The Eton Manor under 10's undoubtedly enjoy playing with the sun on their backs as they shone as brightly as the sun at the Romford festival.

Excellent pressing rugby swept aside their first opponents, Ongar, 5-0.

In spite of spending the whole of the next game barely more than ten yards from the try line of their opponents, Romford, they were unable to convert their chances and the game ended 0-0.

A win and a draw meant that to progress to the finals as group winners, they would have to defeat their old nemesis, Upminster, who already had two wins under their belts. The tension before the game was palpable, at least among the parents. The boys knew this was a big game, against tough opponents, and nerves were jangling. That was, until the first whistle, when all concerns were forgotten, and our boys really took the game to their opposition. Unbelievably, in spite of dominating the first half, they found themselves 1-0 down, through a break away try against the run of play.
As soon as the second half began, the scores were level, and from that moment on, the Manor never looked back, powering over for another two tries.

This was a fantastic team effort and probably their best performance all season. When the team plays this well one doesn't like to point out individuals, but it must be said that Isobel Shaw, the queen of the maul, was outstanding, and Ellis van Eck discovered that other players just bounced off him as he surged through for a number of tries.

Unfortunately, in spite of another great performance, they were unable to get another winning result, against yet another first class Upminster side, and had to settle for the runners up trophy and memories of a great day of rugby.