M.M Aherne started the day off on the right note by winning the toss resulting in @⁨Rohan Dickinson⁩⁩ and I volunteering to start the first attacking set with field position (a common theme for the day). With a strong pool to play in we faced off against a solid Old Wesley team. Having played a few more events and with the luck of their Irish on their side Wesley proved too strong for St. Albans and edged ahead with some well worked touchdowns. @⁨Adam Jasinski⁩⁩ started his first official tournament strong scoring the first for St. Albans with a great line and well timed run. Unfortunately we were unable to bring the game back however the game showcased to us the level of play required in the tournament and served as a good wake up call.

Our second game was against a very strong alpha wolves squad who seemed to be composed of several northern players from different teams with the only theme in common that the all seemed to have some sort of England touch kit. This was a good opportunity to play against some very quality players and St. Albans stepped up quite well. With several extremely talented individuals in the opposite team we were not able to hold them out forever but our defence was tried several times and we defended several sets before letting one in. @⁨Matthew Sandlant⁩ was able to sneak across the line with an effective dummy however the final score of 7-1 showed the quality of our opponents. Considering they went on to win the Cup Final 6-2 it also showed that we defended quite admirably.

@⁨Meadhbh Aherne⁩⁩ lost the next toss against Orrell. Prompting Rohan and I to let the representatives from the England over 45s (@⁨Mark Carlyon⁩ and Stephan) show off their defending skills. This backfired with Rohan and I then managing to end up defending the entire time we were on the pitch for that game. Karma? ??‍♂ A close game ensued with St. Albans scoring twice @⁨Alex Krikorian⁩ starting his account and Adam adding another to his. Unfortunately a few dubious ref calls resulted in the game finishing 4-2 to Orrell. During this period @⁨Stephan⁩ Guder was unusually quiet, however our youngest recruit Eloise had taken over in his absence a have the ref a dressing down.

Having lost all our pool games @⁨Evita Vandenbossche⁩, @⁨Matthew Sandlant⁩ and @⁨Meadhbh Aherne⁩ left for lunch. Panic ensued as we realised the bowl quarter final started soon and we were 3 short. Arriving exactly on time we faced off against L.A.L.T with a full squad. Playing a similar style to the flying wedges L.A.L.T proved good practice for St. Albans to show they can play touch. I managed to get on the board after being coaxed by Rohan to score resulting in the softest and slowest dive of all time. Despite the apparent post lunch struggles I was clearly showing everyone else made short work of the opposition with Matt, Adam Meadhbh and Emily all scoring. Our proud coach crossed the line twice bringing the final score in at 7-1. ?

The junior Orrell were St. Albans next opponents. With the average age of their team being atleast half that of ours. St Albans started strong and continued that way. @⁨Alex Krikorian⁩ and I took advantage of playing opponents more similar to our stature adding a couple to our total, Matt and Adam continued their form adding some more with Matt selling the same dummy to another team. I selfishly denied Eloise an opportunity to get her name on the board and scored another for myself. James L then joined the fray and scored his first tournament points. There was much elation celebrating on and off the field resulting in @⁨James Lanwarne⁩ forgetting to bring the ball back and getting grilled by @⁨Stephan⁩. The final score 6-2 and St. Albans through to the bowl final! ???

Up against Orrell for the second time we knew we could challenge for the bowl. Another close game unfolded with Orrell defending particularly well and St. Albans finding it difficult to score. Orrell scored a couple and Rohan answered with one of his own. Unfortunately the experienced Orrell team who played CTS last year proved too wise for St. Albans winning the bowl final 3-1. Having played two closely matched games against Orrell this was a tough result but shows that the St. Albans team had developed and learnt a lot during the day. 10th place didn’t necessarily show we were the 10th best team on the day with Warwick placing 4th and going through some easier games however this is pre season and it was great for us to play some quality opponents and develop our competing touch.

Reds true barbecue replenished all of the calories we had spent during the day ?. And after a quick stop at the brew dog bar ? we headed to @⁨Stephan⁩’s favourite Caribbean cocktail bar ?. Adam Rohan Alex and I all did our shots per point scored later on in the night and I’ll make a note of those who seemed to disappear before this was possible. Great weekend all and looking forward to the next tournaments!! ?