Remaining unbeaten at tournaments is becoming a common theme for Alton’s U11s – this time, our developing team traveled down to Havant for the Emerging Players Festival and didn’t disappoint.

We had four games in the group stages and first up were Basingstoke. It was a nervous start and wasn't until the second half that our boys seemed  fully wake from their weekend slumber but still managing to hold their opponents to a draw. One try apiece, with Ollie scoring for Alton.

Next up were the Barbarians. Well, they would have been had they showed, but their lack of arrival awarded Alton with a default win and an early lunch.

After the break, hosts Havant, were our next match and things got off to a great start with an early try from Victor. This put the team on a high and by now, the boys were playing phenomenally well with some well thought out moves on a pitch suffering more mud than well-tendered grass. Havant equalised but we could feel another try coming. Thankfully, Ollie delivered the goods once more with a late winner: 2-1 to Alton.

The last group game was against New Milton and by now, our confidence was growing. Some terrific support from the rest of the team (and some brilliant play from Bradley it must be said) led to another try for Ollie but this was short-lived as NMRFC levelled... And moments later scored a second.

It was all to play for now and our prayers were answered when Niall scored and brought us level with just a couple of minutes left. The last play of the game saw us within yards of their opponent's try-line and the fans thinking: Can we score from here but more importantly, do we have time?

Answer: Yes! And Niall once again, drove through the defence to claim his second before the whistle blew to end the game. A second win for Alton. Or so we thought...

Our jubilation was cut short when we heard our winning try had subsequently been disallowed, putting the game back to a draw. A great shame (and the circumstances will likely keep us talking for weeks) but Alton still remained unbeaten and would surely make one of the finals.

After some rigorous math by the stewards, the totals were in and Basingstoke and Brighton were to battle it out in the Cup Final. The Plate Final pitched Alton against Winchester in a tremendously gripping game that could have gone either way.

In the end, it wrapped up without a try and not for the first time, our boys were to share the silverware with another team.

All the same, a sterling effort and one that left us with a high opinion of our boys.