The Malvern Hills Primary Schools Tag Rugby season kicked-off on Monday with a festival held at The Hill Centre for the Upton Cluster of primary schools.

Teams were split into two groups with the winners and runners-up moving to the semi finals and the other teams playing in a mini-league for the shield.

In Group A, Callow End were the in-form team and their forthright attacking style saw off the challenge from Kempsey and Upton, with an amazing 38 try haul.

Group A

P W D L F A Pts

Callow End 4 4 0 0 38 29 12

Kempsey 4 2 0 2 33 33 8

Upton 4 0 0 4 28 37 4

In Group B, Hanley Swan scrapped home in pole position, pushing a strong Welland team into second place with a superior try count. In third place came Castlemorton, who showed great inventiveness in their play, but were let down by their finishing when close to the try line.

Group B

P W D L F A Pts

Hanley Swan 3 2 1 0 30 21 8

Welland 3 2 1 0 29 24 8

Castlemorton 3 0 1 2 17 22 4

Pendock 3 0 1 2 18 27 4

In the semi-finals, the little dynamos from Hanley Swan overcame the challenge from Kempsey by the narrowest of margins, 11-10 the final score. In the second semi-final the all conquering Callow End faced Welland in a titanic encounter, Welland the victors in a frantic end-to-end match that ended 10-9.

The final between Hanley Swan and Welland matched the intensity of their earlier meeting in the group stage, which finished as an 11-11 draw. This time it was Welland who proved to have the extra gas in the tank and they stole the lead early in the second half as Hanley Swan began to tire and finished the match as winners by 11-8.

In the shield there was little to show between the teams. In the end Upton collected the prize ahead of the ever-improving Pendock team.

Shield Final

P W D L F A Pts

Upton 2 1 1 0 18 13 5

Pendock 2 1 0 1 10 14 4

Castlemorton 2 0 1 1 12 13 3

The festival was organised by the staff of The Hill Centre along support from the Malvern RFC Youth Development Section, who provided the transport, resources and prizes from their Awards For All funding for community rugby activities.

Special thanks go to the volunteers of St John Ambulance, who provided essential first-aid back-up to the event and were kept busy with dressing youngsters with grass-burns and bumps from accidental collisions.