The second event of the 2024/25 season saw the start of Allied Mobility Fours: Division One competition. Eight teams from across England and Wales made their way to the home of the Paralympics, Stoke Mandeville to smash, pick and truck trailer their way to the title.
New faces, teams and commentators
Division One has welcomed new teams Cheltenham Tigers coached by none other than Paralympic Gold winning Head Coach, Paul Shaw, and RGC coached by GBWR Welsh Development Officer, Mark Baines. Amongst the players it was great to see so many returning for another season with a few new players mixed in. Three players from Europe also made their debuts in the national series, Brice Maurel, who was a member of the French Paralympic squad, Marc Subiron from Spain and Thomas Schuler from Germany. This weekend saw the introduction of commentary on the live streams of games. Omar Foster did a sterling job of solo commentating whilst working the camera. Women’s Cup winners Helen Thompson and Hayley Cassin took over on the earlier games on Sunday before Helen partnered up with Stuart McLindon for the final. The games are still available on GBWR’s Facebook page and are well worth a listen. If you are interested in becoming a commentator please contact Mick Armstrong, mick.armstrong@gbwr.org.uk
Stand in officials
Before we get onto the teams it is again important to thank the officials who give up their time to help these competitions run. Particular thanks go to Ricky and Amy Goddard who stepped up to help with refereeing at short notice and Lee Stutely who kindly refereed and was unable to watch her club, West Coast WRC play.
Tigers roaring to the top
Tigers had a formidably strong line up of two Paralympians and three GB talent players. Tyler Walker and Brice Maurel combined in devastating fashion scoring 60% of the teams total tries. Although they lead the table as unbeaten, it took an overtime to separate them from West Coast Burn in a game that captivated and drew in spectators. It looked like there would need to be a second period to try and split them but a remarkable bit of skill saw Tigers grasp the winning try with 0.2 seconds remaining. We eagerly await the rematch.
RGC
It was impressive that both new teams Tigers and RGC made the final. Especially as RGC had one of the smallest teams and choose to run predominantly a line up of two 2.5 players, Luke Collier and Marc Subiron as the highest pointers assisted by 2.0 player, Tom Baines. This unorthodox line up gave teams trouble to defend against. If teams started to get on top they could call upon youngster Jac Sheehan to shake up their gameplay and bring in a new dynamic, helping RGC to keep a hold of the game. Marc and Tom not only helped RGC take second but also won Best in Class in their classifications, 2.5 and 2.0 respectively.
Ayaz working overtime, Danny, Hannah, Muhammed and Byron shine
West Coast WRC had impressive squad depth and were able to field two teams, Burn and Heat. Unfortunately for Ayaz Bhuta it meant two very busy days of coaching as Heat’s coach, Ryan Cowling, couldn’t make the tournament. It did mean however he was guaranteed to be a winner from the 3rd/4th placing game between Burn and Heat. Within the Burn squad, Daniel Dawoud was a try scoring machine scoring a mammoth 64% of tries in one game. However Byron White was recognised as being an integral part of the line up and awarded with MVP. Heat’s most used line-up saw try scoring double act Hannah Bucys and Josh Williams who were complemented and supported by Myles Pearson and Muhammed Islam. Hannah, Muhammed and Myles all being recognised as Best in Class 3.0, 0.5 and 1.5 respectively.
London Crusaders were an interesting team to watch with try’s being scored across the players. Ryan Raghoo was frequently in the action and you could not fault his energy levels. Bulbul Hussain was impressive both in defense and as a sneaky attack option. Deservedly winning Best in Class 1.0. The challenge is to find those few more tries to force themselves into the top four as they had a convincing win over Udders in the placement game for 5th.
Udders have a full team
North East Udders travelled to the competition with an unusually large squad as all of their players turned up for the competition. Club Chair, Dale Thompson, admitting it might be a first! GB Talent players Millie Partridge and Josh Tudge put on an excellent display of skill leading Millie to be awarded Best in Class 3.5. It was great to see their substitutes and lesser known players receive court time with Jess Keeble scoring double figures and Rob Thompson coming back into the fold.
It was a challenging weekend for both LT Swifts and West Country Hawks. Both teams felt the brunt of strong attacking line-up’s but still showed determination and fighting spirit. Hayley Cassin had a great weekend making herself known on court and supporting her team whilst on the bench. Her commentating debut was a success as well, with her confidence growing as the match went on. For Hawks it was two GB players debut with William Hopkins a delight to see on court and his awareness of the game so early on. Both him and Curtis Maxwell the second newbie getting a visit to the penalty bin to gain the full experience.
Naughty Step
Is it telling that the first and second placed teams, Cheltenham Tigers and RGC, also had the most penalty bin visits with 14 each. Whereas with a minuscule two for the whole team, Heat were relative angels.
On the player front; repeat penalty bin customers were Tyler Walker from Cheltenham Tigers and Tom Baines from RGC with eight a piece. All three players who came over from Europe also experienced trips to the penalty bin!
Come and watch live!
The next installment in this seasons Division One competition will be at Fenton Manor, Stoke on Trent on 6 and 7 January 2025, as players seek to burn off the excess from Christmas and New Year.
Written by Hannah Boyle from West Country Hawks Wheelchair Rugby Club
Photo Credit: Adam Johnson
