NEWS - BIRKENHEAD PARK REPORT - 07/04/2008
The mass exodus from the Upper Park to Twickenham begins on Friday morning when the team bus departs for London . There has been exceptional interest and Park have sold approaching four hundred tickets for the club’s big day.
The Park selectors have announced the starting line up which will be the same fifteen that commenced the semi final at Bracknell . Skipper Dave Ibbotson has won his race to be fit but will start on the bench leaving player coach Jon Sewell to continue with the captaincy on the day.
Director of Rugby John McNally said “there were some tough decisions to make and understandably some players are extremely disappointed not to make the 22. Quite a few of our squad have played at Twickenham before in various capacities and I think that experience will stand us in good stead on the day and help settle the nerves of the young lads in the side.”
Preparations have been hectic and Park Chairman Greg Casey commented “ the phone in the club office has barely stopped since the final whistle at Bracknell and everything is building up for a fantastic day. It is certainly a major milestone in our long and illustrious history.” Amongst the crowd will be Park’s oldest known surviving member Emlyn Jones who will be attending with his family. Two years ago he made his first visit to the club for over 50 years to celebrate his 9Oth birthday.
Coach Neil Shaw is confident that Park can lift the trophy against local rivals Chester and said “ the tough draws at Staines and Bracknell will work in our favour as we are used to going down to London and turning teams over. Of course the difference this time is that we are playing local rivals and we are well aware what a dangerous outfit Chester can be. This Park team has a collective resolve and I am confident that if we perform to our best level then we can come away from Twickenham with the cup. Previously all the talk was about getting to Twickenham and enjoying the day, however these opportunities come round only once in a lifetime and the fact that we are playing local rivals gives the final even more of an edge. All I can ask is that we show the same commitment that we did at Bracknell and if we do it will take a big display to beat us.”
Park have attracted considerable support from the business community towards the Twickenham final and President Mark McNally has issued the following message “to our sponsors , on behalf of everybody at Birkenhead Park, can I thank each and every one of you for your generosity and speed of response which was phenomenal. Our lead time to the final was very short but our fantastic sponsors have come up trumps.”
Park’s main Twickenham sponsor is Greenfields Kennels, Hoylake with valuable support from Alma de Cuba, Deuchars IPA, MKR, Stanton Belting, Wynstay and Wirral Borough Council. McNally continued “the support of these and many other companies means that we will really look the part on the day and the Birkenhead and Wirral name together with those of the sponsors will be promoted on the Twickenham stage”.
Park team EDF Intermediate Cup Final v Chester at Twickenham
15 P.Hart 14. G.Lunt 13 M.McKeon 12 G.Scott 11 A.Trotter 10 A.Handley 9 S.Lowry 1. P.Reynolds 2.C.Jones 3. M.Ibbotson 4. D.Blyth 5. P.Hellier 6. N.Tchakoute 7.J.Shudall 8. J.Sewell (capt)
* Park coach Shaun Gallagher will be a live guest tonight on Radio Merseyside’s Alan Jackson Show as Ron Roby previews the EDF Final from 8pm . All rugby fans should tune in for an in depth analysis.
Season Fixtures For All Senior Teams:
First Team Fixtures 2007-2008
2nd Team Fixtures 2007-2008
3rd Team Fixtures 2007-2008
4th Team Fixtures 2007-2008
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