WOODFORD MINIS took part in the Essex Cup Festival at the weekend.

WOODFORD MINIS took part in the Essex Cup Festival at the weekend.

The under-sevens fielded two teams and although Woodford Reds failed to win a group game, some brilliant try-scoring from Jack Brynes and Albert Webb in the knock-out stages saw them win the Vase Final.

Woodford Blues won all their pool games to top the group, each time scoring five tries or more.

They were beaten in the semi-final by Thurrock, but can hold their heads high after tries by Barney Hurd, Victoria Bean, the Morris twins, Rory Chick and Finley Jacobs-Roth.

Woodford under-eights made the final of the Plate competition, where they shared the trophy with Southend.

They had beaten Chingford 20-15 with tries from Alex O'Brien (2), Alex Deery and Bradley Lennard, but despite two scores from Lennard and another by Freddie Britt, Upper Clapton won 25-15 in the second fixture.

The final pool match pitted Woodford against Thurrock and they won 25-10 after tries from Deery (2), O'Brien, Connor Harman and Lennard.

Burnham were then defeated 35-15 in the plate semi-final thanks to a hat-trick from Lennard along with tries for Joe Ahern, Deery, O'Brien and Harman.

The final saw Southend take an early 10-0 lead, but Woodford bounced back as Britt touched down.

Another try for Lennard saw Woodford trail 20-10 at half time, and that became 25-15 after Britt went over once more.

A marvellous fightback saw Giraud touch down and then Stan Schute go over to ensure the spoils were shared.

n The older Woodford age groups went to Brentwood to face the hosts and Maldon.

Woodford under-11s lost 15-5 to Brentwood after Arun Vaid powered over, while despite some fine tackling from James Chance, they lost 10-0 to another Brentwood side.

In the final match against Maldon, Michael Batt notched a hat-trick for a satisfying 15-10 win.

Woodford under-12s lost out 5-0 to Maldon, before a 5-5 draw with Brentwood thanks to a try from man-of-the-match James Garnham, while Gregory Gilbert also impressed.

Woodford fielded three teams at under-10 levels and the try of the day came from Liam Cohen, who finished off a wonderful team effort.

The Blues beat Brentwood Bulls 2-1, but lost to Brentwood Bulldogs 1-0, while the Reds defeated Maldon 3-1, but lost to Bulldogs 1-0, and the Greens beat the Bulls 3-1 and Maldon 2-1.