Youngsters shine in Cambridgeshire Cup

IT has been another great week for the youngsters at Royston Rugby Club, with both the juniors and minis shining at the ­Cambridgeshire Cup.

The club's under sevens, eights, and nines ­completed a triple whammy of trophies, winning their respective competitions which were all held in Ely.

Royston swept aside teams from Cambridge, Shelford, Peterborough, Huntingdon, Wisbech, Ely and Saffron Walden.

Club chairman David Gee said: "I watched the under-seven squad play and they had a very solid defence that was very rarely penetrated.

"It created a strong foundation for some impressive tries."

Under-seven head coach Darren Baldwin has spent a lot of time with his squad and used every player throughout the tournament, which showed their strength as a team.

The Cambridgeshire Cup wins follow another fine display at the Letchworth Rugby Festival, where three Royston teams came out on top.

Gee added: "This is yet another testament to the strength of coaching and rugby at Royston."

Under-seven squad: Harrison Baldwin, Archie Burlton, Euan Denchfield, Tomas Donnellan, Oliver Gee, Lathan Harris, Josh Hurd, Henry Jones, Euan Rees, Morgan Redrup, William Smith, Luke Townsend, Patrick Tyrrell.

ROYSTON under-8s won their second tournament in two weeks with an impressive county cup ­victory.

Royston fought hard in a tough group league and beat both Ely and Cambridge after drawing their opening game with Wisbech, as Jamie Caldwell (2), Matthew Morris, Angus Few-Martin (3), Daniel Rabetts (2) and Sam Hurd got among the tries.

Ben Sams, Tommy Compton, and Henry King impressed with their tackling and support play, which improved with each game.

Four semi-final tries from Hurd saw off a well-drilled Saffron Walden side as Royston's intelligent play deservedly saw them reach the final, where they faced a strong Huntingdon team.

In a tight game, Royston's dogged defence and support play shone once more, as did the skill of Hurd, who grabbed three more tries.

Rabetts also ran over for an important try as Royston came out on top with a 4-3 win and deservedly picked up the winners trophy.

ROYSTON under-11s also took part in the Cambridgeshire Rugby Festival and continued their fine early season form.

In their first game of the competition, Royston faced a strong Peterborough side in a game that ended 5-5.

Sam Copeland grabbed the Royston try, with Robbie Murdock and Oli Shepherd causing Peterborough problems.

Tries from Thomas Darke, Sam Edney (2) and Copeland saw off Haverhill in what was another solid performance, before they went down to Cambridge in their third match.

The under-11s bounced back though, and beat St Ives 10-5 with Copeland driving over for another try early on.

After St Ives responded with a try of their own, Townsend found Murdock with a fine pass, the latter diving over for his second of the tournament.

In their final pool game, Royston then saw off St Neots, with Copeland smashing through their defence for another excellent try.

Copeland then grabbed his second of the match before Oli Frazer ­completed the win.

Copeland won the man-of-the-match award, in what was his last appearance for Royston, before moving to New Zealand.

- Royston Under-11s are looking for new players. Interested youngsters are invited to try out at training which tales place at the Heath on Sundays from 10am.