Duchy League

The draw's for all three cup competitions have now been made so go see who you've got! Also a new piece below and a couple of pictures from the AGM added to the photos page.

Colin Atkins Memorial - First Responders

A new Community First Responder unit has been set up for Gorran, Gorran Haven and the immediate surrounding area.

The Community First Responders (CFR) are local volunteers who work on a rota basis and are called out to aid a patient after a 999 call is made, whilst waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

The volunteers, who have undergone first aid training from Paramedics, go to the scene of the emergency. Being local, they usually get to the scene before the ambulance and administer first aid whilst waiting for it to arrive. They are particularly useful in rural areas and in the summer months.

Following the sudden death of Trecia Atkins’s husband Colin last March from heart failure, donations made in lieu of flowers totalled £1,400. This meant that a defibrillator could be purchased for the village for the EFR to use and the remainder was donated to the Cornwall Air Ambulance.

Colin was a qualified football referee, and was involved in refereeing and with the Bodmin Trophy’s Duchy League for many years. He was one of the founding members of the St Goran Playing Field Trust and was active in encouraging young referees and football in the community.

This EFR teams are a valuable service when time is of the essence to administer first Aid. There are seven volunteers in the group with two now on duty with the rest shortly active after a final training session out with an ambulance crew.

$C:\Documents and Settings\Cathy Walden\My Documents\My Pictures\Personal Family Pictures\ambo 001.JPG$ The Atkins family would like to sincerely thank all individuals and clubs who donated money to the Colin Atkins Memorial Fund and hope that this service will help the community for the future in his memory.

Pictured here in the background are the Emergency first Responders training group including the seven Gorran responders.

Left to right foreground – Trecia Atkins, Cathy Walden (daughter) Mark Atkins (son) India Walden (granddaughter), Barry Gibson (Paramedic), with the cheque for the money to purchase the defibrillator for Gorran and Gorran Haven with the remainder donated Cornwall’s Air Ambulance.

Perranporth FC

Perranporth were elected to the Mining League on Wednesday night 24 hours after attending our AGM. We could hold them to membership as per rule, but don't want clubs who would rather be elsewhere so we have left them leave. Division Four will also now be reduced to thirteen clubs which means that all divisions are the same size. The cup draws are to be made on Monday and at least they will be done without having a club included who would have later pulled out.

Report of The Duchy League Annual General Meeting

The Duchy League will remain with 79 teams in membership following the Annual Meeting at St.Stephen Community Centre. Although Edgcumbe and St.Dennis withdrew to take spots in the East Cornwall Premier League and there were further withdrawals from Biscovey Reserves, Dobwalls, Premier Sixes Reserves and St.Anns Chapel the six vacancies were all filled by new entrants. Both Padstow United and Tregony return to the League together with new club Charlestown Saints and stepping up from the Sunday League Duke of Cornwall (St.Austell). The remaining places were filled by St.Cleer and St.Newlyn East starting up reserve teams. The constitution was agreed with thirteen clubs in Premier, One, Two, Three and Five and fourteen clubs in Division Four.

Secretary Mike Newcombe in his Annual Report criticised clubs who withdrew from membership before the start of last season and also clubs that failed to fulfil six fixtures for failing to raise teams. He added that fines were again much too high for simple administration duties, but that this was enabling the League to keep down affiliation fees thus rewarding the better administered clubs.

He added that the League had not signed up to the FA Respect campaign as it did seem to add to what the League already expected of their clubs. He reminded all clubs that they should meet, greet and support referees on match days and if a mistake is made it is the responsibility of players, managers and supporters to get on with the game without abuse. Mr. Newcombe also said that respect is a two way thing and referees have their own responsibility but overall he felt the standard of officiating in the League was generally very good.

Mr. Newcombe wanted to highlight a very good season where history was made. Firstly St.Dennis returned the Junior Cup to the League after three years of western domination which has followed the increased numbers allowed in the east Cornwall League. But history was made by Devon side Lamerton who became the first Duchy club to win a Devon County competition in the Intermediate Cup. The Duchy League can proudly boast the County champions of Devon and Cornwall at their level.

He went on to thank sponsors Bodmin Sports Trophies and Jeffery’s Estate Agents for their continued support but added that the recession had seen no money forthcoming from the League Cup sponsors. He added that it was time for others to step forward and concentrate on sponsorship issue and reported that that this time no competitions were sponsored for next season.

Mr. Newcombe reported that six closely fought divisions had made last season an exceptional year with five of the championships being decided in the final two rounds of matches. He thanked all clubs that had put their facilities available for semi-finals and finals and also thanked the many clubs that had invited officers to their end of season functions.

Treasurer Phil Edworthy in his report thanked the auditors for their work and reported to the meeting that an outlay of £1350 for new team books was paid during the season. He added that payments for referee appointments were running a year behind, but overall the finances remain in a very healthy state.

The President Len Lobb thanked all the officers for their work throughout the season and was delighted to report that everywhere he goes all he hears is praise for the way the League is run.

The officers were re-elected en bloc. President L.J. Lobb, Chairman C. Burrell, Vice Chairman P. Collings, Secretary M.J. Newcombe, Treasurer P. Edworthy, Fixtures Secretary K. Franks, Assistant Secretary T. Steed.

Mr. Dunn of Dobwalls resigned from the management committee but all the other members were also re-elected en bloc. Messrs Pethick, Osborne, Hitchman, Trevenna, Stephens, Bennett, Kitto and Woodforth

Mr. Lobb presented sporting trophies to the following clubs. Premier Div. Altarnun, Div. Two St.Stephen, Div. Three Nanpean Rovers, Div. Four Stratton United and Division Five Mevagissey Reserves. The Div. One award went to Dobwalls.

The Class Seven Referee of the Year was presented to Alan Stokes and for the first time ever the League’s highest marked referee was honoured when Dave Goldstone was presented with the Colin Atkins Memorial Trophy.

The Secretary of the Year award was won by Michael Kinger of Gunnislake F.C.

St.Stephen F.C. Covered Standing Area

St.Stephen celebrate the opening of their new covered standing area
with a match against Plymouth Argyle Veterans on Sunday 5th July.
Relentless fund raising by the committee and kind donations has put
the club in the position to raise their standards by adding the
covered area. The stand is being opened at 10:30 am with the game to
follow at 11:00.

The league would like to congratulate all at St.Stephen who will
finally see their efforts rewarded.