Under 16’s Cup Run

The U16’s had a hugely successful run in this year’s Quins Cup and reached the Final of the 2^nd tier Twickenham Cup by virtue of some fantastic wins over Old Cranleighans, Wimbledon and Battersea Ironsides. Our opponents in the Final, to be played at London Irish, would have been Farnham however under very dubious circumstances (basically they didn’t want to lose) they decided to withdraw & by default we won the trophy. It put a bit of a dampener on things because the boys wanted to win the trophy outright on the pitch, however it didn’t detract from the fact that they thoroughly deserved it because they have worked hard all season and our results are a reflection of this.

A last-minute friendly against Dorking B was arranged on Finals day and we produced another very hard-fought win.

The most significant fact from all of this is that we are now ranked 9^th in Surrey. Just hold that thought for a second while you consider who is above us. Chobham, Rosslyn Park, Dorking, Old Reigatians, London Irish, Old Ruts, Warlingham & Esher. All clubs with a significantly larger player pool who can put out 2 teams on a regular basis. We sometimes struggle to put one team together. And then think about all our rival clubs ranked below us (Guildford are now 24^th). This is a massive achievement by our boys & it deserves recognition.

There is a wonderful unity in this squad and as most of the boys have been playing together since the U5’s, a very strong bond has been formed between them all. Over the years a couple of players have come and gone but we have also had a lot of new players join the ranks, so to get to this stage with a 26-strong group of talented lads is no mean achievement. I commend them all.

Match Report Paddy Dangerfield