ALCESTER made the difficult decision to withdraw from their Midlands Senior Vase tie at Eccleshall due to an already injury-ridden and understrength side receiving more cry-offs on Friday evening and Saturday morning.
The decision meant a walkover victory to Eccleshall, who now proceed to round two of the competition – one of nine fixtures locally to suffer the same fate in the early stages of the national cup competitions.
Alcester chairman Andy Flynn contacted his Eccleshall counterpart Tim West to apologise for the late withdrawal of his side and to wish the Staffordshire men the very best for the remainder of the competition.
The Kings Coughton men host Old Leamingtonians in Midlands Three West (South) on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Alcester hosted their annual Rugby Club Primary Schools Tag Festival on Sunday morning when seven local sides braved the extremely wet conditions to play some excellent rugby in a round-robin league format as every team faced each other.
Reigning champions Alcester St Nicholas’ two sides came first and second in the competition, but they were pushed all of the way by Mappleborough Green who were only edged out by St Nicholas B in the last round of games 4-3, when a victory and six tries would have seen them claim the title.
In the end Mappleborough Green finished third behind the two St Nicholas schools. Other schools taking part were Our Lady’s from Alcester, Haselor and Studley St Mary’s, as well as a team from Kings Norton RFC.
Members of the Wasps Community Coaching team were on hand to present the trophy and medals to the winners and runners-up on what was an enjoyable morning at Kings Coughton.
