Dinnington Win Sevens For Second Time

East Retford RUFC’s annual Rugby Sevens Tournament, sponsored by Ye Olde Sun Inn, Retford, took place at the Ordsall Road ground last Sunday (17^th August). Last-minute withdrawals reduced the draw to thirteen teams, though extra players from among the teams attending helped form an invitation side calling itself the Barbarians. Fourteen teams, therefore, competed for the Baz Dudley Memorial Shield.

One of the withdrawals was last year’s Shield winner, Guisborough, meaning that this year three teams were chosen to join Tournament hosts E. Retford I as seeds. Based on the Leagues in which they played last season, these were Barnsley I, Dinnington and Market Rasen. The four seeded teams drew to decide in which Pools they played, so ensuring that there was one seeded team in each Pool. The remaining ten sides then also drew to decide the Pools in which they played.

The seeded teams all gained maximum points from their Pool rounds with emphatic wins and scorelines. Dinnington advanced to the Shield quarter-finals without conceding any points and Barnsley I came through having allowed in only one try (5 points). Market Rasen and E. Retford I similarly progressed with comfortable wins against all their Pool opponents. The host side beat Barnsley II (26-7) and Chesterfield Panthers (50-10). The teams finishing second in the Pools, who joined the four seeds in the Shield quarter-finals, were Ollerton, Meden Vale, Burley and Barnsley II.

Chesterfield Panthers and Mosborough, as the two highest finishing 3^rd placed teams in the Pool rounds, each advanced to a bye in the Plate quarter-finals. The remaining two 3^rd place finishers and the bottom team from each Pool played to complete the round. In the first of these games Newark accounted for the Barbarians (31-5). The organisers would like to thank those players from other teams who so willingly agreed to make up this invitation side and acquitted themselves creditably, given that they were a truly scratch side.

In the second Plate quarter-final game E. Retford II convincingly beat Gainsborough (26-0). The Retford side was very much a development squad made up mainly from this year’s Colts with one decidedly older player (none other than their coach, who found it hard to match their speed and energy). Although they found it hard to contain sides such as Market Rasen and Burley in the Pool rounds, they had a good win (27-10) against Newark. Their overall performance was impressive and augurs well for the coming season.

The quarter-finals of the Shield Competition saw three of the seeded sides progress further to the semi-finals. Barnsley I beat Meden Vale (36-0), while Dinnington easily beat Ollerton (66-0) and Market Rasen beat Barnsley II (29-7). E. Retford I narrowly lost their quarter-final to Burley (14-17) in a fiercely contested game, but overall the Club played well and arguably put in better performances this year than in previous years’ Tournaments.

Chesterfield Panthers and Mosborough both received byes straight to the Plate semi-finals. In the first of these games Chesterfield struggled to beat E. Retford II (12-10) and Mosborough were outplayed by Newark (21-33). Chesterfield ran out as easy winners (44-17) against Newark in the Final, and so became the first winners of the Bill Boulby Plate. This is a new trophy generously donated by the Boulby family in memory of the late Bill Boulby, a founder member of the Club and Treasurer from 1957-1960, who died last year at the age of 83.

In the Shield semi-finals Dinnington beat Market Rasen (29-0) and Barnsley I beat Burley by the same score. The Final between Dinnington and Barnsley I was extremely close in the first half, with Barnsley leading 14-12 at half time. In the second half, though, Dinnington found another gear and started spreading the ball wide to some of their speedsters who proved too fast for a tired but game Barnsley side. The final score showed Dinnington as winners of the Baz Dudley Memorial Shield by 50 points to 19, having won once before in 2005.

Harry Boulby and Michelle Boulby, two of Bill’s children, presented the trophies to the winning teams and players of both competitions, as well as mementos to the Tournament referees who came from the Notts, Lincs and Derbys Referees Society. Man of the Match from the Shield and Plate Finals were Darren Cannadine from Dinnington and Tony Gelthorpe from Chesterfield Panthers respectively. E. Retford Club Captain, Nick Brough, presented them each with a bottle of champagne.

East Retford RUFC is very grateful for the support provided for the Tournament by Ye Olde Sun Inn, the main sponsor; Ian Calverley and his daughter, Hannah, for catering at the start of the day; Extreme Hospitality, for taking over the catering for the rest of the day; a kind supporter for providing the announcer’s stand; those parties who placed messages in the programme; St. John Ambulance Brigade, Retford, who were on hand for the whole day; those Club members who assisted with all the various jobs that help the Tournament to run; and Lyn and her helpers who worked behind the Club bar throughout the day. We are also extremely grateful to Jonathan Matthews for the loan of his generator; for putting together and printing the programme; and for his photography.