U7 Tring Lions win the Bishops Stortford Elite Festival

Old Albanians vs. Tring.
This game kicked off in the spirit that continued: maximum effort, loads of really good rugby. Luke Evans sprinted off to score the first try, OA’s pushed on and despite some great tagging managed to get the ball over the line. Ollie Benton then put the ball over the line and at half-time it was 2-1. Oakley Taylor, captain for the game, then lead his team by running the entire length of the pitch to score a try. OA’s were not going to take this lying down, they passed and passed, what was stopping them was the in formidable defence put up by Tring, they were awesome. Every squad member played their part and we were taking tag, after tag. The score started to level, but we were not to be between, Ben Perkins scored an amazing try.
Final score: Old Albanians 3 Tring 4.

Tring vs. Welwyn
Tring continued in excellent form adopting a relentless approach to their defence and then taking the ball forward. Ben Perkin was the first to get the ball over the line, Welwyn responded, the score staying pretty much neck and neck throughout, Adam Kapadia ran the length of the pitch and set-up a try for Luke Evans – soon to be named the tongue twister: Tring trio try scorer Luke, Adam then put the ball over himself and in the second half Oliver Hemlin scored in the first 20 seconds. Tring were relentless in their efforts and managed to keep poking ahead. Oakley scored, followed by two more tries for Luke.
Final score: Welwyn 6 Tring 7.

Colchester vs Tring
The training started to show through, the team were getting tired yet they remained disciplined – their opponents looked, well, not as disciplined.. Ollie Benton did some excellent tagging, Oakley came through and scored a try followed by a brilliant run from Adam Kapadia resulting in a wonderful try. The sugar then seemed to run out and their opponents caught up. Second-half some brilliant tagging, this pushed their fastest player twice into touch, Ollie Hemlin and Sam Hardwicke both scored a try keeping Tring in the lead.
Final score Colchester 3 Tring 4.

Bishop Stortford’s Storts vs Tring
It was evident from the start of this game the opponents were going be much harder to beat. That said, Tring were amazing, they lifted their game to meet their opponents, held their channels really well and were relentless in the tagging. Oakley Taylor managed to get the ball over the line and scored the first try, Luke Evans followed and Bishop Stortford crept up and put pressure on us again. Our team work and discipline was slowly proving too much for the opposition, they built an impenetrable defensive line, but cracks were starting to show and we were back on the attack then suddenly Bishop Stortford came in with a marvellous interception, Tring dropped back, kept their discipline and the ball was knocked forward. Using this restart Oliver Hemlin then managed to get the ball over the line, Ollie Benton came on as a sub and quickly scored a try, he then got the ball over again and the whistle blew. Tring Lions had comfortably secured their place in the finals.
Final score Bishops Strotford 2 Tring 5

Final
Tring Lions vs. Letchworth
Well they had a little bit of a wait, but it was worth it. Mike employed his coaching skills and reasserted the point to the squad that they can win -they were fired-up and ready to go. They took to the pitch and seemed so focussed on the ball it took a while for them to get into their number lines, was the tiredness beginning to creep in? The game commenced and Letchworth showed us why they were in the final, despite repeated tagging they managed to get the ball over the line and were ahead. Tring came back in the form of Luke Evans who sprinted towards their line and we managed to score a try. Ben Kearney did some amazing tagging in what was just over a dozen phases of play he took three tags. Letchworth went ahead, Ollie Benton responded with a try. The second half continued in much the same way, end to end rugby with Ollie Hemlin, Oakley Taylor then Ollie Benton scoring the final try.
Final score: Tring 5 Letchworth 3

The Tring squad were then awarded their medals and trophy as tournament winners for the U7.

The squad were as follows -
1. Ollie Benton
2. Lewis Fryer
3. Ollie Hemlin
4. Ben Perkin
5. Ben Kearney
6. Sam Hardwicke
7. Luke Evans
8. Oakley Taylor
9. Angus Hardy
10. Adam Kapadia