BURNLEY RUFC have the Seal of Approval — and it’s official!

The Holden Road club have earned the RFU Active Sports Seal of Approval which was officially unveiled by Burnley MP Kitty Usher ahead of their home clash with the Vale of Lune.

However, there was to be no perfect ending to the day for Burnley in the top v bottom clash as league leaders Vale secured a 32-8 win.

Burnley have now lost all five games since gaining promotion to North Lancs/Cumbria via the play-offs.

A try from hooker Nino Angelone and penalty from Richard Griffiths were nothing more than consolation points for Burnley who battled hard against the league leaders but gave the big crowd little to cheer about.

“We’re struggling with injuries at the moment,” said chairman Phil Harbour. “We lack strength in depth so when you lose first team players you feel it.

“Hopefully, we should have a full strength team for our next home match.”

While Burnley are presently struggling, the future certainly looks bright thanks to the RFU accredi-tation.

The RFU introduced the Active Sports Seal of Approval programme as a method of examining, maintaining and improving the provision of rugby in the youth section of an Active Sports rugby club. Building upon current good practice, the accreditation aims to recognise the effort and achievement of those clubs that reach, maintain and improve on the required standard of a club committed to the Active Sports programme.

“This shows we are building for the future,” added Harbour. “Gaining this award also means it will be easier for us to obtain funding which is vital.”

A special presentation was also made to Peter Hughes who was awarded the Torch Trophy Trust Award for his services to the game.

The Burnley Rugby Club stalwart and former international referee picked up the coveted award from the Duke of Kent at a glitzy ceremony in London back in January.

At the weekend, Hughes was presented with a framed photograph of the occasion by Kitty Usher.

Harbour said: “Peter has been a loyal servant to this club for more than 40 years.

“It is fantastic that he has received this coveted awarded and we thought it would be a lovely gesture to present him with a frame photograph to mark the occasion.”