Cumbria Wooden Spoon Rams did an excellent job on their first outing in the annual VetsFest as they finished third in the main Cup competition.
After a long, but enjoyable journey on the Friday evening to Surrey, it was an early start on the Saturday for the Rams who were drawn in a group with Midlands, Scotland and Sussex.
After a slick warm-up, the 25-man squad and coach Gareth Gore got under way for the first time against the Midlands.
The team quickly clicked, with all players rolling back the years, playing decent attacking rugby and tough, passionate, hard-working Cumbrian defence. With the games 10 minutes each way, the pace of the games is decent and this suited the Cumbrian team that had been assembled.
It was a great start with a 19-0 win and next up were Scotland when it was a very similar game with no tries conceded and lots of quality attacking play leading to three tries.
With a ten-man bench, players were rotating well and making impacts as soon as they arrived on the pitch and this time they recorded a 17-0 win.
With Sussex left to play, the mood in the camp was good and there were hopes Cumbria would top the group and progress to the main draw.
The final game didn’t see the same amount of quality rugby and a few bits of unneeded indiscipline stopped the flow of the game. However, Cumbria were still good for their 15-0 lead and were disappointed to let in their first try of the day at the end of the game.
Finishing top of the league saw the Rams into the main semi draw against the reigning champions Kent. This was a tough game and Kent played some excellent rugby at a higher pace which the Rams couldn’t match and their defence was very hard to breakdown.
Cumbria didn’t give up on the determination to add to their try tally and typically, with a number of quality off-loads and support play, scored at the death in a 26-7 defeat.
This got the Cumbrian heads back up and ready for the last game against Yorkshire in the third/fourth place play off.
Although the ageing bodies of both teams were not sure if they would last the final game, once the kick-off set them away it was a great battle.
Yorkshire dominated the first-half but pure Cumbrian grit and hard work kept them off the try line and it ended in a scoreless half of rugby.
In the second half, it was Cumbria’s turn to dominate and having gone close a few times they were creating good field position. At the death the forwards broke down the middle with good support and linked-up with the backs to score in the corner, right on the final whistle to win the game.
The rugby was followed by a great night with over 800 players enjoying the excellent hospitality of Old Reigatian RFC and the overall results being announced.
The VetFest is really all about enjoying rugby in later years, but making money for charity and with the fantastic support of the Cumbrian community, the squad raised £6,500, only topped by Essex.
With the rugby and the fund-raising together it meant that, at the first attempt, the squad finished overall as runners up to Kent.
The Wooden Spoon charity, from all the combined teams, is currently standing on £90,000, with all of this helping young people with disabilities or disadvantages.
It was certainly worth the days of agony that followed for the Cumbrian squad.
