Month: December 2025

Mark Mowbray’s journey with the Black and Amber began in 1995, when he left Slough RFC to be closer to his children. From that moment, he became a cornerstone of the club, embodying the spirit, camaraderie, and resilience that defined the team. Over the years, Mark played across much of the Men’s outfit, joining countless tours both in the U.K. and Europe. It was during the Leuven tour that he earned the nickname “Damage”, a testament to his fearless style of play and larger-than-life presence on and off the pitch.

In 2005, following spinal surgery, Mark made a remarkable comeback. He played a full season (2005/06) and capped it off with an end-of-season tour to Newquay alongside his son, Michael. That year was particularly memorable, with the Gazette noting it as his best points season—though they humorously admitted they weren’t sure which “M. Mowbray” had scored them.

Mark finally retired in 2014 after the Clifton Match, closing a chapter of nearly two decades of dedication. Even after retirement, he occasionally laced up his boots for charity matches, continuing to give back to the sport and community he loved.

In 2018, Mark was diagnosed with terminal cancer. True to his character, he faced the challenge with courage and dignity, fighting for seven and a half years. On 5th October, he passed peacefully in his sleep, leaving behind a legacy of strength, friendship, and devotion to the game.
Mark Mowbray will be remembered not only for his contributions on the field but also for the warmth and loyalty he showed to his teammates, friends, and family. Our prayers and heartfelt wishes go out to his loved ones during this difficult time. His memory will forever remain part of the Black and Amber family.

CANTERBURY 34 GUERNSEY 8

by David Haigh

The third win in a row, a hat trick of tries for hooker Eoin O’Donoghue and a maximum return of five points made this a good day at the office for Canterbury. It is clear, also, they enjoy working at home, having lost only once at The Marine Travel Ground this season and after a flurry of three tries in the first twenty minutes never looked in much danger of defeat. Guernsey took an early lead through full back Callum Roberts’ interception try but were a side lacking bite and were quickly found out. Wing Alfie Orris, making his first appearance after a preseason injury, set Canterbury on their way as he fielded a kick on half way, powered through a hesitant defence and support runner Aiden Moss cantered over from Presley Farrance’s pass. The visitors were quickly under pressure again as Canterbury put the ball through their hands at every opportunity and a sweeping attack on the left flank was completed by the ever alert O’Donoghue. His second try was delayed, briefly, by an exchange of penalty goals from Guernsey’s Ciaran McGann and Frank Reynolds but, from the restart, the city side struck again. This time it was Moss who made the decisive break and O’Donoghue stepped past the last defender, leaving Reynolds to land his second conversion. They thought Harry Sloan had bagged a fourth try, but were called back for an earlier infringement and had to be content with a 22-8 half time lead. It took 19 minutes of the second half before the bonus point touchdown was added. That was down to some dogged resistance from Guernsey and failings in the city side’s accuracy. When the score came it was a trademark catch and drive which gave O’Donoghue his opportunity. Guernsey, denied possession by superior lineout skills and the home side’s ability to turn over ball, continued to battle but could do nothing to counter more impressive handling in the 67th minute. Skipper Jamie Stephens surprised everyone with a turn of foot which ended under the posts and Reynolds converted. Two further scoring chances were mangled in the scrappy closing minutes but it would be harsh to criticise an ambitious display from this Canterbury side.
Canterbury: L.Talbot, G.Jones, A.Moss, W.Waddington, A.Orris, F.Reynolds, P.Farrance, D.Huntley, E.O’Donoghue, O.Frostick, J.Stephens, C.McGovern, J.Walker, R.Thomas, T.Oliver. Replacements: L.Young, H.Sloan, T.Williams, J.Dengate, J.De Vries.

