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Sunday saw the annual Denton Hurdle Memorial games played at National Sports Centre as the Teachers hosted their annual games against the rest of the island select sides. As with the other two club days played this season already, there were 1st and 2nd team games in both men's and women's codes.

Women

Teachers 6, The Rest 6

The ladies second team game was the first up, and in an exciting end-to-end tussle, the game quite fittingly ended in a 6-6 draw.

It was certainly a fair result and both sides played fantastically well. Sarah Arthur led the way for the Teachers with a superb hattrick, with Katie McAlister grabbing two tries and Mona Wierzbicki completing the scoring.

The scorers for the Rest were Ashleigh Leeson with two, while Lisa Henderson, Jill Montgomery, Gemma O'Brien and Deirdre Mellamphy scored one apiece. Kelly Nusum collected the trophy on behalf of Teachers.

The Rest 9, Teachers 5

The ladies first team game was another exciting encounter and despite a fine performance, Teachers fell to a talented Rest side by 9-5.

Both teams played entertaining rugby throughout, and there was certainly no shame in losing as they more than contributed to the nature of the game.

Prolific scorer Joanna Thievèrge scored twice for Teachers, as did Christine Rickards, and Marie-Pierre Beaudoin also scored. Amanda Maenpaa was credited with a hattrick for the Rest, while Nicola Jones (2), Amy Harvey, Anna Knapman-Scott, Amanda Swan and Abbey MacPherson scored for the Rest. Nicola Jones accepted the trophy for the Rest.

Men

Teachers 35, The Rest 10

The men's second team game was dominated by Teachers. They had a large number of youngsters who have come through their youth programme, to help them come out victorious.

It was a superb performance that contained more than a sprinkling of high quality scores.

Despite the young byes in the squad, it was seasoned veteran Herbie Adderley who scored the opening try. Matt Irvine, a leading contender for man of the match, also crossed the whitewash for Teachers as they threatened to completely over-run the Rest.

Gareth Dixon pulled a try back for the Rest when he broke through, and Lee Maximchuck also burrowed over as they at last managed to breach the solid defence.

It was as good as it got, as Teachers added a number of late tries. Another experienced campaigner, Butch Robinson, went over before they added two fantastic tries to finish it off.

Firstly, Rich Boyd scored a wonderful solo effort when he collected his own chip over the top to race in.

The highly talented Kai Edwards scored the last try after breaking through a number of tacklers and finished off his mazy run by scoring under the posts. The final score was 35-10 to Teachers.

The Rest 11, Teachers 10

The final game was a tight affair, with very little between the sides from start to finish.

It was a bright opening and from an early turnover, Bobby Hurdle raced through the gap to score. Shauntino Simons missed the conversion but it was a great start as they were 5-0 up.

Despite this, the Rest rallied and even when Durnferd Davies was harshly sin-binned for what was deemed a spear tackle, they managed to keep the clearly pumped Teachers side at bay and even closed the deficit.

It was a Mark Pomeroy penalty that reduced the gap after Teachers had gone off their feet at a ruck. Pomeroy was again on target with another penalty after another infringement to edge the Rest ahead, and it stayed that way until half-time.

Both sides came out completely fired up and it proved to be a fascinating half, as both teams found themselves constantly running into a mass of bodies. The hitting was brutal and undoubtedly the two sets of players were feeling it on Monday.

The Rest broke when the very impressive Alun Thomas found space and passed it out to Davies, who scored right in the corner. Pomeroy missed the difficult conversion but they still held an 11-5 lead. Teachers rallied, and they laid siege to the opposition for the rest of the match. They thought they'd scored under the posts but Devrae Noel Simmons was adjudged to be guilty of a double movement.

They did score right at the death as Alvin Harvey got in for a try, and the conversion would decide the winner. Unfortunately for Teachers, Dave Porter pulled his effort wide of the posts and the Rest clung on to an 11-10 victory.

Both sides had heroes all over the pitch who time and again laid their body on the line for their side. Conor McGlynn, Rich Brown, Thomas and Ryan Sommerville stood out for the Rest, with Thomas Greenslade, Mike Barkhuizen and Kevin Walshe particularly outstanding for Teachers.

Weekend action

This weekend sees a return to league action at National Sports Center where both league titles could potentially be won. Renegades are unbeaten this season in the ladies league and if they avoid defeat, they will retain their crown. Teachers will dethrone Renegades if they can beat the reigning champions this weekend in the men's league.[[In-content Ad]]

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