Come to “The North” and celebrate St Patrick’s day. Irish Lamb Stew & 440ml Guiness – R50.00 per head, Spot prizes, free Jello Shot and live music only in Irish style.

A very good morning to everyone…

Maybe the moving of the calendar dates into leap year country….has indicated positive moves on our sporting front….both at the North and internationally (but we will be specifically quiet on the Super Rugby front….as the Sharks were the only side to come out with their feathers unruffled after the weekend) but on the international cricket front…both our Men and Ladies sides played with pride and passion as they overcame Australia and Pakistan respectively… the Men came up with a new match winner in Heinrich Klaasen who batted maturely to hold our innings together, Lungi Ngidi kept the opposition under pressure with some super pace and guile…resulted in us winning comfortably by 74 runs….we await the second match in the ongoing saga…this time in Bloemfontein on Wednesday evening…..and our ladies have played some scintillating cricket to keep a clean sheet with a three wins in three result thus far….with the fourth being rained out….which has meant that our ladies are in unchartered territory….topping the league standings for the league standings in a World Cup….and now we will play the Aussie ladies in the semi’s on Thursday and will need to beat them for the first time ever to advance to the final….despite this fact, I am sure that all staunch and loyal supporters will be egging them on… the final will be shown on Sunday morning on the big screen in the Hall if we are able overcome the semi-final hurdle…I most definitely will be shouting at the top of my voice showing my support……go the Saffa’s….

BNCC Women finished off their Season on a high and are the unbeaten Champions of 2019/2020 Easterns League (second year in a row). Well done Ladies and well deserved 

Our Northerns boys returned to winning ways….despite every single bit of twisting and turning by the opposition to try to have the match called off…..and with ground staff and players alike working furiously to get another  track cut, rolled and marked, before Bedfordview would take the field….and thanks to the efforts….a late start allowed the playing of 24 overs a side….with Kurt then winning the toss and asking the opposition to set a target, our bowlers then worked on minimising that total to chase….Kundai with 3/17 was the destroyer in chief with Stef and Leonard each chipping in with a brace to limit the score to 118/9 after the allotted overs….our chase did not start very well, losing Vaughn early on….but our batters showed application and commitment…..making slow and steady progress….eventually passing the total with 8 balls remaining….Kundai showing us that he is a true all rounder….by opening the batting and top scoring with 30….Aron and Riaan chipping in with 20’s to ensure the win by 4 wickets….well done guys….we have two more very difficult matches in the league portion of the season….and it is very congested near the top of the log…..with a myriad of different permutations available, with only really Alberton assured of ending at the top….after some interesting results in the last two weeks….plenty of upsets and thrilling matches being the order of the day….let it be simply said, that we need to win both of our last two matches, as we currently lie in third place in the log….behind Alberton by 10 points….and a single point behind Bedfordview…. we do not want to leave it to mathematicians with calculators and administrators with red tape to decide our fate….so boys, this week as we travel to arch rivals Kempton Park in the penultimate match of this league season….let us ensure the maximum points that we can move clear before our last match against Alberton….all the best boys….let us get there in masses to support the chaps….

Our soccer fellows played in their last friendly before their season commences….as we took on Edenvale…and we came home with sort of set of results that we like at the North….the reserves bringing home a 4-1 scoreline…whilst the first side also had a three goal winning margin….but keeping a clean sheet against the Edenvale firsts….well done guys….that is the ideal stepping stone to start the season….as we also travel to Barnard Stadium to face Kempton Park…this time to play what Jose calls the “beautiful game”…..another set of good luck wishes will follow you boys….all we can ask is that you do your best and enjoy the playing of the match….

Our Joker remains elusive as always….and even with an old campaigner like Aliaster being selected from the beeeg black box…it still keeps itself hidden for another week….Ali’s choice was in the second to bottom row and one to the left, but only revealed the eight of spades…so another week for the Jackpot to climb up…and now settles in at R57 879….see if you could be our next winner and join us this week to try your luck….

It looks like when we have Omega booked as our Friday entertainment, you can be assured to bring your “brollies and wellies”…. we seem to always have inclement weather when this talented 5 piece band arrives….and despite the cool and wet weather, the standard of their music remained tops….well done guys, hopefully next time you will order better weather… this week we welcome back the Zimmer Twinz…..should be another cracker of an evening with these two great muso’s….who have a solid following of Members and “groupies” who appear to join when they visit….

Last Saturday we had a really busy day with hockey enrolments  and another Junior soccer registration day….and as the weather was a little miserable….the Hall and Ladies bar were filled with throngs of excited prospective Members (both young and old)…welcome to our Club….we hope that we are able to maintain the excitement you showed on your first day…..On Saturday Junior Soccer will have their last day to register….so if there are any new youngsters that you know of that are wanting to play football…please tell them to come through from 08h00 to 14h00 and become part of the best Club in the East Rand!!

If there are any complaints or compliments about the Club….please email me on rod.scheepers@hotmail.com

Chat next week…take care….Rod