NOT even the rain that fell for most of the day could dampen the spirits of players and supporters at Saturday’s Minety 7s tournament won by Minchinhampton, writes Graham Cooke.

In a dramatic final to conclude a terrific day of sevens rugby, Minch overcame the RAF Horus team in a sudden death shoot-out.

Fourteen teams entered this year’s tournament which was expertly organised by Minety’s Jack Ward.

Divided into two groups of seven teams, across two pitches, matches got underway at 11am.

At the end of a fiercely-contested round of qualifying matches, Horus and Swindon College Old Boys emerged as the top two sides from Pool A.

Three teams – Caveman 7s, Cirencester RFC and Minchinhampton – tied for top spot in a dramatic Pool B.

Points difference could still not separate Minchinhampton and Caveman 7s so after a brief committee meeting it was agreed between the two teams that top spot in Pool B should be decided by a toss of a coin.

Minchinhampton won and moved into the main cup final against Pool A winners Horus, leaving Caveman 7s to compete with Swindon College Old Boys for the Plate.

With the rain lashing down, Caveman 7s and Swindon College Old Boys could not be split after full time so a period of extra time was played with the first score deciding the outcome of the tie. With both teams competing for every ball, Caveman 7s broke through the Swindon line to score the decisive try.

The final was equally hard fought. Horus and Minchinhampton threw everything into an excellent scrap, which was also tied at the end of full time.

It was Minchinhampton who triumphed with a try in extra time.

Qualifying pool scores

Pool A   P W D L F A Pts
Horus   7 6 5 0 1 141 35 11
Swindon College OB 6 5 0 1 132 35 10
Supermarine 6 3 1 2 106 89 7
Devizes Colts 6 3 1 2 141 73 7
Minety 6 2 1 3 101 131 5
Cirencester Coll Acad 6 1 0 5 28 134 2
St Josephs Dads 6 0 0 6 35 89 0
Pool B   P W D L F A Pts
Minchinhampton 6 5 0 1 157 35 10
Caveman 7s 6 5 0 1 146 24 10
Cirencester 6 5 0 1 137 49 10
Chippenham 6 3 0 3 126 66 6
Dreamers 6 2 0 4 45 191 4
Barbarians 6 1 0 5 35 175 2
Cirencester RAU 6 0 0 6 12 112 0