CFC BAR AND RESTAURANT OPENING HOURS

CFC WEEKLY DRAWS

For official draw information for the CFC Senior teams click here

GILBERT APPAREL – ONLINE STORE NOW OPEN!

A reminder to get your orders in for our new range of Gilbert apparel.

We have a great range to order from with something for everyone from kids to adults’ sizes. A second order window has now opened up, with delivery within 6-8 weeks.

Our online store can be accessed here

Juniors’ socks are in stock behind the bar and can be purchased for $15 during bar opening hours.

MATCH REPORTS

PREMIER MENS’ REPORT

22 April 2023

Premiers v Shirley

Burwood Park 2.45pm

Half Time Score: 18 - 14

Full Time Score: 26 - 36

There were a few changes to the starting 15 to take on Shirley from the previous week. Primarily due to players being unavailable, but also the return of players from injury such as Dom Brankin and Jesse Bryant. And what better way to announce your return to Premier rugby than Bryant dotting down in the first 5 minutes of the game! The opening 10 minutes of the match was all Christchurch with ball and territory. Some good forward pick and go led to CFC scoring their second try by Charlee Barrett on the 9-minute mark. Connor Watherston-Spencer was unable to convert the second try as he had the first, this gave CFC a 12-0 lead.

This was short lived, as Shirley were able to hit back scoring pretty much after the restart with a converted try of their own.

At the 27 minute mark, Shirley’s full back was yellowed carded and gave Watherston-Sperncer the ability to extend CFCs lead with a penalty goal. Six minutes later he repeated the task with another taking CFCs lead to 18-7 as half way approached. Not to be outdone though, Shirley were able to score a converted try right on half time, pulling CFCs lead back to only 4 starting the second half.

Mitch Barry received CFCs yellow in the 47^th minute and from this in that 10 minute period, Shirley were able to score 2 tries and one conversion giving them a 26 - 18 lead as teams started to roll with the changes for the last 30 minutes.

A penalty kick by Jackson Taylor at the 53-minute mark and a try to winger Jack Caunter on 63 minutes evened the score to 26-26.

The following 15 minutes, messy at most times, was a back and forward affair by both teams. Shirley were the ones to break the defence in the end and scored a converted try with 10 minutes to go. Not giving up though, CFC continued to do all they could to even the game. However, Shirley put the nail in the coffin just on full time with a penalty kick. The referee decided there was enough time for a restart. CFC threw all but the kitchen sink at Shirley to get to their end of the field. Ball turned over and before you knew it, Shirley were back on CFC’s line, but great defence gave CFC a last ditched penalty. 10 points down, nothing to lose, a quick tap and the ball out wide, saw winger Jack Caunter in a one-on-one situation to beat the man and score a bonus point try. Somehow the Shirley defender was able to just clip the CFC winger’s foot knocking him off his balance into touch for full time.

A great start to Christchurch’s game this week compared to week one, however they let Shirley back into it, by letting them play their loose unstructured style that suits Shirley. The Christchurch boys though are getting better and this week against Burnside at home will be sure a good one to watch.

PREMIER WOMENS’ REPORT

CFC Premier Women vs UC Viperettes 

Final Score: 26-15

Our premier women’s side had a big challenge against university women’s team, which was a re-match of last year’s final.  It took 20 minutes of defence and 1 try down before the team got their hands on the ball.

Number 8 Greer Muir had a strong carry game and Lucy Jenkins proved why she is a full-time contracted Blackfern, with an amazing work rate and twinkle toes to score a hat-trick. 

With a couple of our front row going down the decision to move to uncontested scrums it was for both teams.   

A Big improvement from last week’s game left the coach happy with a 26-15 win. 

It was great to see some past CFC and UC players down to support the two teams. We love having their support every time we face off against each other, and know the banter continues off the field as much as the players are giving it on the field.

DIV 3 CHOPPERS’ REPORT

Marist Albion Beacons vs CFC Choppers

Final Score: 24-55

What a game! We were up against the holding champs, Marist from the 2022 season and we certainly gave them a run for their money.  The final score may have blown out a bit at 24-55 but it was 24-36 before we had a dubious yellow card. 

Okay, it is fair to say that we let in a couple of soft tries early doors and the ball carrier did get isolated on a few occasions – which certainly wasn’t part of our tried and tested game plan.  But we were out there giving it our all and we know that on another day we could have come away with a win.

All in all, we’re feeling pretty good about our performance. We may have lost on the scorecard, but we won where it counts: in our hearts (and in our pub banter). We'll be back next week.

A shout out to Chip for his superb player of the day performance, doing justice to the sculling of the handle at speeches and winning us a crate to boot, top effort lad.  Special mention to Dante too, getting himself off the mark with a try and feeling somewhat relieved not to be on the hook for an end of season nudey run.

