get away from Williams and he squeezed between James Roberts and Harry Jones a try to help England break the eighty point barrier.

Final Score: England 80 Wales 6

Line-ups:

England:

Ian Kenny, Joe Coyd, James Simpson, Mike Knight, Martin Lane, Jodie Boyd-Ward, Declan Roberts, Robert McLeod, Paul Mather, Adam Barnett.

Wales:

Phil Bousfield, Adam Button, Huw Chance, Andrew Rhys Higgins, Harry Jones, James Roberts, Mark Williams.

Referee: Rhett Johnson and Matt Ball

In-goal Referee: Kieron Johnson and Richard Johnson

Wheelchair RL 4 Nations: Scotland v Ireland

Scots thrashed by Ireland

Scotland 10 Ireland 60

The 2014 Wheelchair Rugby League Four Nations event continued at Medway Park, Gillingham with Ireland claiming their second win of the tournament as they fought off Scotland in a dominant performance.

The game started with Ireland getting the ball and immediately George Hills was involved in the thick of the action and a forward pass put paid to his first possession as Scotland got the ball back.

And it was Scotland who got the ball and scored the first try of the match as a fifth tackle kick from Graeme Stewart hit a delightful kick forward and it was spectacularly grabbed by Jack Waring and he easily held off George hill to score his first try of the match.

But Ireland immediately got back into the match as George Hill drove the ball from the middle of the pitch and he held off two Scottish defenders before going into the corner and scoring his first try of the match.

George Hill nearly broke though again as a fifth tackle kick from Rachel Irwin was chased hard by Hill and two Scottish defenders but all three players couldn't ground the ball and it went out dead for a goal line drop out.

And it was Hill who then turned from scorer to being provider as Ireland turned the ball over and he move the ball forward before hitting a wonderful pass to Rachel Irwin who out chased three Scottish defenders before scoring a try in a corner. The kick also Hill was also converted and it gave Ireland a slim four point lead.

Hill then used blistering pace to power though the Scottish defence to as he got the ball from the middle of the pitch to score another try for Ireland. The try also meant that it extended the gap to Scotland to ten points.  

Hill then completed his Hat trick as Scotland went into the touch, Stu Walker placed the ball down on the left, and Hill dived though two Scottish defenders to place the ball down past the try line to put Ireland though the twenty point barrier.

Half Time: Scotland 6 Ireland 20

The second half with Scotland getting the ball and looking to get back into this game, but it was 

Ireland who extended their lead as Ireland got the ball deep in the Scotland half, Hill passed the ball to McCabe who then passed the ball into the corner to Rachael Irwin who dived deep into the corner to score her second try of the match.

Hill then added his fourth try of the match as he drove the ball though a paced Scottish defence but he did well to make his way through them and score another try for Ireland.

Hill then added two more tries as Ireland got through the forty point barrier, the sixth try was a worked well move made by Stu Walker and Hill got the of Walker's kick and he grounded the ball whilst being surrounded by two Scottish defenders.

Hill then added a seventh try before Scotland got into double figures as Gemme Lumsdaine hit a beautiful pass deep from the right, it came the way Stewart before hitting a low pass Ian McKeen who then held off Hill and going over the line to scores his first try of the match.

Stu Walker then added more punishment for Scotland as he got hold a good pass from Hill and he held off his defender to score his first try of the match.,

Hill worked though the Scottish defence and zipped though the middle of the pitch before hitting a beautiful pass to Josh McEvoy to score his first competitive try for Ireland.

Hill completing the scoring by scoring his eighth try of the match by getting the ball in the middle of the pitch and he ran through some static Scottish defending before scoring a try and conversion which got Scotland though the sixty point barrier.

Final Score: Scotland 10 Ireland 60

Line ups:

Scotland:

Graeme Stewart, Stephen Carling, Michael Mellon, Sean Frame, John Cairns, Gavin Dobson, Ian McKeen, Gemme Lumsdaine, Chris Calderwood, Jack Waring,

Ireland:

Josh McEvoy, Chris Sealek, George Hill, Tony Martin, Andy Atkinson, Rachel Irwin, Damian McCabe, Stu Walker.

