Shelford 40 Cambridge 3

Shelford tore into their local rivals with a ferocity their near neighbours never matched, they were 20-3 up at half time with tries from Adam Hodgkisson, George Perry and two from Max Johnson. The second half continued with total Shelford dominance with further tries from Hodgkisson, Tarren Runham, Russell Boatman and Johnson.

Shelford 10 Ely 0

Another dominant display from Shelford saw them easily despatch an Ely side who never entered the Shelford 22 metre area. Poor Shelford finishing restricted the score to two first half tries from Chris Shaw and Max Johnson and the game became disjointed with Shelford playing a man short following the sin binning of captain George Perry for a late dangerous tackle.

County Cup Finalists

Pool: Shelford 15 Saffron Walden 0

Shelford made a poor start, giving ground to a weaker side, after changes at half time, Tom Cannon scored early on with a strong lunge for the line followed up by two tries by Ben Kelk when he sprinted through the Walden back line.

Pool: Shelford 13 Diss 5

Diss proved tough opposition, however, the pack rucked well and Christian Brown scored from a drive over the line in the first half. There was some surprise when Shelford were awarded a penalty some twenty metres from the Diss line and Ben Kelk elected to kick for goal. The kick was well taken with the ball hitting the inside of the upright before going over for a further three points. Ollie Martin pressed home the advantage in the second half with a well run try although Diss did manage to score  a try late on in the match.

Pool: Shelford 20 Newmarket 0

The easiest game of the group was against Newmarket. Shelford were passing the ball well amongst the backs. The pack were scrummaging well. Cannon opened the scoring with Sam Norcross and Brown both adding further tries leaving Shelford well up at half time. In the second half Jacob Manley went over for a further try.

Semi Final: Shelford 5 Peterborough 0

This was a real team effort in defeating a much heavier pack.  Shelford passed the ball around their backs fluently with Sam Norcross scoring a well taken try in the first half. The pack worked well together winning the loose ball and never looked in trouble.

Final: Shelford 0 Cambridge 8

Shelford  started the game in determined mood, but unfortunately Shelford suffered a number of injuries during the course of the game with Ben Kelk being laid out unconscious – necessitating treatment at Addenbrookes. This had an inevitable impact and despite their territorial advantage Shelford could just not break through. The second half was a different story with Cambridge scoring a try at the start of the half following a number of penalty decisions given against their opponents. When Cambridge were awarded a further penalty in front of the Shelford posts there was no hesitation in going for goal. The ball flew over the posts. Shelford battled on but just could not get back into the game.

County Cup semi-finalists

Shelford under 14’s were knocked out of the county cup at the semi-final stage by a very powerful Cambridge team. In getting there they played 4 pool matches, winning three & losing one.They had a sluggish start to their cup campaign with a 10-0 defeat against the eventual runners-up St. Ives. After this, they gradually picked up the pace with some committed rugby and some stylish running. They defeated Ely in the next game 5-0 through a try by Sam Perry, followed by a win against Fen Lions 15-5, with tries scored by Ben Anderson (2) & Sam Porter. The final clash with Peterborough was effectively a ‘knock-out’ match with the winners progressing through. This match saw Shelford really turn on the style and win comfortably with three excellent tries, Ben Anderson with two more & Toby Poirier made the score 15-0 to clinch a semi-final berth. Their semi-final against Cambridge was a bridge too far for Shelford. Despite some very committed defending, they lost to the eventual winners 25-0.

County Cup Semi-finalists

Shelford Under 12s reached the semifinals of the County Cup where they were knocked out by eventual winners Cambridge 15-0. They qualified second in their pool beating Royston 25-0, Newmarket 10-0 and drawing 5-5 with St Neots. Earlier they had lost 0-5 to Diss who topped the pool. Try scorers were James Tilbury (2), Connor Marsh, Ben Bishop, Joe McNeill, Stephen Douglas, Will Lander and George Smith.