Adventures to Share: March 2011

Friday, March 25, 2011

On Thursday 23^rd March, two teams competed at the Cheltenham and District Tag Rugby Tournament held at Newlands Park, Bishops Cleeve. Bathed in a glorious day of sunshine both teams played five matches in their morning pools. The teams showed great skill and determination from the start, both coming third in their pools.

In the afternoon, the pools were re-organised into a knockout competition. Both Mitton teams were drawn in the same pool and were due to play each other in their first match. Unfortunately this meant one team knew they would not win a trophy after their first game of the knock out stages. Mitton 1^st Team subsequently beat the 2nd Team after a hard fought contest. Despite this, the 2nd Team remained motivated until the end and didn’t lose any matches for the remainder of the day. Similarly the 1st Team were extremely motivated and focused, narrowly beating Leckhampton 3-2 and drawing with St Marks 3-3.

A nervous wait ensued while scores were tallied up. Brian Redpath, Head Coach of Gloucester Rugby Club, was a special guest and kindly presented the trophies. Mitton 2nd Team came 5^th and the 1st team won! Team Captain, Reece Everis and Vice Captain, Brendan McCarthy collected the trophy from the former Scotland scrum half and celebrated with team mates and parents.

It was pleasing to see both teams perform incredibly well; both have improved dramatically since September with fantastic running and passing skills on display. Charlie McVicker in particular produced a fine display of direct running which earned him 16 tries throughout the day – more than some teams scored!

Well done to all pupils, especially the captains who led with great maturity and confidence.

The teams were

1^st Team

Reece Everis (Capt), Brendan McCarthy (V.Capt), Sam Baker, Lauren Patel, Grace Parfrey, Patrick Kavanagh-Shields, Adam Packwood, Harry Janneh, Tom Sallis, Danny Arnall and Martin Burley.

2^nd Team

Richard Coleman (Capt), Liam Knight (V Capt), Charlie McVicker, Maisie Huck, Sam Huck, Emma Fletcher, Niall Matthews, Sam Graef, Jake Graef, Lee Hartell and Edward Godzisz