Southwell Rugby Club head coach Andy Powell announces decision to stand down

A rugby club is looking for a new first-team coach after being being told their leader is stepping down at the end of the season.

Southwell’s head coach Andy Powell has told the club he is moving on to pursue other avenues within rugby.

Chairman Andrew Smith said: “We would like to thank Andy for his dedication to the club over the past years.

“We wish him well in his new ventures.

“The club will begin the process of recruiting a new head coach immediately for next season.”

Smith said Powell intends to remain an active member of the club and continue with his rugby camps. He also hopes to become more involved with the junior section.

Southwell 1sts suffered a 29-5 home loss to second-placed Ilkeston in the Counties 1 Midlands East (North) League at the weekend. They are next in action on April 6 when they have a home game against Belgrave.

Newark 1sts did not play on Saturday after opponents Wolverhampton pulled out of the tie.

Wolverhampton, who are already relegated, called off on Friday morning leaving Newark without opponents for the last league home game of the season.

RFU rules see Newark awarded the league points for a victory while Wolverhampton are docked league points.

Newark now have a break for Easter before finishing league commitments at Sutton Coldfield on Saturday week (April 6).

Newark 2nds lost a tight match at Gainsborough 28-17.

That leaves the 2nd team need to win their last league game, at home to Grimsby on April 6, to give themselves a chance of avoiding relegation.

A poor start cost Newark at Gainsborough but two tries from Ed Armstrong and one from Josh Stamp closed up the contest only for the home team to finish the stronger.

Ollerton travelled to Retford in the Midlands 3 league and fell 48 - 32.

This was a close game with Retford just having the edge, although Ollerton gained a bonus point.

Ollerton scored five fine tries from man-of-the-match Jack Cranmer (2) Jonny Brannan (2) and captain Liam Tebbett. Full-back Ryan Bowskill added a penalty and two conversions.

Ollerton 2nds travelled to Mansfield 3rds and lost 52 - 14.

Mansfield had a strong squad out and were very good. Ollerton kept in the fight and scored a couple of tries from veteran captain Eric Cranmer and fly-half Lewis Gotheridge. Conversions were by Alex Brannan and Daz Milnes.