It was no easy tournament, and the Steelers traveled up knowing that this year would be no easy challenge to retain the silverware. With the ability levels in the gay all inclusive rugby arena increasing year on year, we knew we had to keep our heads on and treat these matches seriously.

Our opening match against the Birmingham Bulls did not start off as a walk in the park, with the opening minutes of game play seeing the Bulls in our half getting increasingly closer to our try line. However the Steelers soon found their composure and warmed the muscles to push for an eventual 38-0 victory. The score line not fairly representing the pressure that the Bulls placed on us.

Our second match against the relatively new UK inclusive club, the Northampton Outlaws was a nail bitter for everyone involved. We knew this team had already made a strong name for itself proving themselves victorious against the Manchester Spartans earlier in the season (no easy feat) they had a reputation already, and what better way to cement that then by beating the Steelers?

Well they put up one hell of a fight, scoring the first try, and drawing us into a forwards dominated game where they had the upper hand. Going tit for tat on tries, we eventually drew in an intense battle at 12-12 meaning their score line against the Bulls would decide the finalists.

The Bulls put up an almighty fight, and luck was in our favor as we tipped it with a 2 point lead difference to see us through to the final against the Edinburgh Thebans.

We had learnt our lessons from the Outlaws and were driven to prove to the crowds that the Steelers had plenty left in them!

The final was like playing in a different team from this Steelers point of view.

We kept our heads, we played to our strengths, we played through the phases to setup the pitch the way we wanted it, worlds apart from our clash with the Outlaws. The Thebans were no easy opponents, and made some impressive breaks, but our defense refused to give up, and refused to allow them any points until the closing 3 minutes of play.

The final was a joy of a match to play against the friendly, goodnatured, but hard hitting Thebans, it was a brilliant end to a stunning tournament.

Once again, the KX Steelers take home the cup, but with the ability levels rising on the inclusive team front, how long can we keep it up?