Clifton U12s took part in the prestigious Land Rover Cup where the top 16 sides in Gloucester battle it out for the title. Could Clifton U12s defend their title from last year?

Clifton started off slowly against Cinderfold. Despite all their efforts two tries disallowed meant that the reigning champions drew 0-0 against a strong Cinderford team. This put the pressure on Clifton as they now had to win their remaining games.

The second game was against Cheltenham, one of the strongest teams in the tournament. Clifton were now more relaxed and starting to play their rugby. It was a hard fought game but a well-deserved first half try by Milan Rai secured the game for Clifton.

The final game of the group was against Minchampton who had lost all of their matches so far. This was a game that Clifton had to win and win by several tries to stay in the tournament as only the top team in the group would go through.

Sami Hamid caught the ball from the kick off and run through the whole of the Minchampton team to score. This could be a white wash. Jake Davies put in a tactical kick to set Sami Hamid up for a second try of the game. A further 2 well executed tries by Matt Hogg and Milan Rai gave Clifton a 20-0 win. This was hopefully enough to get us through.

Clifton had to wait on the result of the Cheltenham v Cinderford game to see who went through. With tensions running high Cinderford beat Cheltenham 1-0. Not the result Clifton wanted but Clifton’s 20-0 win over Minchampton was enough to get Clifton out of the group stages and into the semi-finals on points difference.

Into the Semi-Finals and Clifton were against a big and physically strong Matson side. The first half was a very hard fought battle which could have gone either way but at half time the score was 0-0. Clifton came out the stronger in the second half and run in 3 well executed tries by Sami Hamid, Ben Paine and George Hemming to convincingly win the semi-finals 15-0. Clifton were on fire.

Into the final and for those of you who follow the Gloucestershire U12s will not be surprised to hear that Clifton were to play their big rivals Cleve. This is a regular “Finals fixture” for the two teams! The boys were excited and determined to win this game. 14 minutes of hard rugby remained between them and the trophy.

After a kicking error by Cleve a great charge down by Ben Paine led to an early try for Clifton. Clifton dominated the half but a well executed move by Cleve made by Sam Worsley led to a great break and run away try for Cleve to level the match 5-5 at half time.

Both sides started the second half determined to win but Clifton once again dominated the play and stayed in the Cleeve half for the whole of the period. A try by big Matty in the dying moments was not allowed and the game ended 5-5. Clifton were declared winners as first try scorers (Silver Try).

So it is off to the Aviva Premiership Final for Clifton. Many thanks to Gloucester Rugby, Land Rover & Dean Close School for hosting a superb tournament.

By Jake Davies