NORTH East Worcestershire Ravens travelled to Sherwood Wolf Hunt on Saturday for a nine-a-side tournament to raise money for the Midlands Air Ambulance charity.
Games were ten minutes each way with the Ravens taking on the Limes in their first match.
It was a great battle with everyone getting used to the space on the pitch. Limes opened the scoring but Ravens hit back with a great kick from David Swaysland which Lee Knight jumped high to collect and score in the corner.
With Brad Sinclair making a late comeback to the squad, he worked well with Knight and, after a great to and fro from each other, the former was the last to get his hands on the ball and slide in again over the line, with David Wimbury converting.
The Limes fought back but Knight made up for missing a few games and got another try out wide as Ravens lost 44-14.
The second fixture saw Ravens take on Sherwood who scored two quickfire tries but Ravens got a try themselves when Wimbury threw a dummy close to the sticks to touch down before converting.
Sherwood scored again but Sinclair quickly hit back with a try for Ravens.
Once more Sherwood touched down but Sinclair was on hand once again to give Ravens a fighting chance.
The battle continued with Sinclair making some strong defensive tackles but his resistance was eventually broken as Sherwood crashed over another two tries.
Ravens’ Paul Crocker touched down in the last minute and Wimbury converted but Ravens were edged out 26-18.
Ravens’ final fixture of the tournament was against The Anniversaries.
A classic try from Swaysland and one from John White, which was converted by Wimbury, put Ravens in the ascendancy.
After a strong battle and some hard driving down the middle of the park, prop Dylan Fennell got his first try for Ravens which was met with great celebration from the whole team and those on the sidelines.
The Anniversaries managed to fight through the line to get a converted try but Ravens came back with a lovely play down the park in the final minute which saw Crocker touch down and Wimbury convert.
Ravens finished on a high with a 20-10 victory, with Sinclair winning the man of the tournament accolade.
Ravens are now looking forward to playing in another nines tournament on August 12, with details still to be confirmed. Training is on Wednesdays at 7.30pm and for the juniors on Sundays at 10.30am at Hopwood Park.
