Cuppers and Lent 2014

After a disappointing fixture versus Homerton in the first round of the Cuppers’ Cup, the CCRFC squad was excited for the Shield competition knowing that the possibility of lifting silverware after three games was high.

And things started well. Despite several first term shirts falling out of the kit bag and getting incredibly dirty pre-game, the CCRFC started with an aggressive and physical mindset; several big hits from back-row flyers Will Helliwell and Sam Hair stand out. The Queens’ defence was solid though and the first half proved to be a battle of attrition.

The breakthrough came when Captain Pete Howarth broke the gain line, fended the fullback and went over the posts. From there it seemed like Queens’ were never going to come back. Great backs play from Scott. Foulks and Aylward controlled the game effectively and the CCRFC went into the break one try up.

The dominance continued in the second half as good ball-carrying and work at the breakdown by Alex Clark and his pack, and the quick ball to go with it, saw veteran Nick Codrington go over. The rout was finished by fresher wing and man of the match Ben Daley outpaced his opposite wing to go over in the corner.

A shutdown victory from the CCRFC to face Trinity in the semi-final. And they went to Trinity Old Sports Fields with another victory in mind.

Sadly, they faced the same strange problem this time around as they did last year against Trinity. What can only be described as pure dominance in ball-carrying and at the breakdown, particularly by Alex Robbins and Will Sargent, did not translate into points scored and a few cheap scores and soft tries later, the CCRFC were well on their way to losing.

A resurgence did come, especially from the freshers. Helliwell and Alex Roden combined effectively and expertly to set Roden up for a score and Sid Prabhu-Naik shows immense promise at fullback.

A loss to Trinity saw the CCRFC fall out of the Cuppers’ comp.

With only the Old Boys game left to go, could the CCRFC finish their season on a high?

Pete Howarth, Captain