17/06/2026
The second round of the 2026 Staffordshire Mixed Touch Series took place on Friday 5th June and Veseyans made the long journey to Newport with a small squad of 9 and only 2 ladies playing rugby for the club.
A tough group started with a 3-0 defeat to a very strong Newport A side including several Level 5 players. The second game saw us face newbies this summer St Leonard’s and an end to end game was won 3-2 with excellent performances from our ladies Claire Payne and Izzy Borg (our debutant today) and great tries from Alex Shepherd (2) and Ethan Taylor.
The next game was the tightest of the night and we were unfortunate to go down late on 2-1 to Cannock, who ended up runners up, with both girls denied their first tries on the line and James Roberts, Alex Shepherd (the try scorer) and Ben Cleaver showing excellent pace. Our final game was a 5th place playoff against Newport B side and Alex Shepherd scored another excellent two tries with Izzy unfortunate to be denied again on the line.
Try of the night contenders from Ben Cleaver, assisted by Adam Dugmore, and a marauding Lawrence Springgate sandwiched a winger’s finish from Andrew Payne meaning the score line was a 6-5 win.
Well done Stafford on their second win overall on the night but another respectable performance and placing from Veseyans.
In a fortnight, we travel for the next round to the compact, friendly club at Rugeley. Message Andrew Payne if you’d like to be involved, especially any women who want to play rugby for the club.
Special mentiones go to our "Player of the Night" Izzy Borg for a top women’s rugby performance, and "Eejit of the Night" is Andrew Payne for reffing the 3rd place playoff and forgetting to get a team photo!!
Overall Scorers Chart:
Ethan Taylor x5
Alex Shepherd x5
Andrew Payne x4
Adam Dugmore x3
Nick Yates x2
Penalty Tries x2
Rob Clohessy
Ben Cleaver
Lawrence Springgate
