ON a grey day in St Austell Launceston U-9s showed just how good they really are by winning the top trophy at the CRFC Festival – proving themselves the best in the county!

The boys started the day by hammering Saltash 'B' 7 tries to 0. Tries in the first half came from Cameron Lovell, Toby May and Luke Couch, following a superb one-handed pick-up from the bulldozer that is Ben Jewell who then went on to score Launceston's fourth. The second half saw tries from Kyle Tozer, George Striplin and Luke Wickett.

The second game saw the boys beat Perranporth 4-0 with tries from Flynn Robinson following some great persistence, Ross Gorman, who went on to suffer a serious blood injury, Ben Jewell and a second from Flynn Robinson following a great run and inside pass by Luke Couch .

The third pool game was a very tight affair against a big, strong team from Truro. This ended in a 0-0 draw which meant that Launceston finished top of their group by one point. This would take them into the semi-final of the top competition for the shield where they would meet Lankelly-Fowey.

Lankelly could only muster eight players so Launceston reduced their contingent to eight also to ensure a balanced game. Despite this the boys went on to record a sound 3-0 win with two tries from Toby May in the first half and one from Luke Couch in the second. The other semi-final saw Camborne squeeze past Penzance in a 1-1 draw where they had scored the first try.

The final was a tense affair with Launceston having the lion's share of both territory and possession. Although the referee seemed to like the sound of his whistle and play was continually broken up Launceston managed to finish the first half one try ahead thanks to a valiant effort from Toby May.

In the second half the boys continued to apply great pressure and this resulted in a second try from Joe Vanstone. Despite being penalised seemingly unfairly and conceding a consolation try the lads held on for a well deserved 2-1 win.

It has to be said that both the coaching staff and parents had tears in their eyes when the boys went up to collect their trophy and medals. This was the first time in 12 years that Launceston U-9s have won this competition and it cannot be denied that they deserved every minute of their raucous and vocal celebrations. Well done boys!

Launceston: Ben Jewell, Cameron Lovell, Charlie Nicoll, Flynn Robinson, George Ellis, George Striplin, Harry Dawe, Joe Vanstone, Kyle Tozer, Luke Couch, Luke Wickett, Marc Poad, Ross Gorman and Toby May