Overton Minis U10s made it all the way to a thrilling final at Gosport recently, and, with the U9s, showed Basingstoke sports council's coach of the year, Overton's Gary Millar, exactly what they were made of!

The Aqua Pura U9s found all the group matches to be strong physical games, and lost 3-1 to Alton and 3-0 to Trojans. In the last game Petersfield's defence had to work hard but failed to stop a George Rogers try just seconds into the second half.

Overton lost Oliver Flawith through injury, but kept going to the final whistle. This was one of the best performances to date by this developing Overton squad, and the 1-1 score meant the team qualified for the plate semi-final against Andover. There were no reserves left, all were very tired and consequently were behind from the start. Overton never gave up trying, and a burst of determination saw them cross the gainline in the second half, and Archie Winnington Ingram, supported by the entire squad, gave Overton points to be proud of, as the final score was 5-1.

The Shaw Builders Under 10s beat Alton (20-0), Trojans (10-5) and Petersfield (25-0) to qualify for the quarter-final, where they defeated Andover 25-0.

In the semi, Winchester went ahead with a breakaway try, but Ben Bull scored the equaliser, leaving JJ Inglis to seal victory with a break through the middle. In their fourth year of trying, Overton were in a Hampshire final.

In a physical final against Havant, Jake Woolfenden scored the opener, peeling off a maul, and two minutes later after stout defence Havant scored the equaliser. This took the game to extra-time and a golden try. In end to end stuff both teams failed to cross the line until in the second period of extra-time when, despite the best efforts of Overton's defence and with fatigue taking its toll on both teams, Havant managed to score a pushover try to seal the game.

Gary Miller, Head of Coaching at Overton, said, "The boys from both teams couldn't have done or given any more, and learnt what it is possible to achieve with hard work and commitment.

"I'm extremely proud of them all. Once again we have shown that we have the ability to fight above our weight and what a small proud club can do."