A try in sudden death extra time gave Beaufort school the 1908 Cup at Year 8 and provided a fitting climax to a marvellous day's rugby league played in warm conditions at Newlands.

Eighteen teams competed in the three age groups of the competition with St Peter's
retaining their Year 9 title and Crypt making amends for their Year 8 loss by winning the inaugural Year 10 crown.

The 1908 Cup was the largest rugby league competition for schools played in the county and produced some fine contests in the sunshine. Thirteen schools from the Cheltenham, Gloucester and Stroud School Sports Partnerships took part in the competition organised by the South West Rugby League Service Area, which saw nearly 300 children playing nine-a-side rugby league tournaments at Year 8, Year 9 and Year 9.

There were plenty of guest appearances on the day with Leeds Rhinos continuing their
involvement with rugby league in the south west by attending while Liberal Democrat MP Martin Horwood took time out from campaigning for the General Election by spending some time watching the boys in action.

With Gloucester's former New Zealand rugby league international Lesley Vainikolo looking on, Crypt School contested the Year 10 final against Archway School of Stroud and emerged comfortable winners by seven tries to two. Their speed and smart handling proved too much for Archway who collected runners-up medals for the second year running. Tries from Jake Underwood, Aaron Moorfield and two from Harri Sayer saw Crypt to a four tries to one halftime lead before James Bennett, Stephen White and Moorfield completed a fine win.

Archway's scorers were Jake Lee and Ashton Herbert and Lee's performance was such that he earned the Arthur Smith medal presented to him by Arthur Smith's granddaughter, Beryl Aherne.

At Year 9, Marling School marked an impressive debut in the competition by winning the group phase and qualifying for the final where they were just unable to overcome St Peters as a late try from Jake Harris sealed a narrow 4-2 win.

Cyrus Cameron had earned St Peters the lead before a Jack Richards try levelled matters. Scores from Harris and Dan Martin seemed to have St Peters in control at the break with a 3-1 lead. A try from Alistair Bolton gave Marling hope but in a tense finish, Harris' second score was the clincher.
St Peters' Luke McMahon was named the winner of the Arthur Smith Medal for his
performance in the tournament.

At Year 8, Beaufort picked up the 1908 Cup from Lesley Vainikolo and the competition
sponsor Martin Roddy MBE to make up for their loss twelve months ago by defeating Crypt School by five tries to four in a final that saw fortunes fluctuate with both sides leading at one stage.

Ryan Kline and Dan Anfield each scored twice for Crypt but it was Jordan Douglas' double and an impressive hat-trick from Jordan Hancock gave Beaufort the spoils. Hancock's efforts earned him the Arthur Smith Medal as player of the tournament at Year 8.

 

See photos of the competitions

 

YEAR 8

Group 1

Bishops College 1-5 Christ College

Tewkesbury 2-5 Churchdown

St Edwards 0-2 Christ College

Tewkesbury 4-0 Bishops College

St Edwards 1-6 Tewkesbury

Bishops College 0-7 Churchdown

Christ College 3-3 Churchdown

Tewkesbury 2-3 Christ College

St Edwards 2-1 Bishops College

Churchdown 3-2 St Edwards

 

Group 2

Beaufort 3-2 Crypt

Severnvale 1-6 Dene Magna

Crypt 5-0 Severnvale

Dene Magna 3-4 Beaufort

Beaufort 5-1 Severnvale

Crypt 3-2 Dene Magna

 

Group 1	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Churchdown	4	3	1	0	18	7	7
Christ College	4	3	1	0	13	6	7
Tewkesbury	4	2	0	2	14	9	4
St Edwards	4	1	0	3	5	12	2
Bishops College	4	0	0	4	2	18	0
Group 2
Beaufort	3	3	0	0	12	6	6
Crypt	3	2	0	1	10	5	4
Dene Magna	3	1	0	2	11	8	2
Severnvale	3	0	0	3	2	16	0

 

Play Offs

Tewkesbury 5-0 Dene Magna

Bishops College 2-5 Severnvale

St Edwards 5-5 Severnvale

Semi Finals

Churchdown 3-4 Crypt

Christ College 2-5 Beaufort

 

FINAL

Beaufort 5-4 Crypt (AET)

 

 

YEAR 9

Christ College 2-4 Winchcombe

St Peters 4-2 Tewkesbury

Winchcombe 2-5 Tewkesbury

St Peters 7-2 Christ College

Marling 3-2 Tewkesbury

Marling 6-0 Christ College

Winchcombe 2-6 St Peters

Winchcombe 2-4 Marling

Tewkesbury 5-2 Christ College

Marling 4-3 St Peters

 

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Marling	4	4	0	0	17	7	8
St Peters	4	3	0	1	20	10	6
Tewkesbury	4	2	0	2	14	11	4
Winchcombe	4	1	0	3	10	17	2
Christ College	4	0	0	4	6	22	0

 

FINAL

Marling 2-4 St Peters

 

 

YEAR 10

St Peters 2-3 Severnvale

Archway 3-6 Crypt

St Peters 5-5 Archway

Crypt 3-2 Severnvale

Crypt 2-1 St Peters

Archway 6-2 Severnvale

 

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Crypt	3	3	0	0	11	6	6
Archway	3	1	1	1	14	13	3
Severnvale	3	1	0	2	7	11	2
St Peters	3	0	1	2	8	10	1

 

FINAL

Crypt 7-2 Archway