Referee: Rhett Johnson and Richard Johnson

In-goal Referee: Kieron Johnson and Matt Ball

Wheelchair RL 4 Nations: England v Ireland

England beat off the Irish

England 54 Ireland 2

The 2014 Wheelchair Rugby League Four Nations event continued at Medway Park, Gillingham with England comfortably beating a hard working Ireland side.

Both sides won on their opening fixtures and they were both looking for a further win to get closer to winning this tournament.  

The game started with England in charge and it took just over four minutes for England to score as Martin Lane got a pass from Declan Roberts and he surged forward past Rachel Irwin and Tony Martin to score under the posts for his first try of the match.

And he was in the thick of the action as he got the ball from Joe Coyd and he surged again past the Irish defence for his second try of the match as England take an early twelve point lead.

England then added a third try in just under ten minutes as they pushed forward and it was it was a good move from Martin Lane and James Simpson who then got the ball out to Paul Maher and held off Damian McCabe as he dived for the line to score his first try of the match.

England then added a fourth try as new comer to the team Adam Barnett passed the ball to Declan Roberts zipped past Rachel Irwin and he raced way in to the corner to score his first try of the match.

Ireland did have a great to score their first try of the match as George Hill broke though on goal but he was excellently chased down by Declan Roberts who saved a certain try for Ireland.

Half time: England 22 Ireland 0

England started the second half with the ball as they looked to close out the game as they started in the right way as Mike Knight got the ball from Ian Kenny and he held off Damian McCabe and Rachel Irwin as he though the Irish defence to score England's first try of the second half.

Ireland was then awarded a penalty as England was caught offside, George Hill took the kick just to the right side of the posts and Hill easily converted the two points to put Ireland on the scoreboard.

Ian Kenny then restored England dominance of this game as he capped off a good move as he got the ball from first from James Simpson and then Mike Knight and he did just about enough to hold off the Irish defence to score under the posts for his first try of the match.

Jodie Boyd-Ward also got her first try of the match for England as James Simpson drove forward and passed the ball to Mike Knight who then passed to Boyd-Ward wide on the right and she did enough to dive into the corner and scored another try for England.

England then got though the forty point barrier as Mike Knight then added his second try of the night as England moved the ball forward and the ball ended with some nice passing play between Boyd-Ward and Lane and Knight was there at the end of the play to surge past his defender and score another England try.

Robert McLeod then grabbed his first try of the match again England worked the line really well and made some great passing between Roberts, Boyd-Wad and Simpson, McLeod was at there at the end to get the ball from Simpson to score another England try.

Adam Barnett then bagged his first ever try for England as he got the ball in the middle of the pitch and he used his upper body strength to run the ball though the Irish defence to score under the posts and score another try for England.

Final score: England 54 Ireland 2                        

England are back in action tomorrow afternoon as they entertain Wales knowing that a win could secure them the trophy if not, then a win for Ireland against Scotland could secure them the trophy.

Line-ups:            

England:

Ian Kenny, Joe Coyd, James Simpson, Mike Knight, Martin Lane, Jodie Boyd-Ward, Declan Roberts, Robert McLeod, Paul Mather, Adam Barnett.

Ireland:

Josh McEvoy, Chris Sealek, George Hill, Tony Martin, Andy Atkinson, Rachel Irwin, Damian McCabe, Stu Walker. 

Wheelchair RL 4 Nations: Wales v Scotland

Wales edged out but the Scots

Wales 14 Scotland 34

The 2014 Wheelchair Rugby League Four Nations event continued at Medway Park, Gillingham with Scotland coming out on top against Wales.

Both sides lost on their opening fixtures and they were both looking for a win to get them off and running in this tournament. Wales were relieved that Harry Jones had recovered from his dislocated his thumb whilst playing against Ireland and was placed in their starting line-up.

The game started with Wales getting the ball but they couldn't create anything from their first possession and they gave the ball back to Scotland.

And Scotland took the early initiative as Sean Frame broke away from a good kick forward and he chased the ball down and he got ahead of the chasing Welsh defence to give Scotland the first try of the game. Graeme Stewart converted the kick gave and this gave Scotland an early six point lead.

Scotland then extended the gap totem points as Jack Waring got the ball from the middle of his own pitch and he raced away from three Welsh defenders to score his first try of match.

