Nando's Cup

We started out thinking Sunday would bring some fun rugby in the morning to be followed by Mother's Day celebrations in the afternoon.

But after five straight group victories and a semi-final triumph in the Nando’s Cup – a cheeky 10-a-side tournament held at the Wise campus in Filton – we were all buzzing about the prospect of playing the final against county champions Cleve at Ashton Gate during half-time of the Bristol v Cornish Pirates match later that day.

So it was Mother’s Day meals on hold and off to the rugby instead – and it was beginning to seem a bit like Father's Day.

However, with some 20-odd mums and dads rallying round to turn up at the stadium to see our children’s moment of glory in front of 7,000 spectators, it turned out to be a Parent’s Day to remember.

Our boys adapted superbly to this 10-a-side format (five forwards and five backs), played over a straight 10 minutes per game.

The whole squad of 15 players contributed to the day’s success - with just one try conceded (in the final) over the seven games while scoring 14.

Our victories came against St Bede’s (3-0), an impressive Worcester side (2-0), Clevedon (1-0), St Brendan’s (2-0), Keynsham (2-0) and Frampton Cotterell in the semi (3-0).

Then it was on to the grand final, involving a quick reorganisation of family events and a trip down to the south of the city.

The excitement of marching onto the Ashton Gate turf will live long in the memory, and our match itself eclipsed the Bristol game – I’m sure the whole crowd agreed!

It was an engrossing encounter with Cleve, as both sides played with great passion and skill.

We took the lead with a great run by Sam Read. And as we piled on the pressure we could have scored on another two occasions.

But Cleve fought back, tying up the game with a try of their own. Then the last couple of minutes saw some heroic defence from us to prevent Cleve from snatching a winner.

So the cup was, on balance, justly shared – with extra time being out of the question.

There was a good spirit between the teams as they posed together for a picture with the giant Nando’s chicken after the game.

A brilliant day. And we await our cheeky Nando’s meal tickets.