North Midlands Colts Cup Finals Day
What a tremendous day for Club Rugby in North Midlands and Quality Under 18 teams in particular! In bright sunshine and a light breeze the 4 finalists put on a tremendous display of rugby at this age.
As is traditional we started with the Tom Walters Shield with the Reds from Whitchurch taking on the White and Reds of Bromsgrove. Whitchurch started with a bang and scored almost from the KO. Bromsgrove steadied their ship but Whitchurch showed a sharp cutting edge in their backs and weathered the Bromsgrove Forward pressure to extend their lead up to half-time. The second half continued with the Bromsgrove Bludgeon taking on the Whitchurch Rapier with the wind giving the latter support up the hill. With 2 more tries extending the Whitchurch lead it looked like a comfortable win but back came Bromsgrove with 2 tries of their own to put doubt in the supporters from Shropshire and some hope for the Local fans. A further penalty and another converted try made the final score 34 – 17 look easy for Whitchurch but they had been made to fight every inch of the game.
This was the “starter” before the “Main” course with Birmingham Moseley trading blows with Luctonians in a real Heavyweight contest. Lucs were also fast at the start scoring in the first minute to lead 7 – 0. Moseley replied and levelled the score at 7 – 7 before Lucs crossed again to lead 14 – 7. Having played with the wind was this enough for Lucs? The Hereford lads were determined that they would overcome! They extended their lead to 19 – 7 and seemed to be in control. However in a last desperate effort in the final 10 minutes Moseley threw everything at Lucs and with time running out managed to get over the line for a converted try 19 – 14. The Red and Black tide surged forward from the restart and with the seconds ticking away they scored in the left corner. 19 – 19 with the conversion to come. Would it be the game winner? The kick soared towards the post but the wind had the last say as it dropped short. 19 all with 3 tries and 2 conversions each meant that the Cup is shared as NO EXTRA TIME is allowed in Age Grade Matches.
Both games were played with fierce competition but very little foul play under the eye of the teams of referees provided by North Midlands Referees. So many thanks to the 6 officials at the finals and also those who refereed all the previous Cup games.
Also Thanks to Droitwich RFC for hosting the Finals yet again.
Tom Walters Plate – Whitchurch 34 / Bromsgrove 17
Stan Whitfield Cup – Birmingham Moseley 19 / Luctonians 19 (draw)
