Scarborough RUFC staff and volunteers dig deep to get Wetherby game on

Scarborough RUFC Head Coach Ben Foden was full of praise for those who worked tirelessly to ensure that Saturday’s home match against Wetherby went ahead – despite the pitch being covered in snow less than 48 hours earlier.

And the Silver Royd club’s staff were fully rewarded for their excellent work as Scarborough delivered a 33-7 success to ensure Foden’s team returned to winning ways, the pitch clearance beginning at 12noon Friday and finishing at 11pm before commencing again at 7am on Saturday.

The Scarborough RUFC groundstaff did a superb job to clear the snow to ensure Saturday's game went ahead at Silver Royd.

placeholder image — The Scarborough RUFC groundstaff did a superb job to clear the snow to ensure Saturday's game went ahead at Silver Royd.

The work involved five members of staff and five volunteers, Adam Flinton doing the longest shift, working through to 11pm.

Former England star Foden said: “We’d been having conversations with the chairman of the board, from the groundsman for the last 48 hours.

The staff and volunteers worked hard on Friday night under floodlights to clear the pitch at Silver Royd.

“It started with a few guys and getting shovels and going out there and digging the ground and then eventually, you know, a tractor’s on there clearing the field till 11 o’clock at night.

“It’s awesome to see we were very keen to play the game, I expressed that whatever it takes to play the game even if that was away or at a neutral venue, I thought we needed to play the game but it really shows the type of club we are, we are very dedicated you know, someone staying until 11 at night just to make the game happens is just an example of where the club is and it’s heading in the right direction.

“You look at the support that was there as well, in the stands, filling the bar, the 200 people who turned up for the past players meal beforehand, it’s a testament to where the club is and what we are trying to build.

“When I came here, I was told Scarborough Rugby Club was the heartbeat of Scarborough and I think it’s testament to that. It takes a whole team of people to make this fixture happen and we are glad that we can reward them with a good win.

Adam Flinton hard at work on Saturday morning, marking out the Scarborough RUFC pitch.

"We asked the guys to reciprocate the efforts that had gone on off the field to make sure the fixture went ahead and to get a five-point win at home you could not ask for anything more.

"It was a good team performance today. We knew that – off the back of three losses – we needed a big performance at home and five points and the boys delivered that.”

“We asked for a big defensive effort, we knew that they were a good team, they kept the ball for 10-12 phases at times and we kept them at bay and you can get a lot of energy from that. We back ourselves to score tries and if we only concede seven points we back ourselves to score more than that.”

Scarborough’s match at Doncaster Phoenix on Saturday, will kick off at 12pm.