Maldon Under-10s continued their successful season by winning the Braintree festival, scoring a total of 20 tries and only conceding three tries.

First Maldon needed to win their group to reach the final. To warm up the squad used the apparatus on the nearby playground, the parents were occupied with the intricacies of constructing the new tent whilst other teams ran through drill after drill after drill.

The team started superbly by beating Westcliff 15-0, in one of their best performances of the year. Particularly pleasing was the improvement the team showed in moving the ball away from the bigger Westcliff pack.

The next game against Thurrock unfortunately did not go as planned and Maldon failed to tackle the huge Thurrock prop, and did not employ the tactics agreed before the game, which meant that Maldon did not have enough possession to dominate the game. A better performance in the second half allowed Maldon to scrape a win, with a try in the last seconds of the game, 15-10.

The next match against Eton Manor indicated that Maldon had listened to advice and they were unstoppable, scoring seven tries to win 35-0, with Eton Manor hardly touching the ball.

The final game against Bury St Edmunds would decide who won the group as Bury St Edmunds were also unbeaten.

Maldon began the game ferociously, at last dominating rucks and mauls and attempting to move the ball wide to their speedy backs when possible. However, Bury St Edmunds demonstrated that they were the best defensive team Maldon had faced this year, putting in some fantastic tackles. In the face of such strong tackling Maldon did well to retain the ball in contact and linked well on two occasions to score tries in the first half. In the second half Maldon managed to cross the line once more to win 15-0, which saw them win their group with four wins out of four games.

The final was against Upminster, undefeated from the other group, and the team who beat Maldon in the Essex cup final five weeks ago.

Maldon knew they had to keep the ball away from the big Upminster pack, and were able to play an open game by rucking quickly and passing the ball out to the backs who were able to run the ball with time and space.

Although Upminster managed one try, Maldon won 20-5 to secure the title of tournament champions.

Next week is the Chelmsford festival, which the team will be determined to win to finish off their season in style.