Exeter Hurricanes cap BUCS UTC season with second Cup

Exeter Hurricanes capped their British Universities and Colleges Sport University Touch Championships campaign with their second successive Cup title.

The Hurricanes had been slowly building their momentum throughout the season, and while they had missed out on the Cup final in Round 3 National they returned to Riverside Sports Complex on Saturday having bagged the big prize in Round 4 National.

However, a round 1 loss to Bath Hawks made sure that Exeter had to do things the hard way, on the same side of the draw as Durham Knights, the ever-dangerous Nottingham Trent Timberwolves, and Loughborough 1, who were tied with the Hurricanes at the top of the table.

The Knights were seen off 7-2, before the overall title was clinched with a 6-2 semi-final win over Loughborough 1.

This brought about a final against Bath Hawks, and an opportunity for revenge. This was taken in style, the Hurricanes prevailing 5-2.

In the Plate Bristol Cobras secured their first silverware of the season after an extra time 6-5 win over Cardiff Dragons. Bristol had started their day with a comfortable 9-1 win over Oxford, but aside from the quarter final it was nerve-shredding stuff for the Cobras, with a 3-3 draw against Birmingham Lions followed by a one-try win over Cambridge in the pool stages and a 5-4 win over Edinburgh Lions in the semi-final.

The Bowl went to Nottingham, who showed their own improvement during the National stages by clinching their first trophy.

But the story of the day was perhaps Oxford Brookes, for whom injuries took their toll to the extent that they finished the day with only seven players, and played at least one game with only six. Despite these setbacks they finished their season with a trophy to celebrate, beating Durham Archers, Surrey Bucks and Leeds Belgrave to life the Shield.

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