MATCH PREVIEW

Oxford Harlequins away gave us the opportunity to back up our win against London Welsh and the players put in a strong performance in challenging conditions. Through a dominant set piece and effective ball movement, we secured the bonus point by half time. Even though the second half was less eventful, we finished as 19–42 winners.
That’s not the whole story, though. We lost both Jamie Stephens and Eoin O’Donoghue early in the second half and Mo Pangarker followed shortly after scoring his try. Ryley Thomas played the final ten minutes in the second row and Presley Farrance shifted to Number 6. Even with all this disruption, the last ten minutes showed the true character of this team. Despite the game already being won, the lads were stubbornly defiant and refused to give Oxford a losing bonus point. I thought it was important to share that final defensive play with the team at training last night. The character they showed is something to be proud of and a great sign of how our defence has progressed this season.
The week off also gave me the chance to watch the Pilgrims play live for the first time this season. It was great to see Jesse De Vries, Alfie Orris and Harry Sloan all return from recent injury layoffs—and all come through the game unscathed. And what a game it was. To go twenty-one points behind and still come out on top 30–26 shows how this team is rising to the challenge of Regional 2. The second-half performance is where the match was won, and when the final whistle blew you could see what it meant to the players—and to coach Mal Graves. The Pilgrims now have four wins from their last five games as they travel to fourth-place Beckenham looking to continue their strong run of results.
After a week off, the 1st XV welcome Guernsey Raiders to the Marine Travel Ground. Guernsey sit one place and two points ahead of us as we begin the final block of the year. With only three games to go before the Christmas break, we know how important it is to continue our recent run of results. Fixtures with Guernsey are always closely fought affairs and we know it will take our best to get the win

MATT CORKER, HEAD COACH

Deacons vs Deal & Betts 2’s Match Report

Fantastic Fours Fall Short but not without stunning Deal by the infamous Pete Demery

Deacons 21 – Deal & Betts 32

On an afternoon where any normal person would stay inside enjoying appropriate snacks and refreshments, the Deacons assembled to run out against an old foe Deal & Betts. After an attritional run of 4 consecutive games, getting a full squad out was a challenge and once more some of our Zingari fellows stepped in to assist.
With barely 15 on the field and no front row to contest at scrum time we knew it would be a tough afternoon.
The weather levelled the playing field a little and we knew we might have to get creative with some key forwards missing from our usually strong set piece plays.

At kick off Deacons received & looked to move the ball around the field to overcome a very organised Deal defence. Handling errors were inevitable given the conditions & frenetic pace of play, there were more dropped balls than the u12’s squad! The uncontested scrums were welcome respite for the larger of us on the field.

Deal drew first blood but not until deep into the first half; a well worked try squeezed in at the corner. Deals kicker had a tricky day missing all the conversion attempts (despite the opposition linesman giving a conversion that missed the middle of the uprights by about 4 nautical miles).
Deacons battled well until the 25 minute mark when Deal struck again, once more around the fringes before a quick 3rd try after a devastating rolling maul. We were rocked, and periodically suffering with going a man down with injuries and an empty bench.
The first half ended with Deal on 22 points to our 0, we had to regroup over our halftime Haribo and we weren’t going down without a fight.

After a small reshuffle and some tactical changes with positional play we went into the second half with our tails up taking the fight to Deal. It didn’t disappoint despite a quick Deal try after the restart.

We played the Deacons way. Upped the fun, worked as a team and communicated well causing chaos at lineout time.

At 10, Dan Head moved the forwards around the breakdowns & delivered a kicking masterclass from the fringes at try time.
Oli Toms, David Hierro and Adam Malik combined to carry the ball brilliantly up the middle of the field.
Callum Townsend on his second shift as flanker cleared in attack and tackled phenomenally in defence, jumping in the lineout as if he’d been doing it years.
Rob Horan worked brilliantly from 12 to organise the backline with great territory kicking and Harry Stanley (Harry Standout more like!) at fullback was key to our attack and the last line of defence – battling through breaking a finger at some point – I was wondering what he was pointing at!

Returning to the Deacons from uni Reilly Fleming demonstrated he’d missed us, stepping into a flanking role away from the backs his presence reassuring us around the field before dotting down between the posts.

Man of the match went to Ed Exley for barreling over the line with 2 tries in the corner, running hard and beating tackles.
After another period of sustained attack and a number of Deal penalties in their own 22, Deacons scored again. With Dan’s superb kicking the score all of a sudden stood at 21-27 game on with 10 left to go! Deal were rocked and scrambled, hitting back with a try through their pack.

With no time left on the clock we pushed and pushed to get back over the Deal line but ultimately came up short losing the battle with time but winning the second half.

