Dene Magna 19 Crypt School 27

EDF Energy Under-14 Cup Final

DENE Magna’s head of PE, Paul Griffiths, praised the resolve of the schools’ Year 9 side after they almost staged a dramatic comeback at Kingsholm last week.

Crypt raced into the lead with a try from Lewis Drewett after five minutes, which was added to by Sam Collins’ well-struck penalty on 19 minutes.

But the Forest school hit back at the death of the first half, with Robbie Winman’s unconverted try making it 8-5 at the break.

Crypt proved adept in the scrum and showed good hands to score their second, through Drewett again, before Matthew Baldwin got the third.

But the Foresters showed great resolve to score twice through Max Wilkinson and then Niall Freeman. Both were converted by Lewis Handley to make it 22-19 with a minute left.

There was a sting in the tail, however, when Crypt killed the game off with another excellent try in the corner.

Mr Griffiths also thanked the work of local clubs in aiding the youngsters’ development.

“It was a tough game; Crypt were very, very well-drilled and we struggled to handle that in the first 20 minutes,” he said.

“The comeback was phenomenal. I’m so proud of the boys for the way they didn’t roll over and let them run the show, to the point where we could have won that at the end.

“We get a lot of good support at club level, particularly from Drybrook and Cinderford, and we put a lot effort in at school.

“We train regularly and we’ve expanded our schedule to include more Gloucester and Cheltenham sides which I think is having a big impact on our quality.”