Sunday April 19 was the final fixture of the 2014/15 season and would be the Melksham Rugby Festival.
The squad who made the journey along with parents and coaches included Alby Berridge, Arthur Allen, Ben McLeod, Edward Martin, Harry Doherty, Harry Stuart, Huw Turner, James Hagerty, Jack Davidson, Joseph Kellow, Max Curnock, Olly Adamson, Olly Darlington, Theo Ellis and Zaki Murray.
The format would be five matches of one period of 12 minutes per game and a league format.
Our first match would be against Midsomer Norton. The boys started off well and with a good focused start Alby saw some space and went over for the first try. MRFC continued to tackle and ruck well and secured some great possession for Huw to go down the right wing and dive for the line to score the next try.
Midsomer started to up their game and deservedly scored the next try however MRFC responded immediately with James going over the line to score.
Final Result Midsomer Norton 1 – 3 MRFC
After a break of 30 minutes our next opponents would be Royal Wootton Bassett. The boys have not played RWB before and were up for this game as soon as the whistle blew to start this match.
MRFC were winning all the loose ball in the rucks and mauls and fully utilised the physicality of Zaki and Jack to punch over the try line with Jack and Zaki scoring two trys each.
Not to be out done the strong runners Harry and James also decided to get in on the act with a great try by James on the right wing after a couple of phases of play and seven passes James and Harry both scored two trys. The final MRFC try was scored by Alby. RWB were able to score two well worked trys but were unable to catch up.
Final Result Royal Wootton Bassett 2 – 7 MRFC
The next game would be against local rivals Devizes. This was a very close and physical encounter. Both defences were fantastic. This was end to end stuff and both defences were holding solid against some very strong and determined attack.
MRFC creaked first and conceded the first try. This game was brutal. The commitment from both teams in the tackle and at the breakdown was immense. Time was starting to run out for MRFC and with about a minute left on the clock the ball was secured and passed through the hands to find Olly D who went over to score and secure the draw.
Final Result Devizes 1 – 1 MRFC
After a 15 minute break our next match would be against our hosts Melksham. MRFC would kick off. Melksham ran back and scored a try straight from the kick off. From this moment the boys seemed to be on the back foot and were being outmuscled at the breakdown.
Melksham were now having a great deal of possession and scored again. The boys were still a bit stunned and again were letting Melksham have too much possession by not winning the ball at the breakdown. With some determined MRFC tackling by Huw, Max, Jack and Ben this prevented the flood gates from opening as Melksham were playing very well.
Final Result Melksham 4 – 0 MRFC
Our final game was against our old friends Avonvale. To have any chance of winning the tournament we needed to win this game by at least two trys. This would be no walk in the park. Avonvale are a determined and physical side with pace. This game was on a knife edge with both teams showing 100 percent commitment in the tackle and breakdown.
MRFC got the ball out wide to James who managed to find some space and score the first try. The boys now made their own decision to utilise the power and physicality of Jack and Zaki. With Jack going over to score from a great pass and then score another by a well worked move from behind the scrum.
In the final seconds of the game the ball got to Zaki who powered over to score. The boys did brilliantly against a very good Avonvale side. This was a fantastic effort by all the boys to secure a win after the 4 – 0 defeat against Melksham
Final Result Avonvale 1 – 4 MRFC
With 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss we had tied in first place with Devizes however as we had scored 15 trys to Devizes 12 Marlborough were declared the winners. Throughout the boys showed true character, grit and determination and were deserved winners of this festival and demonstrated throughout the 5 core values of Teamwork, Respect, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship.
Edward Martin received the trophy on behalf of the team and each player received a winner’s medal.