Honour and Pride Retained In Memorial Trophy Match

Bablake's 1st XV fell 13-0 to an impressive KHVIII side at Coventry RFC's Butts Stadium last night.

A fine, physically demanding first half performance from both sides had the crowd guessing for a long time who might win the 2017 Mike Hibbert Memorial Trophy, with just an impressive drop goal separating the teams at the break. 

The intensity of the tackling and commitment from both sides did not drop at all in the second half, but a couple of early penalties gave KHVIII the momentum to score a converted try from an impressive surge from their forwards before adding a penalty that established a 13-0 lead.

The immense determination and endeavour of our full squad just fell short of finding a means of unlocking the KHVIII defence and so the memorial trophy stays with our neighbours for another year, while all our players should feel pride in their performance.

Both sides should be congratulated on offering the spectators an excellent evening's entertainment and we thank referee Paul Smith and his team of officials for fostering a physically exhausting but fair contest.