Victory in the John Gray Cup

Words by Pete Raeyen

A misty morning welcomed us all to Welwyn RFC on Sunday to see the Welwyn under 8s take on Barnet and Fullerians in the John Gray cup. On arrival, we were immediately faced with the toughest task of the day - trying to get the players past the ice cream van which had taken up residence right by the entrance to the field. Taking over the under 9s training area gave us 3 large pitches to play on. Each club brought two teams and each team played 4 matches which gave everyone an opportunity to play each visiting team. Points towards the cup competition were only counted on a few of the matches which worked well for Welwyn 1 particularly as they ran out winners in each of their 4 matches. Welwyn 2 battled hard in some very tight matches and managed a draw in one match but were beaten in the other three.

The sun came out after about an hour taking care of the remaining mist and giving us a proper spring morning which was well received by the spectators after such a chilly start. Some great rugby was played with passing getting more and more accurate. Coaches and parents alike should be proud of the players achievements as they were the only Welwyn age group to take home the John Gray cup. Well done all!

Well done Chris for turning out while suffering a severe bout of Man Flu, Graham for refereeing while carrying a knee injury, Alex for turning out in shorts (ok, nothing new there!), Jeff the ref for great refereeing (and rhyming) skills, Catherine for officiating and Riaan who managed to both referee and coach simultaneously. At one point I thought he was going to accept a pass and run for the line himself!

Congratulations Under 8s and coaches!