U8s go from strength to strength at Marlow

Sunday 25th March 2007

Maidenhead Under 8s go from strength to strength at Marlow Tournament

Maidenhead's Under 8s launched a dual assault on the trophies at Marlow RFC's 35^th annual mini rugby tournament last weekend. In a tournament attended by over 1,600 boys and girls, from as far afield as Sandal in the north and Jersey in the south, the young guns from Maidenhead wowed the crowds with some great rugby and came home with more silverware and medals to put in their well-stocked trophy cabinet.

The B team exceeded all expectations, winning three of their four group matches, to secure a place in the Shield Final against a strong Old Albanians side who were making their first appearance at the Marlow Tournament. Maids produced another scintillating display in the final, showing some great determination and teamwork, but were just edged out 8 tries to 6. An appearance in the final was well deserved and a reward for all the hard work Maidenhead's B team players have put in this season

The A team, fresh from their triumph in the Llanera Cup at London Irish the previous week, needed to draw on all their experience and rugby skills to qualify from a group which was one of the most competitive they had faced in any competition to date. The Maids beat sides from Newbury and Windsor and secured an exciting 4-4 draw against old rivals Henley. Their only defeat came against a powerful, well-drilled Chobham side who turned out to be the tournament's eventual winners. Nevertheless, Maids had done enough in their group matches to progress to the "A team Shield Final" where they faced Oxford Harlequins. Despite it being a close game all the way through, Maids managed to keep their noses in front and emerged 6-5 winners, to lift the Shield and secure their medals.

Anyone interested in joining in the fun and developing their rugby skills should visit Maidenhead RFC's website http://www.maidenheadrfc.com/youth/ for more information and where contact details for all the age groups can be found.

A team: Harry Wells, Thomas Maclean, Alex Sutton, Harry McCaffrey, Gregor Peberdy, Athena Peberdy, Olie McGregor, Jake Holden and Jake Jenkins.

B team: Mark Hedouin, Taran Uppal, Thomas Green, Saul Payne, George Harris, Cameron Reeve, Zac Sanders and Ben Chippington