Wales pressured and did almost as Mark Williams almost crossed the try line but he was just tackled on the line, but from the restart, the ball ended up with James Roberts and he easily held off a Scottish defender before crossing over for Wales's first try of the match.

Scotland then extended their lead back to ten points as Frame then bagged his second try of the match as he got at the end of a good pass from Jack Waring and he rushed away from the Welsh defence.

Scotland then added a fourth try as Jack Waring scored his second try of the match as Wales were caught offside  and Frame played the ball to Waring who slipped past two Welsh defenders to score right by the posts . The try meant that Scotland reached the twenty point barrier.

Ian McKeen then get involved in the action as Scotland surged forward again, and McKeen got hold a great pass from Waring and he dived over the try line on the far right side of the pitch for Scotland.

And McKeen begged a second try of the game as Frame was again in the heart of the action, he narrowly missed out on scoring a try as he was tackled on the line but from the restart, Frame passed the ball to McKeen who just edged out Williams to score another try.

Wales were awarded a penalty right on the half time buzzer as Scotland were adjusted to be offside, 

Harry Jones took the kick from the middle of the pitch and he easily kicked the ball over the bar to add two more points for Wales.

Half Time: Wales 6 Scotland 30

Both sides had chances to score during the first tem minutes of the second half, but they couldn't crate any good scoring chances. James Roberts did make a good run forwards after getting the end of a good pass from James Roberts but the Scottish defence held out and turned the ball back.

But Harry Jones did manage to break away from the Scottish defence and he held off Michael Mellon to dive in at the corner to score Wales's second try of the match.

Scotland then extended their lead as they drove for the try line; it was Gavin Dobson who got the ball and he passed it to Ian McKeen then he hit a great pass to Michael Mellon who got away from his defender and scored his first try of the match.

Wales scored the final try of the game as they pushed forward and it was Harry Jones who worked hard on the left with Andrew Rhys Higgins and he hit a great pass to Jones who dived into the corner to score his second try of the game. 

Final Score: Wales 14 Scotland 34

Both sides are back in action on Sunday afternoon as Wales are up against England whilst Scotland are up against Ireland as they look to finish off their tournament on a high.

Line-ups:

Wales:

Phil Bousfield, Adam Button, Huw Chance, Andrew Rhys Higgins, Harry Jones, James Roberts, Mark Williams.

Scotland:

Graeme Stewart, Stephen Carling, Michael Mellon, Sean Frame, John Cairns, Gavin Dobson, Ian McKeen, Gemme Lumsdaine, Chris Calderwood, Jack Waring. 

Wheelchair RL 4 Nations: England v Scotland

England dominate the Scots

England 104 Scotland 14

The 2014 Wheelchair Rugby League Four Nations event continued at Medway Park, Gillingham with England breezing past Scotland in their first match of the tournament.

The game started with England having to defending early on but a poor pass let England back in as Scotland nearly scored the first try of the match.

England manage to break the deadlock  on five minutes as the captain Martin Lane as he got a great pass from Mike Knight and he got in-between two Scottish defenders and made a great dive for the line to score the first try of the match.

Joe Coyd then added a second try after nine minutes as get got the ball from Martin Lane and he broke away from two Scottish defenders to score his first try of the match.

Martin Lane then turned from provider to scorer as he his second try of the match, as he got the ball and broke away from middle of the pitch and ran with the ball past two Scottish defenders to score a try.

Joe Coyd then capped of a great passing play from England as both Mike Knight and Martin Lane were involved as England continued their dominance this first half. Coyd got the ball from a great pass from Lane and held off two Scottish defenders before scoring his second try of the match. #

Mike Knight then got involved in the action as he capped off a good move from England as he got the ball from Joe Coyd and dived for the line as he scored his first try of the match and England's fifth try of the match so far.

Joe Coyd then completed his Hat trick as he capped off a great run and pass move for England as they broke past the thirty point barrier in this match.

James Simpson then got England got past the forty point barrier as he capped off a good move from as Joe Coyd gave the ball to Simpson who held off his defender and dived past the try line under the posts to score his first try of the match.

England captain Martin Lane then finished off the scoring of the first half as he got the ball on the half way line as easily past three Scottish defenders before scoring his hat trick try of the match.

