The winners of this competition, organized by London Irish RFC, were expected to be decided by the end of the morning. Unfortunately, the knockout stages of the cup had to be abandoned due to poor weather.

A real shame for the boys because, as a squad, they were playing superbly, and were real contenders to win the tournament.

The day started with clear skies and sunshine but conditions quickly deteriorated following Alton's first two matches. The third game was played in lashing rain and howling winds! In spite of this, Alton won all 3 games in the pool stages, finishing in pole position after beating Aldershot and Fleet 5 tries to nil, Aldermaston 3-0 and, finally, US Portsmouth 1-0.

Despite the heavy rain and a very soggy pitch, the handling skills and commitment of the squad was second to none. The most impressive element of a great all-round performance was the defensive effort. No team came close to scoring a try against us!  The boys gelled as a team and were a real pleasure to watch with forwards and backs linking superbly. In contrast, the London Irish v Newcastle match in the afternoon was strewn with basic errors and neither team played with much ambition.

Our semi-final opponents will be US Portsmouth, who finished second to Alton in our pool. The winners of the final will receive free tickets for the Guinness premiership final in May, and will be invited to parade around the pitch at half-time.

The squad should be proud of the way they played today. Great fun was had by all! A particular highlight was the impromptu sing song in the gazebo (whilst parents tried to prevent the wind blowing it away!).

The squad were Cameron Hamer, Alexander Jenkins, Jonathan Becker Davies, Harry Robinson, Joseph Fahy, Sam Brench, Cameron Newton, James Tombling, Brook Sanders, Harry Manning, Dominic Butler, Leo Gardner, Oscar Mosley, Luke Hopper, James Wallace, Tom Bartram, Alexander Simmons, Toby Davies, Tom Vaughn and Alec Hudson.