THE Estuary Cup is in its third year and has previously won by Teignmouth and then Okehampton, reports Judi Hellier.
Jane Mclellan, Teignmouth prop, began the tournament which is sponsored by Ohana Beauty.
Five women’s teams came together on Good Friday to compete in 10 games of 12-a-side, 12 minutes each way.
The tournament looked like it wouldn’t go ahead due to standing water on the pitch, however Teignmouth women worked hard together to clear the pitch and despite the rain that continued all day, it went ahead.
Try scorers for Teignmouth across their five games were Jacci Evans, Jane Mclellan, Emily Sutcliffe, Chloe Sutcliffe and Felicity Dunn. They had two successful conversions kicked by Beth Wreford and Teignmouth’s player of the day went to Jane Mclellan, sponsored by Glen Group Ltd.
Vice-captain Emily Sutcliffe, who is sponsored by Tozers Solicitors, was awarded with the player of the tournament trophy, sponsored by Greenwood Accountancy. Emily rallied the team together to clear the pitch of standing water, played in nine out of the 10 games and played for three other teams besides Teignmouth, showing true TREDS spirit.
A huge thank you to the referees for the day who volunteered their time- Ryan Hallett, Phil Laws, Graeme Gillard, Elliot White and Charlotte Rogers.
The Estuary cup was won by Cullompton with Bideford coming a close 2nd.
Easter Saturday then saw the third edition of the annual Coronation Cup. Two years ago, it was won by the Dawlish Black Swans and last year by the Mighty Teigns.
Dawlish arrived in style with smoke and flares pushing a black swan. Junior player Larry Aldworth carried the Swan’s flag on to the pitch ahead of the team to start the game.
Rio Cooper was the first to put points on the board with a penalty kick for the Swans, 0-3. Jordan Hellier was next with a try for Teigns, 5-3.
The Swans came back with a try from a maul which was successfully converted by Rio Cooper, 5-10. Mathew Dowrick levelled the score back with his try, 10-10.
A yellow card was awarded to the Swans and as agreed, this was just 3 minutes, but they had to stand in the ‘naughty corner’ of home corner.
10-10 may have been a nice place to end but there was still 20 minutes of the match remaining. Charlie Muir saw an opportunity and scored take it to 10-15. This time a yellow card went to Teigns so it was their turn in the ‘naughty corner’.
Rio Cooper had another shot at posts from a penalty and took the score to 10-18 before the final whistle.
There is nothing like a local derby to arouse passion in players and enthusiasm in a crowd and so when that rivalry is even closer to home, a great day is almost inevitable.
This was all about pride in a town, passion for a club, and a will to inspire future generations of TRFC players and supporters.
The rugby season has now finished and there will be a lot of work happening over the summer, I would like to end this season’s report by just adding that all three of my children scored in the senior games this weekend making me a very proud report writer. See you in September when the 10th season will begin for the women!