Thank you to Rachael Milne who has kindly been taking team photos during the games, we really appreciate it.

Cheers

Jez

(Jed Cowburn)

PREMIER WOMEN’S RESERVE REPORT

Premier Reserve Women Vs Hornby She Devils 

FT score: 61-17 

Last Saturday we had our first game of the season for the Women’s Premier-Reserves team, this consists of some our more in-experienced players  who had a game of 10’s verse Hornby.  Despite the score it was an evenly matched game with the CFC girls coming away with a strong win in the end.

It was awesome for the girls to begin building their season and putting into action what they have been learning in training so far.  A massive effort, as most of the team were benching for the premiers and also had to play up to 40mins in that game too.  

It’s a great start to the season for the girls and we look forward to seeing them improve each game. 

Thanks to coach Rebecca Todd who is looking after both grades and doing awesome mahi, reflected with the skills on show on the field. 

PREMIER COLTS’ REPORT (Pre-Season Game)

Christchurch Marist-Albion combined Colts played Shirley in our final per-season match, at Burwood 2, it was a tough start to the game with a couple of penalty’s going Shirley’s way in our own 22, causing early points on the board for Shirley.

The boys withstood a tough attach from Shirley, but managed to get a couple of try’s across the line which were both converted, final score was 37-14 .

The boys are looking forward to their first competition game against HSOB this Saturday.

CLUB MEMBER PROFILES

VOLUNTEER SHOUT OUT

Milsie, 2nd from right with some of our regular volunteer crew and Steph

This week, our thoughts and prayers are with Milsie and his family, as Milsie recovers from a serious fall from a roof, with a long road of recovery ahead.

As most of you will know, for many years, Milsie has been a loyal, passionate, and dedicated supporter of our club, undertaking many roles from club captain to the more recent head of our volunteer working group. A true clubman who leads by example, we were devastated to hear that he has been badly injured.

Currently, Josie, Milsie’s wife, has asked for no visitors (unless specifically approved, but we will keep you updated. In the meantime, we all hope Milsie continues recover well and that we get to see you back at the club soon.

JUNIOR CORNER

All teams are now finalised, and it was great to see many of our teams begin their weekly training sessions this week at the club grounds.

With the season officially kicking off on the 6^th May for grading games, we ask all our families to please ensure that they get themselves logged onto the Heja Team app, that all CFC teams will be using this year, as their main form of communication.

Weekly draws usually come out on a Tuesday after around 2pm, and your team manager/coach will ensure the game details are added into the Heja App schedule for you and provide any other necessary information.

Weekly Draws and Scoring

The Junior Draws will also be accessible via the CFC App, which should also be downloaded by club families. We are still updating this year’s information and will aim to have this completed before games begin.

A reminder that game scoring is completed via the CFC App and EVERY team must have an assigned scorer. To be able to score using the app (which is mandatory), any scorers, need to complete the Managers/Admin/Scorer app and details which team they wish to score for. This MUST be completed by Wednesday 5^th May at 12pm, to give us time to complete the admin in the background. The link to register can be accessed by clicking here.

We will continue to load relevant information onto the Heja App as the season gets underway, to include important dates, events, and social activities.

CFC Uniform

A reminder that junior rugby socks will be available to purchase during bar opening hours at $15 a pair.

For those who need shorts, you can order via the Gilbert online store (link above) but be aware that delivery will occur after the start of the season. Players are welcome to wear any black rugby shorts, and there are reasonably priced pairs at most clothing/sports stores which can be purchased.

Your rugby jerseys are in the team gear bags and if there is the requirement to swap for another size, there will be opportunities to do this via the gear collection station this weekend. We will try and organise another session before the games start (most likely on Thursday afternoon).

Saturday 29^th April – Pre-Season Games with Sumner & New Brighton RFC

Thanks to all the teams that have responded to this opportunity. The draw is just being finalised and will be out by Thursday evening.

It should be a fantastic day with the draw starting with 11am games, playing through until last schedule kick-off at 1:30pm. All teams must have a pre- game warm up, with the recommendation for this to be between 15-30 mins, depending on age grade. These games are LEARNING opportunities, not Super Rugby games, so we will stop games throughout to help with on field training and development as needed. Please remember that only REGISTERED coaches are permitted on the field during games and the general rule is that each team coach referees half a game each.

It looks as if most of our teams will be coming along for a game at the club grounds and we look forward to welcoming our friends from Sumner and Brighton RFCs.

All registered junior players will be able to have a post-match sausage sizzle (including visiting teams), please make sure your coach collects your tickets from our junior committee (available form the gear bag collection station).

There will also be a coffee van on site and the bar and restaurant will be open from 1pm, so we encourage all our families to stay and cheer on our CFC Premier players as they take on Burnside at home at 1pm.

Article added: Thursday 27 April 2023