The Dave Haigh Memorial Match (19 April 2008)
Strength & Spirit
The 1st Dave Haigh Memorial Match was held on 19 April 2008.
The untimely death of Dave Haigh was as shock to everyone at the Wheats.
Dave was a pleasant, amiable person. He had a close-knit circle of friends but could mix well (and did) with any company.
He played prop and number eight for the Wheats, in all the teams, for about 20 years; He always gave his all on the pitch and enjoyed the social side of the rugby as well.
A dedicated family man , Haighy will be missed by everyone who knew him.
Old Old Wheats (Harty’s Heroes) 2 tries vs 12 tries Elite Old Wheats
The Old Old Wheats side, aka Harty’s Heroes was made up of the following “classic” generation of Wheats players:
Andy Hibberd
Darren Hall
Ben Baines
Dave Tedds
Ian Smith
Kev Smith
Richard Hartopp
Kevin Edwards
Richard Jenkins
Simon Hall
Simon Partridge
Rob Sharratt
Richard Hill
Tony Quinney
Tim Miles
Barry Winfield
Simon Miles
Steve Bailey
John Betts
Ian Hadridge
Nick Giese
Mark Ilsley
Greg Weaver
Paul Coalman
Darren Edwards
Pete Lowe
Duncan Bevis
They were to compete against the Younger Wheats side comprising of:
Joe Loach
Jas Wetton
John Barrett
Carl Dennis
Simon Hodgkiss
James Gillam
Ben Weaver
Neil Hodgkiss
Martin Ward
Kondwani Mhone
Dean Bryant
Richard East
Matt Brown
Jamie Keenan
Paul Kendrick
Brad Aitkins
Steve Johns
Richard Bennet
Chris Warn
Rob McGowan
The young side certainly looked a little apprehensive come kick off; initial fears were proved justified as the Dads Army side started like a rocket, forwards rampaging and gaining great yardage.
Before long Simon Hall crossed the line but was well held up by Ben Weaver & co; from a resultant scrum the big Nr 8 picked again and eventually fell over the line with the ball beneath him (new ball then required!). One try up with only minutes gone!
(What the Old Boys didn’t realise was that the Young Wheats had agreed between themselves to let the opposition score first to give them something to talk about later and allow them to salvage some pride!)
Celebrations were short lived as the young side started to bounce back, Matt Brown scoring his 1st of the day following a great break in the backs.
From hereon, whilst the Old Boys forwards were no doubt a bulk to handle, the pace and skills of the younger side proved a little to hot too handle!
Simon & Darren Hall proved they were still expert cheaters whilst Simon Partridge & Eggy proved they hadn’t lost any of their aggression, but the ball the Elite side did win was kept well away from the pack and some good entertaining rugby was played.
The old boys did enjoy one more great moment as the Deer Hunter bundled his boy over the line to crash down for a try (no doubt Joe will be reminded of this for many years to come!).
The score was not important (& never in doubt!) but tries were scored by the “1st XV” by: Matt Brown (5); Rich Bennet (3); Steve Johns (2); Brad Aitkins (1); Richard East (1).
It was a tough game all round, neither side willing to back down or give an inch; tempers came close to fraying but never quite boiled over – all in all played in totally the right spirit throughout.
At the whistle all were keen to get in the bar to continue the day, it is a very long time since the Wheats filled the bar with this many people, the beer and songs flowed. A great way to remember and offer respect to Dave Haigh.
Dave’s dad made a moving speech and awarded the trophy to the winners, the club were pleased to present the match ball to Dave’s family as a small momentum of the game.
The sum of £350 was collected on the day and the family will be donating this to Cancer Research; the club will also add profits from the bar on the day to this sum (amount of this should be known within the next few days).
The club certainly showed it’s strength and closeness and look forward to seeing more of the ex-players & supporters in the future, on or off the field! Everyone is always welcome at the Wheats!
Anybody interested in becoming a Vice President please contact Rick Leigh (rickleigh@btinternet.com) or Richard Hartopp (07798 672172)
Thanks to all players (47!) & perhaps more importantly all the supporters – this will be annual game and no doubt the old boys will come up with a cunning plan to get even next season!
Also, thanks to committee members as follows:
Richard Hartopp: for assembling such a strong team.
Andy Hibberd: for organising the trophy.
Pete Bryant & Alan Partridge for organising all the food.
Kev Smith: for organising the collection.
Finally, a big thanks to Andy Lewis for refeering - a top job (in somewhat difficult circumstances at times!); perhaps the best referee the Wheats have had this season.
MOTM: after much debate - Martin Ward - showed both sides back row how it should be done, whilst still breaking the line from midfield at every opportunity!
For more images from the day click here.
RFU.com 
Club Search
