Sunday May 16, 1999
Report by Chris McGrath

Port Sunlight RFC travelled by coach from Bromborough at 10.30am and arrived at Stoke RUFC at 11.45 with a young team and a "merry" band of supporters.

Most of the team hadn't played 7's before and had had to be put through a brief course on the finer points of sevens rugby by Sunlight's vastly experienced former Cheshire full-back, Peter Ascroft, as the regular first-team coach, Peter Metcalf was laid up with a rib injury. (See Chester Vets report for further info re this injury).

Sunlight, having been thrown in at the deep end of a strong competition were drawn to face Newcastle in their opening pool fixture and had the realities of the sevens game brought home to them when suffering a resounding defeat at the hands of a highly organised and very capable outfit. Beaten but unbowed, the Sunlight youngsters put up a spirited performance in their second match, against Staffordshire University, the eventual winners of the main competeition, but despite scoring twice through Jo Jo Wilson and Liam Girven, they suffered another reverse.

Rising from the ashes, the Sunlight phoenix was triumphant in the third match against Trentham Dreamers, scoring five tries, which included a brace from Adam Metcalf, and entertaining the vocal element amongst the crowd with a silken display of rugby skills from Chris (Paddy) Parry.

Finishing third in their group saw Sunlight through to the "Tile" (Plate) competition and a draw against Michelin. A tight game, which was tied at 7-7 at the break, was won for Sunlight with tries by Jo Jo Wilson and Chris McGrath, with "Cheesecloth" McGrath also grabbing a drop-goal. Although Michelin had the last word, running the length of the field to score, Sunlight held on to record a 24-12 victory.

And so to the Plate Final to face Est Staffs Nomads, a team made up from players from Burton and Lichfield, clubs that stand 3 or 4 divisions above Port Sunlight in the national rankings. No respecters of reputation, Sunlight took the game to their illustrious opponents and a 40 yard break by Colin Leach, supported by Karl Taylor, (who had saved his best performance for the final), and finished by Liam Girven put Sunlight in the driving seat. Sterling work in defence from Mark Grayson and another brace of tries from Adam Metcalf saw Sunlight home by a margin of 26 points to nil.

An excellent competition, organised by Stoke first-teamer and former Sunlight alumnus, Simon Ascroft, made for a superb day out for players and supporters alike and Port Sunlight RFC aims to make this competition a regular feature on their fixture list.

Team:- Adam Metcalfe (Capt.), Karl Taylor, Colin Leech, Jo-Jo Wilson, Liam Girven, Chris "Paddy" Parry, Mark Grayston and Chris McGrath

Click here to see photos from the Stoke sevens.