Half Time: England 46 Scotland 0

Scotland started the second half with the ball as they tried to get on to the scoreboard but it was Robert McLeod who scored the first try of the second half after he got the ball and scored a try after getting the ball from a great passing interchange from Joe Coyd and Chris Simpson.

McLeod then quickly added a second try of the match as he got the ball from a great pass from Joe Coyd and he ran away with the ball and he out sprinted the Scottish defence to score under posts for another try for England.

Martin Lane then scored the try of the match as he got the ball in his own half and out muscled three Scottish defenders before running the ball towards goal and scoring his fourth try of the match.  

Scotland then managed to get on the scoreboard as they drove hard for the line and it was Ian 

McKeen who held two English defenders before crossing the try line to score Scotland's first try of the match.

Joe Coyd then got his fourth try of the match as England drove forward and Jodie Boyd-ward past the ball to Coyd who easily held off his defender to score another try for England.

Scotland then doubled their score as Sean Frame dove for the line and scored a try after beating off two English defenders to score his first try of the match.

Despite England scoring another try though Joe Coyd, Scotland was awarded a penalty try as Stephen Carling was pushed as he was diving for the line by Paul Maher.

But England continued their dominance as Mike Knight got the mall from the middle of the pitch and was unchallenged as he scored another try for England. The kick from Coyd put England past the eighty point barrier.

Two further tries from Mike Knight and another try Martin Lane from Ian Kenny as England got past the one hundred point barrier for this match.

Final score: England 104 Scotland 14

England are back in action this evening as they entertain Ireland whilst Scotland are back in action this afternoon as they play against Wales in their second game of the tournament.

Catch the post match interviews with both coaches here:

https://soundcloud.com/mrjohnseager/wheelchair-rl-4-nations-england-mark-and-martin

https://soundcloud.com/mrjohnseager/wheelchair-rl-4-nations-sco-jamie-seery

Line-ups:

England:

Ian Kenny, Joe Coyd, James Simpson, Mike Knight, Martin Lane, Jodie Boyd-Ward, Declan Roberts, Robert McLeod, Paul Mather, Adam Barnett.

Scotland:

Graeme Stewart, Stephen Carling, Michael Mellon, Sean Frame, John Cairns, Gavin Dobson, Ian McKeen, Gemme Lumsdaine, Chris Calderwood, Jack Waring, 

Wheelchair RL 4 Nations: Wales v Ireland

Four Nations off to a flyer

Wales 10 Ireland 58

The 2014 Wheelchair Rugby League Four Nations event kicked off at Medway Park, Gillingham with a resounding win for Ireland over Wales.

The game started with Wales with the ball and they almost got the first as Adam Button nearly broke through but he knocked the ball on just before crossing the try line.

Ireland then put their first possession to good use as George Hill broke though the Welsh defence and ran away to score the first try of the match on three minutes. The kick also from George Hill kick was good and Ireland had an early six point lead.

Ireland then added a second try as George Hill got  the ball form a good kick from Stu Walker and he our ran two of the Welsh defenders to score his second try of the match. He also added the extra two points to double Ireland's lead from six points to twelve.

George Hills then completed a 10 minute first half hat trick as Ireland drove again for the line and he got the ball form a good pass from Stu Walker and he held off James Roberts before touching the ball past the try line.

Wales did manage to get into the Irish half and they nearly scored as a combination of James Roberts and Mark Williams drove hard for the line but Williams knocked the ball on and Ireland got the ball back.

Wales finally got into the game as Adam Button capped off an excellent drive involving Mark Williams and got though two Irish defenders and zipped past Rachel Irwin to score a try.  Harry Jones got the extra two points with the Kick mean that they closed the gap to ten points.

Ireland added two more points as Wales conceded a penalty as they had the ball and failed to deliver it correctly; George Hill took an easy kick from in front the goal to increase the gap to twelve points.

Wales tried to get another try as the first half came to a close but they lost the ball on a turnover as they drove hard for the line.  

Half Time: Wales 6 Ireland 18

The Second half began with Wales having the ball as they looked to close the gap to Ireland.

But it was Ireland who scored the first try of the second half as a good pass from Stu Walker past the ball to George Hill who zipped past three static Welsh defenders and scored his fourth try of the match.

