Year 9 Rugby Somerset County Cup Final

1st Feb, 2010, by Jude Owens

The Kings of Wessex (under 14's) 22 v 17 Kingsmead (under 14's)

The Kings of Wessex School Year 9 rugby squad capped a marvellous first year by last week claiming the County Cup, and the Team have remained unbeaten throughout the campaign in both friendly fixtures and cup games.

The semi final at Haygrove School in Bridgwater was a real test for the boys and after a keenly contested first half Kings rugby boys ran away with the game to (29 5) to book their place in the final. The Somerset Cup Final was hosted at North Petherton RFC with the opposition being an unknown quantity from Kingsmead School in Wiveliscombe. This was to be the toughest opposition to date - and not surprising as Kingsmead were also unbeaten up to this point.

The first half was a nervy affair with mistakes and handling errors from both sides interrupting the flow of the game. It was soon apparent that the team who settled their nerves the quickest would gain the upper hand. Kings' centre Dan Crane crossed for the first try with Will Cahill adding the conversion to give a 7 0 lead. But Kingsmead responded soon afterwards with a try of their own. A very level first half saw both sides trade one more score each to leave the interval score at a nerve jangling 12 12.

A big half time talk and some confidence-building resulted in the Cheddar School side coming out for the second period with plenty of passion and tremendous commitment to try and gain the ascendency. Two more well worked tries from Kings meant a 22 12 lead; but Kingsmead were not finished and scored a fine breakaway try of their own to cut the lead to just five points with only minutes remaining.

Kings kept possession - as well as their composure - during a highly tense conclusion to an epic battle and the final whistle was greeted with jubilant scenes from the victors.

Try scorers were Dan Crane 2, Sam Balkham and Stan Smith. There was no standout player for Kings as everyone played their part in a great win, but special mention should go to Captain Scott Franklin who led by example and can be very proud of his and his teams' success.

Headteacher Chris Richardson said: "I am delighted with our boys' Somerset County Cup win. This a wonderful triumph for the team who have played with great energy and enthusiasm this season. I also thank our Teacher of P.E. Terry Clark for his skilful coaching."

The winning team: Sam Balkham, Lewis Norton - Collins, Dan Crane, Connor Baker, Stan Smith, Will Cahill, Scott Franklin (capt), Jake Fear, Alex Collins, Will Jonas, Simon Nothard, Rob Cornish, George Reason, Alex Perkins, Tom Jones. Replacements: Keiran Marshall, Sam Davey, Will Astill, Sam Wall, Dennis Palmer & Dan Dalton