A fantastic fourteen regular members from Stafford Wednesday night touch rugby took the journey over to Cannock last Friday night for the fifth tournament of the South Staffordshire touch series. The players were accompanied by a small band of dedicated supporters & the always welcome photographer.

For the fifth round in a row Stafford fielded two teams which comprised of a broad cross section of players from the inexperienced through to rock steady veterans and all abilities in between. With two teams of seven the players prepared to take on ten other teams from Cannock, Handsworth, Rugeley, Walsall, Wheaton Aston and Penkridge. Holidays, work commitments and other assorted reasons saw Stafford fielding five debutantes to this round of the touch series. The county town teams were very heavy on experience but slightly light on a turn of speed.

A warm evening provided the backdrop for an interesting series of games which saw both teams playing some excellent rugby. The evening ended with Stafford Bees taking three wins, one draw and a loss to earn sixteen points and taking joint seventh position on the night. Stafford Wasps with one draw and four losses found themselves in twelfth place. Both teams put in a storming effort but were undone by a slight turn of speed against the younger teams and the lack of points for fielding female players.

A huge thanks to all Wasps & Bees players who turned out to represent the club. Special mention must be made to Barry Robinson, James Wilkinson, Nigel Howlett, Reggie Hall and Steve Bowyer who all made their series debut. Stafford sit in third and fourth position overall and with only one round to go Handsworth just have to turn up to grab the five points which would give them overall victory.

Stafford Wasps Team: Stafford Bees Team:

1. Adam Harper 1. Barry Robinson
2. Ben Arnold 2. Gavin Hogan
3. James Van Nijkerk 3. James Wilkinson
4. Jocelyn Turner 4. Malcolm Heath
5. Nigel Howlett 5. Matt Yarwood
6. Reggie Hall 6. Steve Bowyer
7. Steve McLuckie 7. Tim Hogan