Old Paulines win Owers Trophy for seventh year in a row

News

Owers Trophy

St Paul’s School, Barnes, Saturday October 1st 2016

 
In the second running of the new-format Owers Trophy (for teams of Old Boys from individual schools), the Old Paulines again emerged as victors. This year, it was the combination of three current Cambridge students – Ed Kay, Ben Beltrami and Matt Shaw – that took the title, but the event was not without its stories, shocks and nail-biting drama along the way.

For instance, the second Old Paulines team failed to make the semi-finals after only winning one match in the round-robin stage; both Sherborne and the Scottish Schools entered the event for the first time (the latter being confined to the plate, as the three were actually from different schools); the margin between second and third positions in the first round-robin group was a single point; and, the Old Bradfieldians (David Butler, Ed Ronan and James Marshall) performed superbly, not just in reaching the final, but also pushing the Cambridge Old Paulines harder than perhaps anyone – OBs included – had thought possible.

Oh, and finally, the Plate is yet to be decided. This is because the two teams that qualified for the final are the two from Derby Moor; and, because of how long the tournament took to reach that stage, and how long the drive home would be afterwards, it was agreed that the Plate final could be played at a later date in Derby…

 

RESULTS
Round-robin stage
Group 1:

Cambridge Old Paulines bt Old Eastbournians 33-15; bt Derby Moor I 33-14; bt Old Shirburnians 33-2. Old Eastbournians tied with Derby Moor I; bt Old Shirburnians 33-10. Derby Moor I bt Old Shirburnians 33-3.
Final positions: 1st Cambridge Old Paulines; 2nd Old Eastbournians; 3rd Derby Moor; 4th Old Shirburnians
Group 2:
Old Bradfieldians bt Old Paulines 23-20; bt Derby Moor II 33-5; bt Alleyn Old Boys 33-13. Old Paulines bt Derby Moor II 33-12; lost to Alleyn Old Boys 26-29. Derby Moor II lost to Alleyn Old Boys 16-33
Final positions: 1st Old Bradfieldians; 2nd Alleyn Old Boys; 3rd Old Paulines; 4th Derby Moor ‘Young Guns’
Knockout stage
Semi-finals:
Old Bradfieldians bt Old Eastbournians 33-21; Cambridge Old Paulines bt Alleyn Old Boys 33-9
Final: Cambridge Old Paulines bt Old Bradfieldians 34-22
Plate: TBC (but it will be a team from Derby Moor!)