OLD AND NEW NAMES ON THE TROPHIES

THERE were old and new teams named as winners of the 2010 Ernst & Young Touch Summer League.

The 12- week long league, which attracted a record number of players and teams, saw finals that were closer than ever.

‘It’s amazing to see how close the games were with just one or two touchdowns sealing the win for a number of teams. A couple of years ago, you could probably have guessed which teams were contenders at the start of the league but that definitely isn’t the case now. The teams who have trained hard are really putting pressure on the more experienced teams and that’s very encouraging,’ said Guernsey Touch chair Katrina Bray.

The mixed divisions attracted 18 teams who were split over three divisions. The Mixed 1 final was a repeat of the 2008 final with Source Sorcerers, who had won all their games this season, taking on Galaxy, which was formerly Brotown. With both teams boasting a high proportion of island representative players, the standard was high and it was Galaxy who took the title with just one touchdown being scored by rugby development officer Geraint Cooper.

Oranjebooms took third place after beating Argyll 11 – 3 with five of Oranjeboom’s touchdowns coming from husband and wife Divon and Jemma Crouse. Three touchdowns from Sam Stables, who took the men’s prize for most touchdowns scored during the season, helped PwC Mixed take fifth place ahead of KPMG Krusaders.

In Mixed 2, Specsavers Sharks took the trophy after beating Partners Group 4 – 2. Touch & Go took third place after beating Cardiac Action Group 3 – 1 and in their first league the Guernsey Electricity team Electric Shocks took fifth place pushing legal team Cool As Day into sixth after the only drop-off of the night.

In the men’s final, players from Guernsey’s 1st XI rugby team showed the reason for their successful 2009/2010 season with some impressive ball skills and pace and scored four touchdowns to beat Source Temps Tigers and take the trophy. Another hat-trick from Stables helped PwC Mens beat Galaxy Mens 6 – 3 to take third, Cornerstone Exiles’s convincing 6 – 1 win over Specsavers Stags gave them fifth place and six touchdowns from KPMG Knicks gave them seventh after Martel-Dunn Recruits could only score once to take eighth. Ogier and Colts came joint ninth and Panther Bees came 11th.

With seven teams in the ladies division, there was no final and the league positions determined the winners. GPG A Woman’s Touch secured their fifth Summer League title after winning 11 of their games and drawing one with Carly Parrott scoring four in the last game to add to her tally and give her the prize for the most touchdowns scored by a woman. Galaxy came second after winning eight and drawing and losing two and in their first season PwC came third ahead of Martel-Dunn Recruits in fourth. Specsavers Sirens came fifth, the Guernsey Ladies Rugby team, playing under the name Guernsey Moos, came sixth and RMB Panthers finished their first season in seventh.

Justeen Baker from Touch & Go was given the prize for Most Valued Player for the Mixed division, Steve Ogier from Ogiers won the Mens Most Valued Player prize and Georgia Smith won the ladies.

‘It’s been another fantastic season and the enthusiasm we continue to see from players is brilliant. We have 400 registered players and I hope that we will see many of them taking part in the Autumn League and all of them back next year with friends, relatives and colleagues joining them to make the 2011 season even bigger yet,’ said Katrina.

The 2010 Ernst & Young Touch Autumn League starts on Sunday 5th October and is open to mixed, mens and ladies teams. More information is available from www.guernseytouch.org.gg  

For more information please contact Katrina Bray on 07781 191977.