If we’d had another 20 I’ve no doubt we would’ve won, we retired to the changing rooms broken, bloodied, muddied and in great spirits. A fantastic effort by all.

POTM – Ed Exley (2 x tries), con x 3 – Dan Head, Reilly Fleming (try).
Huge shout out to Piers Weigh (who’s clearly watched his Dad play rugby too much) and thought he could pick and score a try from 2 metres out against Deals entire front row!

As a team it takes us time to gel on match days.
We’d love to be able to put out the same match squad each week.
If you want to return to playing or play competitive rugby that’s fun & social without necessarily always having to train. Come and play Deacons rugby!

We’ve a week off before December fixtures at home on the 13th. 2 to go before 2026 begins.

Pilgrims 30
Sutton & Epsom 26

The Pilgrims welcomed Sutton & Epsom to the MTG for the first time in many years in what promised to be a keenly contested encounter.
The city side started brightly, boosted by the return from long term injury’s of Jesse De Vries, Alfie Orris and Harry Sloan and looked to take the game to Sutton going up the slope.
Despite the positive start, the Pilgrims found themselves behind when a slip in the defensive line left a gaping hole in the defensive line which Sutton exploited to take a 0-7 lead.

The pilgrims looked to build on positive front foot ball provided by the forwards, but after a series of positive carries, a pilgrims lineout was thrown long and Sutton expertly countered and showed why they are competing at the top of the league by exploiting the error to score a second which was well converted from out wide. 0-14.

The pilgrims were punished again when hooker Jake Dengate was yellow carded for a late tackle. Sutton kicked for the corner and peeled off the resulting lineout to score from close range and extend their lead to 0-21.

Pilgrims regrouped and again showed they themselves looked dangerous in possession with the pack linking well in the loose to make inroads. Sutton stemmed the tide illegally allowing Owain Collins to register the pilgrims first points of the afternoon with a simple penalty in front of the posts. 3-21.

with the first half drawing to a close, some good play by the backs forced Sutton back into their 22 and and they were forced into touch in their own 22. The pilgrims executed a well worked maul from the lineout and allowed front row replacement Nate Morris to dot down and make the HT score 8-21.

The halftime break allowed pilgrims to regroup and they came out firing as they looked to attack down the slope. Dengate rejoined the fray after his enforced rest and momentum started to swing their way as good work by the forwards created space for Collins to power over and he converted his own try, 15-21.

Sutton looked dangerous whenever they got ball in hand but they were struggling to deal with Pilgrims’ attacking tempo and they were making ground with every run. This set a great platform for the backs and allowed fleet footed fullback Owen Hewitt to skip through for pilgrims 3rd which Collins converted to give them the lead for the first time, 22-21.

Collins then added a second penalty goal to take the score to 25-21 before Sutton showed good determination to score their bonus point try when they powered over from close range despite a number of courageous goal line tackles from the home side to take back the lead, 25-26.

With 10 minutes remaining the pilgrims went up a gear, spurred on my the home support. The forwards were making dents and the backs were looking dangerous. After some good work at the lineout by the pack the backs looked to move the ball wide and after Collins found Orris with a nice pass, his outrageous effort to put Hewitt in space out wide was even better and he raced away to add the pilgrims 4th and bonus point try to take the score to 30-26. Sutton attempted one final attack but pilgrims defence stood firm and they held on to take 5points from a well contested encounter. The Pilgrims travel to Beckenham next Saturday for what promises to be another close encounter.

We are thrilled to share some fantastic news from our ACE programme at The Archbishop’s School. Summer, a dedicated Year 12 student, has achieved an incredible milestone by being selected for the Rachael Burford Player Development Group (PDG).

Balancing her academic studies with her personal growth and sporting ambitions, Summer has shown outstanding commitment and determination. Her hard work paid off as she earned a starting position at hooker over the weekend—a testament to her skill and perseverance on the rugby field.

This achievement highlights the values we champion at ACE: resilience, dedication, and striving for excellence both in and out of the classroom. We couldn’t be prouder of Summer and look forward to seeing her continue to shine in her rugby journey.

Congratulations, Summer! Your success is an inspiration to us all.