Royston take the final spot

 🚐 @rugby__tog On Tour

🏆 Cambridgeshire RFU County Cup

📆 19^th April 2025

March Bears🆚Royston

The final spot for this season's Junior Cup Final was at stake, as Royston Rugby Club traveled 49 miles from Hertfordshire to face March Bears in the Cambridgeshire RFU Junior County Cup Semi-Final, where the winners would advance to meet Wisbech.

The opening of the game saw March awarded a penalty. Opting to kick, they secured the points to take an early lead. Following the restart, Royston launched an attack, scoring an unconverted try. Another penalty was awarded to the home side, and by choosing to kick, they regained the lead by a single point.

Another penalty awarded to the home side provided an opportunity to add points to the scoreboard, extending their lead. Royston then launched a break from their own half, with the ball bouncing favorably and being touched down for a converted try to regain the lead, March went down to 14 as they received a Yellow Card, during this time Royston break again to score under the posts, conversion added, it seemed Royston had flicked a switch as they applied pressure to break again to score under the posts, March lose another played due to a yellow card,  

March Bears v Royston

Deep into first half storage time, Royston score again with a converted try as Royston lead 33-9 at the interval

The second half was marked by numerous penalties, resulting in a fragmented and stop-start beginning to the period.

Sixteen minutes into the second half, Royston scored a converted try under the posts, reaching the 40-point mark.

A poorly placed pass was intercepted by Royston deep in their own half, allowing them to race the entire length of the pitch and score under the posts once again. March Bears got on the scoreboard as they scored a converted try to make it 16-47

March went down a man once more having received a yellow card, during this time and the end of the match Royston took the score from 47 points to 65 points, as Royston scored in the corner once more as the game comes to a close as Royston cross the 50 point mark, for the score to sit at 54-16, directly from the restated Royston cross the try line again, while on the final whistle there was still time for Royston to score again as the final score read  16-66

Full Time

Full time saw Royston again take their place in the Final, but also they once more have selection issues as they also line up in the Final of the Papa Johns Cup on the same day.

Shelford secure a Final Date

 Cantabs v Shelford II

Cambridgeshire County Cup Semi Final

The Shelford Nomads traveled a short distance from Cambridge Road, Shelford, to Long Road, Cambridge, to face Cantabs in the Semi-Final of the County Cup. Cantabs, having finished at the bottom of the league and faced relegation, entered the game as potential underdogs, while Shelford, who concluded the league in 6th place, also made adjustments to their starting lineup, as did their opponents.

Cantabs kicked off to get the game underway, the first attack of the game saw Shelford break from their half to cross the try line to score under the post, with the conversion added as they raced into a 7-0 lead, After the start you would have thought it would be a one sided game, but the opening ten minutes saw Cantabs come more into the game, A penalty to Cantabs, where they opted to kick for the points, it saw the first points on the board for Cantabs as they scored from the kick, after pulling the penalty back it was Cantabs that went ahead having scored a try, to lead 8-7, Shelford then score again, from a line out on the right they move the ball over to the left hand side of the pitch, finding a gap with a well judged kick, and wining the race to touch down to score a converted try.

A breakaway try by the home side as they won a line out inside their own half, racing away to score. they were unable to add the conversion as the bounced off the upright,  as Shelford lead by a point, as half time approached Shelford down to 14 as they received a yellow card, but there was still time for Shelford to add to the scoreline as Shelford are rewarded a penalty, which they scored as Shelford lead at the break 17-13

First attack of the second half, and the half starts with Cantabs parked in the Shelford try line, as the home side went ahead once more, by a single point, but they failed to add the conversion, from a line out deep in Cantabs half, Shelford cross the try line from a converted try to open a 24-18 lead, but the lead was cut short once more as the home side came back again as they came back to level the scores up at 24-24

From the restart, Shelford resumed their attack and scored again, widening the gap by scoring in the corner, making it 25-29. Shelford extended their lead with another try in the corner, but the conversion was missed, bringing the score to 30-34. Cantabs responded with a try in the corner to narrow the gap, during which Shelford received a yellow card, resulting in the game restarting with a penalty, from the restart, the game came to a concludsion as Shelford were the first club in the final.

The Final will be played at Cantabs, as Shelford face Newmarket on the 26th April

Tigers close off the season with defeat at Diss

 🚐 @rugby__tog On Tour

🏆 Counties 1 Eastern Counties

📆 5^th April 2025

🆚 Diss

Ely Tigers concluded the 2024/25 season with a visit to Diss, who had already been relegated. A victory would have secured Ely a place in the top half of the league table, this was game 162 of watching the Senior team, and game 38 of the season, and I'm still not done !! 

It was the home team that opened the scoring with a converted try within four minutes, leading 7-0.

After twenty minutes, Ely still struggled to find their footing, seemingly still on the bus as the game was plagued with errors. Despite these challenges, a breakthrough from Ely saw the ball moved from right to left, allowing Jordan Barnes to score, though the conversion was missed.

Missed tackles continued to be costly for Ely. Following the restart, Diss managed to slip through and score another converted try under the posts, extending their lead. Diss further increased their advantage to 17-5 with a successful penalty kick from halfway. As halftime approached, Ely won a penalty and opted to kick for points directly in front of the posts, but unfortunately, the kick went wide.

The second half began with Ely showing more brightness. They quickly took a line out deep in the Diss half, leading to John Surbey scoring in the corner. However, the kick was missed, leaving the score at 17-10. Diss had an opportunity to increase their lead with a penalty but the ball drifted wide. Diss received a yellow card, reducing them to 14 players. Ely was awarded another penalty and opted to kick, successfully gaining 3 points as the ball hit the upright and dropped over the bar, narrowing the lead by 4 points.

John Surbey

A break from Ely saw Adam Tallack pass wide to Surbey who scored his second try of the afternoon, bringing Tigers to an 18-17 lead. With the game heading into the final minutes, Ely needed to maintain possession and manage the closing moments. However, an error led to Diss scoring, along with a successful conversion. The official signalled the end of the season, resulting in a 24-18 defeat for Tigers. 

Tigers finished the season on 51 points in 8^th place, with plenty of work to be done before pre season restarts in July,