YMCA anxious to find new date for fixture
YMCA rugby union officials have offered neighbours Huddersfield an unreserved apology after the debacle last weekend when the Laund Hill club failed to appear for the second half of the big holiday derby double-header.
And in an effort to make amends, they have offered to re-schedule the fixture at the earliest opportunity.
Having enjoyed a well-attended home fixture on the Saturday before Christmas, YMCA were to reciprocate by visiting Lockwood Park seven days later.
However, not only did the Yorkshire I outfit fail to raise a side, which in itself was disappointing, but then compounded the felony by their failure to communicate with anyone from Huddersfield.
Indeed, it was only by a chance meeting in a supermarket on Saturday morning that an official from the Lockwood Park club was informed YMCA would not be fulfilling the 3pm fixture!
And it was midday before Huddersfield's director of rugby Mark Sowerby was informed, who then had to contact all his players.
Following a committee meeting at Laund Hill last night, a YMCA spokesman said: "The long and short of it is that it was a breakdown of communication which resulted in one person thinking the information had been passed on to Huddersfield, and everyone else thinking the same.
"Part of the problem was that messages and e-mails were being unanswered due to people being on holiday.
"At the end of the day, this was a major foul-up on our part. There is no getting away from that fact, and we accept full responsiblity.
"We don't have a big player-base and several players who had said they were available for the return game then made themselves unavailable, but we were still extremely disappointed that it was necessary to cancel the fixture in the first instance. However, our failure to communicate that fact to Huddersfield was indefensible.
"The YMCA are aware of the anticipation the fixture had created and the effort Huddersfield had obviously put into the event, which makes it even worse."
He added: "In recent years, relations between the two clubs have occasionally been somewhat strained, but with two enlightened committees those have been put in the past, with each looking to move forward in a positive way.
"The YMCA sincerely hope this incident can be put behind us without too much loss of goodwill and we are very anxious to play Huddersfield at the earliest opportunity in an effort to make amends, and we are writing to the Huddersfield club to confirm this.
"We enjoyed the first encounter at Laund Hill before Christmas, when there was a great atmosphere, and we at the YM feel aggrieved for Huddersfield, who fully deserve their day at Lockwood Park, and we are also mindful of raising money for the President's charity."
