Wilmere Lane hosted twelve teams in two groups this weekend for the Liverpool Shield. It was a gloriously sunny weekend in Widnes as the round robin stage kicked off on Saturday.
Group A saw Bolts (Edinburgh), Swindon Bombers, Cardiff, Yorkshire Dales (Leeds), Drizzle (Manchester) and Southport Seagulls competing for a cup finals position. Cardiff were a strong team, winning all five of their games including a surprise battering of Swindon Bombers 20-3, as well as 1-26 against Drizzle and 9-21 vs Seagulls. Swindon Bombers finished strongly, their defeat to Cardiff being their only loss on the first day, taking second place in the table.
Group B hosted Bristol Bam, Bats (Manchester), Bobcats (Leeds), Kelpies (Glasgow), Manchester Stingers and Liverpool Trojans. Bristol Bam were on their usual form, finishing top of the table by the end of the day with a 3-1-1 record. Bobcats were close behind with 3 wins to 3 losses. The shock result from Group B was Stingers’ 20-5 defeat by Trojans. They redeemed themselves later by holding it together against Bobcats for a very close 14-15 loss.
The wind picked up in Merseyside on Sunday but the sun was still out as the finals games began. Trojans battled the rest of the bottom to claim the spoon. The middle of the two tables fought for the plate. The semi-finals saw Kelpies beat Stingers and Dales beat the Bolts to head to the final. The Kelpies v Dales final saw the two fighting for the edge over the other. Dales clinched the plate prize 18-12. Cardiff had no problems in their final, beating Swindon Bombers 23 - 8 to claim the Shield.
Thanks to everyone who attended and we hope to see you at BSF’s LGBTQ+ tournament at The Northern Club on September 16th.