The U9 Tag Rugby Festival
May 2010

On 19th May 2010 the College hosted an U9 Tag Rugby Festival at the junior department in Aldford. There were a total of 12 teams playing in 3 groups of 4 teams. The 2 teams who came 1st and 2nd in each group would progress to the cup competition along with the 2 best 3rd placed teams.

The remaining teams progressed to the plate competition. The Abbey Gate College (Aldford) A team played first against Bridgewater, this was an exciting game with great tackling and commitment. The Abbey Gate College team found it difficult to get into their rhythm but they also prevented Bridgewater getting into theirs and resulted in a one try each score line.

The Abbey Gate College A team also drew their second match against Waverton A Team which also ended 1-1. The final group game was a must win for the College A team and with the style of rugby improving all the time, the team were confident going into the last match. A single try of the match from George Smith was enough to put the College A team into the quarter-finals of the cup.

The Aldford B team found it to be more difficult as they came up against some very strong opposition in their group. The College B team narrowly lost by a try in their first match and went down 4 tries to 0 in their second fixture. As the final game approached the College B team had nothing to lose and began to show some flair in attack. John Muir was a constant threat in attack and often found gaps in the opposition’s defence. Gabby Parker worked hard but could not help her team find a victory in their final game; the College eventually lost 3-1.

After the group games had finished there was tension around the ground as teachers and pupils anticipated who they would be playing next. The College A team were drawn against Liverpool College A in the quarter-finals of the cup, while the College B team were drawn against Waverton B in the semi-finals of the plate.

The Abbey Gate College A team approached their quarter-finals with confidence and went ahead in their game with only 30 seconds of the game remaining. Unfortunately, they managed to concede a try after the restart which put the game into extra time. The College battled hard in extra time but eventually lost the match by a single try, the game finished 2-1 with Liverpool College A progressing to the next round and the eventual winners of the cup.

The College B team had a much harder test than their group fixtures but still managed to play some good rugby, unfortunately they went down 4-0 to a side that lost by one try in the plate final against The Firs. Well done to all the teams who took part and a huge thank you to those parents and teachers who helped out and supported the event.

A special thank you must be given to our senior school students and referees George Bryant, Simon Povey and Ben Kresnyak, who did a fantastic job. Also, a massive thank you to our junior 5 pupils who worked tirelessly all afternoon and finally to Miss Walker for her help and support, without this the tournament would not have been so successful.

Mr G Barton