A Good Day for Hastings Rugby

 
Cinque Ports Rugby Club held their inaugural "Super 10's" tournament on 15th August 09, held at the Grove School, St.leonards-on-sea -  which saw two groups of three teams face each other in fast paced high scoring action.

Group A   Cinque Ports A, Horley and Lewes B

Group B   Hastings & Bexhill, Lewes A and Cinque Ports B.

The first games saw a mobile Cinque Ports A side beat Horley 3-1 (tries are the only way to score in Super 10's), Horley did well to pin back a strong Cinque Ports team but a twisting run by Greg Stokes and a bullocking  run by Steve Crump saw Cinque Ports leading, and Chris Eastwood skittering in for a third. In the second group a strong Hastings & Bexhill side containing some experienced players beat Lewes A 3-0. H&B used a very powerful pack to dominate the possession and Ben Campbell with two and Andy Saunders ran in the scores. Hastings & Bexhill could certainly have scored more in a very dominant performance. The next group games saw Cinque Ports A lose 6-0 to Lewes B, a very strong Lewes side kept the ball moving and ran in tries freely, St Leonards based Lewes Captain Ben Hanny running in one of the tries. In group B things seemed to being going well for Cinque Ports B when Craig Brown crashed over almost direct from the kick off against Lewes A, Lewes fought back strongly but Cinque Ports held strong until the final minute of the half when Lewes scored two tries. The second half saw Lewes score another two, to win 4-1. In the final group games Lewes B beat Horley 5-0, and in group B Hastings & Bexhill won 7-0 against Cinque Ports B- Hastings showed no mercy running in tries from all angles- with Ben Campbell blagging another brace but it was a brave performance by a Cinque Ports side which included novice players Glenn Stone and Nick Giles. At the end of the group stages the competition split into three separate competitions- The Salver for third placed sides, The Shield for second placed sides and The Grand Final for the group winners. The Salver and the Shield both sponsored by the Compatibility Group, whose managing director Paul Smart also captained the Cinque Ports A side. In the Salver final Horley cut loose finally shaking off the long journey from Surrey to win 7-0 against Cinque Ports B, centre Jack Pallen scoring the majority of tries for the Surrey team. Cinque Ports did show some flashes with Luke Price deprived a try by the bounce of the ball. The Shield Final saw the A sides of Cinque Ports and Lewes face each other, with the St Leonards based outfit coming out on top! Paul Smart orchestrated the side with Steve Crump driving over for another try, the towering winger Tony Potter picking one up and his counterpart on the other flank Mike Dangerfield sliding in for one before Shane Potter dotted down the final score in a 4-1 win.

The Grand final saw Lewes B and Hasting & Bexhill face off for the "Golden Pig" trophy, and Lewes shocked the H & B side by taking an early lead. Hastings & Bexhill seemed camped in the Lewes half but could not breach the line, until just before half time they equalised. The second half saw H & B take control their powerful pack, superbly marshalled by captain Ben Davies strangled the game denying Lewes possession and running in two tries. The win looked in the bag before ill discipline saw a player sin binned, and Lewes ran in another try. Despite a nervy final few seconds. Hastings & Bexhill ensured two of the three trophies stayed within Hastings! At the final presentation Cinque Ports Event Organiser Gavin Thomas presented Jack Pallen with Champagne for top try scorer,

Cinque Ports Backs Coach and Referee Tony Welford gave Ben Davies a well deserved Man of the Match award before Compatibility Operations Director Kate Williams presented the Compatibility Salver to Jon Daniels of Horley, and the Shield to Cinque Ports captain Paul Smart. The final presentation saw Cinque Ports chairman Marcus Davies give the prestigious Golden Pig, bedecked in blue and white ribbons to Ben Davies as Hastings & Bexhill were named the first winners of Cinque Ports Super 10's. Tournament Organiser Gavin Thomas said "we wanted a day of fast flowing rugby to prepare us for the season but we also got a great atmosphere, and for that I must thank all the competitors and spectators, and the volunteers who made sure the tournament ran smoothly"


Final Placing:

1st   Hastings & Bexhill  

2nd   Lewes B  

3rd   Cinque Ports A  

4th   Lewes A  

5th   Horley  

6th   Cinque Ports B