And George Hill then added a quick fifth try of the match as he got the ball in his own half and drove hard for the line; he easily zipped past yet more static Welsh defending to increase the gap to over twenty points.

Wales then started to make a small comeback as Ireland conceded a penalty and it was Harry Jones who took the kick form in front of the posts to score Wales's first points of the second half.

Wales then yet added two more points as Mark Williams was badly taken out by two Irish defenders, and it was Harry Jones who stepped up again to score an easy kick to bring Wales into double figures for this match.

Ireland added more misery on the Welsh as they added another try, as Rachel Irwin capped a good move by passing the ball to tony Martin and dove for the line to score another try for Ireland.  

Damian McCabe capped another move for Ireland as they drove forward; he zipped past Williams and dove for the line to score his first try of the match. George hill kicked the extra points to increase the gap to Wales to thirty points.

Ireland completed their dominance as they scored another try as Rachel Irwin dove the ball forward who then past the ball to George Hill and then to Tone Martin who held off his defender and got in the corner to score a well worked try.

George Hill then moved Ireland past the fifty point barrier as he got the ball from a good kick from McCabe and he zipped past the whole Welsh defence to score an easy try for Ireland.

And it was Hill who completed the scoring for Ireland as he was again too quick for the Welsh defence as he zipped past yet more static welsh defending to score his seventh try of the match.

Final Score: Wales 10 Ireland 58

Wales play this second game this Saturday afternoon as they are up against Scotland whilst Ireland are back action this Saturday evening as they play England in their second game of the tournament.

to catch the post match interviews on the came, click here:

https://soundcloud.com/mrjohnseager/wheelchair-4-nations-ire-malcolm-kielty

https://soundcloud.com/mrjohnseager/wheelchair-rl-4-nations-wales-alana-sargent

Line-ups:

Wales:

Phil Bousfield, Adam Button, Huw Chance, Andrew Rhys Higgins, Harry Jones, James Roberts, Mark Williams.

Ireland:

Josh McEvoy, Chris Sealek, George Hill, Tony Martin, Andy Atkinson, Rachel Irwin, Damian McCabe, Stu Walker.

Referee: Rhett Johnson and Matt Ball

In-goal Referee: Kieron Johnson and Richard Johnson

John seager's 2013 Review of the year.

Evening all,

Well i have to say without a shadow of a doubt that 2013 was one of the most productive years i have ever had, not only as a reporter but also as a man. I started of the year i was a jobless wannabee reporter who was looking for work to pay the bills and fund my reporting trips. but i was detmined to get a little part time job whilst expanding my coverage and knowledge of being a reporter at the sdame time and ovber all i felt that i did that whilst exceeding my expectations as well. 

But where to begin... well I think that there is only one place to start:

Gillingham FC League Two Champions 2012-13

At the beginning of the year, we were placed in the top 2 and I thought that as long as we don't mess it up like we have been in the past few seasons, then we will achieved our goal of getting out of this god forsaken division which we have been in for far too long - three seasons in my opinion is far too long for a team of our quality to be here in a league where no one wants to be and no one wants to travel to places like Accrington or Morecambe on a tuesday night for football - but as the winter months came and went, we maintain our points tally and obtaining our record best away season ever, I knew that we had a great chance to grab not only promotion but our first league title since 1964 and no one at the beginning of the season could ever predict that.

The game where i knew we would secure our promotion was the Rotherham United home game on Bank Holiday Monday. It was a hot day at the Priestfield and many of the fans knew that a win would put us one foot in League One. And it was a great win as a single goal from Deon Burton gave us all three points and knowing that a point in the following game against Torquay United - oh great another old stomping ground which could haunt us - would give us the promotion we deserved from this amazing season.  

Come the day of the Torquay game, an ever bigger crowd was at the Priesfield to see local fan and local Sittingbourne lad Danny Kedwell get the only goal of the game to give Gillingham the promotion they so deserved all season. The party in the Blues Rock Cafe after the game was one never to be forgotten after the game was never to be forgotten. I have never seen the place so packed out before and when the players came in to celebrate, I managed to get covered in champagne from Leon Legge as the celebrations continued long into the night.

