County Cup Winners

County Cup Winners

Market Harborough u13s were victorious in the County Cup on Sunday, overcoming a tough challenge from Leicester Forest to reclaim their title.

The Harborough side were under pressure from the start and initially struggled to gain possession of the ball. Forest had a flying flanker and moved the ball quickly out to the wings. Max Dalby and Kieran Silcott both put in some excellent defensive work in the early stages, but Forest were quickly 0 – 10 up. Harborough needed to settle into the game and put the opposition under some pressure.

Silcott scored first to bring the score to 5 – 10, once Harborough retained the ball and worked their way through the phases. A strong blustery wind made it a difficult day for the kickers and the first opportunity for a conversion was missed. Harborough were beginning to get in to their own game and used their powerful forwards to drive the ball, with Adam Stamp grabbing a trademark score under the posts. This time Will Hallam converted, taking Harborough into the lead for the first time at 12 – 10.

Forest were far from felled at this point. Again using their strong runners out wide they outpaced the Harborough defence to score under the posts for a straightforward conversion. Forest held the lead at half time, 12 – 17 up.

With the wind behind them in the second half, Harborough were able to up the intensity level and started to win much more ball at the breakdown. The forwards were carrying well with some good breaks from Harry Grimmett, Huw Davies, James Melody and Cameron Franklyn. Sam Pindling was punching holes in the centre and Joe Summers was beginning to find some gaps at fly half.

Henry Povoas powered through the defence for two tries in quick succession, one converted by Hallam to take the score to 26 – 17. This left Forest needing two scores and Harborough were beginning to take control. That didn’t stop Forest giving it their all and Harborough still had plenty of defending to do.

Silcott scored in the corner following a break by Davies, feeding Povoas running outside him, who popped the scoring pass to effectively take the game beyond Forest. The last try of the day was scored by Will Nijjer again following hard work by the forwards, and the conversion by Hallam was a peach.

The final score of 38 – 17 was impressive against such determined opposition. Both teams have had enjoyed successful seasons and were deserving finallists. Harborough worked hard for a victory after a nervy start, making success all the sweeter.