Amateur RL: More Cup frustration for St Joseph’s

Dec 4 2009 by Chris Roberts, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

JUST when will St Joseph’s stage their Pennine President’s Cup second-round clash against Elland?

The tie should have originally been staged two weeks ago, but was postponed on the back of Kirklees Council’s decision to call off all matches on their pitches due to the wet weather.

As a result, the tie was re-scheduled for tomorrow, and that has now suffered the same fate as Kirklees have again made the early call to impose a blanket postponement.

And that will be a major cause of frustration for the Fartown-based side who look to be discovering some of their top form on the back of last Saturday’s 20-8 triumph over Keighley Albion in the Pennine League Premier Division.

With the likes of Graham Hyland, Lee St Hilaire and Joe Flaherty leading the way, it was arguably Joe’s best performance of the season, and they will be bitterly disappointed not to have been given the chance to maintain that momentum against Elland this weekend, with a home quarter-final tie against First Division Westgate Wolves at stake.

Yet even though Kirklees have made their pitches out of bounds, many amateur rugby league matches could still go ahead across the region.

That could include the Cup clash for Joe’s second string, who face a tough trip to Division V title-chasers Woodhouse Warriors in the first round of the Supplementary Cup.