But there was one thing left to achieve and that was to get only one point from our remaining three games to secure the league title. And despite taking 1400 fans to Cheltenham only to lose 1-0, it was our last home game of the season where a point against AFC Wimbledon would see us achieve the title. and despite going ahead though Burton and Kedwell - against his former club - the dons did battle b=ack to get a draw which not only kept them up in the division but also managed to secure our first league title since 1964. The celebration on the pitch were totally memorable and everyone stayed behind to celebrate with the team as they were presented with the trophy at the end of a special day not only for the fans but also for the club.

Overall it was the appointment of Martin Allen which i believe was the reason why we got promoted. It was a brave decision from Scally to sign him and it was the 'breath of fresh air' we needed to move the club forward. Sadly it didn't last as he was sacked in November and replaced an the interim manager Peter Taylor who's appointment has got some results to move the Gills out of bottom four and hopefully staying in the division for another season. 

Well I thought that was going to be the biggest sporting story i would be reporting on, but this was totally overshadowed a few weeks later in July.

2013 Wheelchair Rugby League World Cup

When I heard that the tournament was going to happen at Medway Park in Gillingham, I immediately told Ian - editor of the Medway Times online newspaper - this is the major story that I have been looking for and we need to cover it extensively.  and thats exactly what we tried to do. Luckily for me I had the week off work so i can dedicate myself to the tournament over the duration so i don't miss any of the action. I also tried to spread the word to many of my current contacts within the BBC and ITV News Network and luckily i had at least two contacts who would be interested about the tournament as some of the England players were based in the North of England so the pressure was on to make the coverage a success. I spent every single match at the side of the pitch writing on the action and despite some one sided games each match day had at least one game which was close and tightly fought. When it came to finals day, the best two sides in the competition fought out a classic with France winning by two points despite England having a great comeback and nearly taking the game to extra time. But overall the games were played in a fantastic atmosphere lead by some wonderful volunteers, the players from all six nations all took part in a professional manner who had to gave up their own time in order to take part in the tournament with equipment paid and raised by their own ways in order to take part in the torunament. 

But for me It lead to some more doors being open for me. I got some wonderful contacts from all of the teams, the RFL, Medway Sport and Medway Council and I even bagged a trip to either Auckland or Sydney depending on who gets to host the next tournament so that was exciting for the future. but most of all we covered the whole tournament better than the local newspapers the Kent Messenger and both the local BBC and ITV news as well. And as a follow up as well I made contact with two new sides set up because of the tournament, one of the being the Gravesend Dynamite WCRLFC side. so overall for me the most productive 10 days since I graduated form university as a journalist back in 2009. 

But I also had another great sporing story which I followed over the year.

Kent Kings Speedway 2013 season

I was aware that there was going to be a new speedway team being based in Sittingbourne at the same place where they race greyhounds just on the inside of the track. But I wasn't aware on how popular it was going to be. On the first race day at the new track over a thousand people turned up to see the new team but it did take me at least a couple of meetings to get the grasp of Speedway and how it works. What i didn't know that there was and still is some politics surrounding the team and the residents of Sittingbourne near to the stadium as they are not happy of them being there but a curfew was put in order to keep the peace between them and so far it is working wonders. On  the track the team has been getting better and better, and there is even talk of them being a Elite league side in the near future which is great for Kent.

It also kept my reporting skills up during the summer months away from both the football and Rigby league. But again i have and will be keeping in great contact with the fans and the riders for next season. 

I also had some other great success over the year. I managed to get and keep of of two normal daily jobs whilst i managed my journlaism work on the side and I also started my driving lessons which is long overdue but the timing is right to do it after finding a full time normal job as I won't get another opportunity to do it and with my career as a reporter being based on working from car it needs to be done.

I have improved a lot as a journalist over the past year but i want that to grow during 2014 and i have the determination, passion and belief to make this happen but it has to be done on inch at a time. there are some things that i want to happen to me in 2014 as well but I want to get the three most important things done this year.

Pass my driving test - get my own place - get a paid reporting job. 

If you were to ask me will i get those three things done in 2014, i will have to answer a big fay YES!!! 

Well to you all - that will do for now, so have a merry and enjoyable 2014 and i hope it will bring everything that you want from it.

Till next time,

I'll Sithee