Melton RFC U12s impress to top county cup prelims

The five teams played a round-robin format, and Melton opened proceedings with an impressive performance, running in several tries to defeat Lutterworth by a four-try margin.

With Melton forced to choose just 18 from a pool of 30 players, the hosts loaned under-strength Stoneygate two players.

It was a closer tie, with Melton’s Hazza scoring a try for Stoneygate, but the hosts won by two tries.

Oadby and Coalville were looking the teams to beat if Melton were to progress to the next round of the cup.

The hosts took on a solid-looking Coalville team and triumphed in a hard-fought end-to-end game by a single try.

Coalville edged past Oadby to set up Melton’s final game against Oadby, with both sides knowing a win would be side enough to top the group thanks to their superior try tallies.

Melton had played Oadby the previous weekend and returned with a draw, loss and a win so it looked anyone’s game.

Oadby were bigger and more physical, but Melton were up for the challenge in a very tight game played mainly in the middle of the pitch.

The hosts scored an excellent team try to edge in front, and this seemed to upset Oadby and lift the Melton lads.

A high tackle denied Melton a second score on the stroke of half-time and a penalty try looked likely, but sportingly the coaches from both sides and the referee agreed it wasn’t intentional and a caution was enough.

Oadby came out determined to overturn the deficit after half-time and edged the early stages.

A lack of concentration allowed Oadby a levelling score, and both sets of coaches asked their respective players to give it their all in the final minutes.

Oadby’s bigger side pressured Melton’s backline, but the hosts held strong to secure the draw and take the match by scoring the first try.

Undefeated Melton topped the group and progress to the next round after an impressive display of rugby from all teams.

The festival, held on a wet Sunday morning, was well supported from the sidelines and played in an excellent manner.