Yarnbury Rugby Club stalwart Paul Beardow has passed the 2,000 points mark for the club. The vital kick was a penalty goal with the last kick of the game against Cleckheaton.

It is believed that Paul is the first to achieve such a feat in the club's 126-year history.

He started playing for the club at the age of 16 years three months in September, 1970. He turned out for the Third team on the infamous Hill 60 against Old Roundhegians.

Almost 18 months later he travelled to Skipton to make his first team debut.

This was the first of 453 appearances for the Premier XV which ended in April, 1990, against Otliensians.

During this time he skippered the first team for three seasons and amassed 1,529 points.

The following season he led the club's Fifth team to its first full season.

In fact, so successful was player recruitment that the club fielded a Sixth team for two weeks.

However, the lure of the first team was ever present and after coaching the seniors for two seasons Paul was responsible for luring Bob Hood to the club as senior coach.

For the next two seasons Paul assisted Bob before work commitments meant attending training wasn't always possible.

So a return to playing with the lower sides allowed him to make over 600 appearances and pass into the club's history books.

Quite how long he can keep going is unclear but with seven-year-old twin boys just starting with the juniors it may not be too long before another Beardow carries on the tradition.

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