Juniors share cup spoils

Apr 25 2008 by Alec Doyle, Chester Chronicle

CHESTER Rugby Club didn’t lose a game on their way to capturing their fourth Cheshire Under 12s Cup in five years.

The club’s outstanding U12s side were in unbeatable form at Caldy RUFC but they were held to a draw by Altrincham in the final – meaning the two sides shared the trophy.

Altrincham raced into a 7-0 lead, but a tense finish saw Christian Tighe score a try in the dying moments and Charlie Craven kick the conversion to level the game at 7-7.

In the pool games, Chester had a hard first match against Caldy which ended 0-0. In the remaining pool games they defeated Northwich 2- 0 and Winnington Park 12-0.

As a result, Chester ended up runners-up in the pool to Caldy on points difference and went through to the quarter-finals.

There they faced a daunting Crewe team but Chester focused on their game and triumphed 21-7.

A resilient Macclesfield side met Chester in the semi and, despite it ending 0-0, the Hare Lane side went through by virtue of scoring more points in the tournament as a whole.

Chester’s squad comprised: Adam Young, Charlie Craven, Jonny Wilson, Harry Shaw, Ben Davies, Tom Okell, Max Alderman, George Nott, Rory Hardman, Christian Tighe, James Falcus, Jack Hughes, Jack Barber, Matthew Anthony, Robert Hulmes, Alex Thornton and Mike Knight.

Last season’s U12s side missed out on the trophy only because they had not scored enough points when they drew their semi-final.

Chester’s U12s have not lost a county cup game in 30 tournament matches.