TWELVE local primary schools competed in the Malvern Hills District Sports Association Small Schools Tag-rugby Tournament held at Malvern Rugby Club.

The teams were arranged into groups of four, playing three games of five minutes each way. After the group stage of the tournament Leigh & Bransford, St James and Hanley Swan went through to the semi-final stages as group winners, with Eldersfield joining them as best runner-up.

During the group stage all teams played some fast and furious rugby in glorious sunshine, whilst in the distance, snow clouds could be seen gathering. The level of skills shown in terms of ball handling, running and evasion was excellent.

St James and Hanley Swan played the first semi-final, with Hanley Swan winning by 6 tries to 2.

Eldersfield won the second semi-final against Leigh & Bransford in a very tight match which had the supporters jumping up and down in excitement. The final whistle blew as the score stood at 4 tries to 3 in favour of Eldersfield.

The third and fourth place play off, St James v Leigh & Bransford, was again a very tight match, with tries being scored with great regularity by both sides, Leigh & Bransford emerging as the winners by 6 tries to 5.

The final, a rerun of one of the group matches, was between Hanley Swan and Eldersfield. Once again this match was end to end rugby, with excellent passing and running from both sides. At the final whistle Hanley Swan were winners by 6 tries to 5.

The final results were: Winners Hanley Swan, runners-up Eldersfield, third Leigh & Bransford, fourth St James.

The other schools taking part were: Longdon, Callow End, Pendock, Rushwick, Madresfield, Wyche, Castlemorton and Welland.

The Malvern Hills District Sports Association would like to acknowledge the support of Paul Brownhill and Malvern RFC for providing the facilities, Amanda Rossbottham from Malvern Hills district council and Matt Sherratt and Chris Ridgers, from the Worcester Warriors, for giving up their time to referee all the matches.