Rugby Report: Minute’s silence held in memory of former Lincoln player

Lincoln held a minute’s silence in memory of their former player James Walker before Saturday’s home match against North Hykeham.

Lincoln and his current club Scunthorpe were left in shock when the news of James’ death was announced on Saturday.

The 23-year-old spent several years at Lincoln from junior up to senior 1st XV level, before more recently impressing with Scunthorpe in National Two (North).

Lincoln Rugby Club said: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our friend, player and teammate James Walker.

“A fantastic player with immense talent, who will be sorely missed by all. Rest in peace James.”

A post from Scunthorpe RUFC about the tragic news said: “Thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and teammates.

“The fixture away at Chester today (Saturday) has been postponed as a mark of respect.”

Lincoln’s three senior men’s teams came together to play the match against North Hykeham’s 2nd XV as one club in memory of James.

Brothers Luke and Alex Brodrick were among the try scorers, along with Grant Cowe, Jake Keeton and Lincoln’s man-of-the-match Chris Langdon, for the third team. Sam Cooke scored Hykeham’s try.

Lincoln’s 3rd XV captain Adam Kelleher decided after the match to award the result as 28-27 in Hykeham’s favour due to using some players from the first and second teams.

Adam said after the game: “James was a tremendous player and character and it felt only right to play the game today in honour of him.

“The team played well and everyone involved can be proud of what they did out there.”

Second-placed Lincoln Ladies battled hard before succumbing to a narrow 14-5 away defeat at York RI, with their points coming from Ruth Denham’s try.

After the match Lincoln Ladies head coach Brian Kelly said: “I’m immensely proud of the ladies’ effort.

“With five regular players missing and a number of playing out of position this was always going to be a tough game, but the girls showed just how determined they can be. They should be really proud of themselves.”

Lincoln Colts (Greens) narrowly lost 29-19 away against Nottingham Corsairs after an honest and gutsy performance from the 16 players they had available.

Adam Tomlinson, Joe Cline and Kaie Turner scored Lincoln’s tries, with William Dark adding two conversions.

Lincoln’s Under-10s squad had a fantastic day at the Prima Tiger Cup Festival.

Head coach Ross Tarnowski said there was a lot of exciting game play during their five matches, with each match score being combined with a Fair Play scoring system.

Other Results

Spalding progressed through to the next round of the NLD Cup after a 25-22 victory against Kesteven on Thursday evening.

Callum Lewis grabbed two tries for Spalding, with Jason Steels, Jack Patrick and Taylor Crowson each scoring one.

Ollie Lowe, Adam Traper and Harvey Fuller scored Kesteven’s tries, with Matt Grinney adding two conversions and a penalty.

In the Women’s NC 2 North (East), Scunthorpe Ladies won 19-7 away against Sleaford thanks to tries from Becky Clarke, Le-An Wright-Mahoney and Sophie Bullass.

Mel Wright-Mahoney, who was named as their coach’s player of the match, added two conversions.

Lauren Ingram, 17, who has recently come up through the girls’ team, was named as their back of the match and Jodie Britcliffe was their top forward.

Mollie Ambler scored Sleaford’s try, which Amy Woodford converted.

Sarah Taylor and Amanda Hunt were named as Sleaford’s forward and back of the match.

Boston Ladies’ home match against Hull Ionians was postponed.

Grimsby Girls’ junior side claimed a 41-20 home victory over Scunthorpe thanks to a hat-trick of tries from Izzy Ward, who also kicked three conversions.

Edith Kerr grabbed two tries, with Maddison Telford and Piper Coleman each scoring one added. Ewa and Ella each scored two tries for Scunthorpe.