After a soggy start to 2014, Old Guildfordian’s RFC hosted a the first big A/B festival of the year. Teddington U9s had 2 teams playing, both teams were in pools of 6 teams, only playing 4 opponents in the group stages.

The Antlers had an almost full squad with: Harry G, Harry P, James, Zac, Isaac, Charlie, Archie, Finn and Josh. The Antler Tent team struggled with their erection, leaving a rather floppy look gazebo.. that didn’t last…!!!!

The Bucks were only missing Christopher and welcomed Cass back from a broken wrist. The festival squad: William, Billy, Ryan, Oli W, Jack, Rory, Finn, Sonny, Cass and Oli G. Although, the Bucks Tent team took a while to get it erect, the structure side strong throughout the 5 hour session… Well done lads

Anyway to the rugby….

The Antlers started the sunny morning with a game against Effingham and Leatherhead and they had really improved from when we played them earlier in the season. 2-0 the final result.

The next game was against Farnborough who were new opponents to us. The game ended 4-0 to us.

Our 3rd game were our hosts and they really played well against us. With a very tough encounter ending in a 4-2 win for us.

Our final pool game was against Sevenoaks but we could not rest as the team we were not due to play in our pool had also won 3 out of 3 so we knew only a good win would do. The boys looked ready and from the first whistle gave Sevenoaks no where to hide and with some fantastic tackling from the whole team pushing our opponents back the whole time we ended 6-0 winners.

It was a long wait to see if Windsor could also win and push us into 2nd place and out of the final. Their final game was against Effingham and Leatherhead. This game was end to end but ended in a narrow defeat of Windsor so Teddington Antlers were through to the A final.

The Bucks, started the day off also against Effingham and Leatherhead, a tricky fixture – the Bucks started strong, played great rugby and importantly as a team and took the first win 6 – 1.

Next up Farnborough an unknown entity, unfortunately for the opposition, Teddington were fired up and won 8 – 0 with very strong tackling and combining well to score at will.

The third game within an hour, saw the Bucks play against the hosts Old Guildfordian’s, another tricky side, Teddington started well and winning 5-2.

The Bucks final group match was against a very strong Barnes side, who had won all their matches so far, so a group decider. The Barnes side were fresher and the Teddington boys were about to play their 4th match. Barnes pounded the Teddington line, 1 -1 at half time… Barnes started the second half with the wind and slope behind them, they were met with solid tackling by all… A fantastic team effort saw Oli W scoring 2 -1.. Barnes came back, in a last pay of the game effort piled into the corner… with Billy holding the Barnes winger at the line and Finn flying in at 200 mph to support Billy and save the try.. 2 -1 Win….

Teddington Bucks winning all their group matches and a place in the B final.

With a 90 minute wait, both teams enjoyed lunch, resting, wrestling, pile on’s and eventually a big game of touch and a Winston Churchill style team talk by Ian… Both teams in the cup final….

In the “A” final Teddington Antlers were pitted against Barnes who seemed to have a few new players. The Bucks managed a watch some of the first half… The Antlers smashed Barnes back on every tackle, Barnes were a great side but the Antlers squad were just too strong winning the festival in style with a 4-1 win…. CHAMPIONS Well done!!

In the “B” final Teddington Bucks played against Farnham. Farnham started and Teddington quickly turned the ball over, with great tackling, in a super tense game, the Buck got ahead 1 – 0 at half time.. At half time, the Antlers came to support and the extra motivation saw the Teddington throwing everything at the game and winning 2-0…. CHAMPIONS Well Done

Congratulations to every player, you all played a part in winning the festival. Everyone had their own moment of magic - big tackles, an epic tries, perfect passes, super support, chasing down the break…. Everything was Awesome…