Crosfield’s Armed Forces Day goes with a bang

AN ear splitting boom from 25 pounder WW11 field guns heralded the start of proceedings as Crosfield’s ARLFC proudly hosted the Warrington Armed Forces Day and the 9th Annual Tom Sephton Memorial Trophy festival.

In what is the biggest  free rugby festival in the country and with no clashes with Super League fixtures this year, the event enjoyed a bumper crowd, who were treated to a fine display of rugby league and basked in the sky high temperatures.

The festival provided a wonderful day out with free gifts and activities for the kids, inflatable obstacle courses, rifle ranges, fairground rides and stalls, face painting, even LazerQuest and Zorbs. The Armed Forces information stands and stalls showed various displays of armament and military vehicles  which children of all ages loved.

On the bill were three back to back Armed Forces games with a fantastic Junior Rugby curtain raiser.

The opening game at 10:30 saw a cracking Under 10’s contest as Crosfields took on the Rylands Sharks for the Hilary Steel MBE Memorial Plate. A stalwart of the Rylands Club and youth rugby administration it was a marvellous way of celebrating all of the wonderful work that Hilary did for so many.

Game 1 at 11:30 got the senior rugby off to a flying start with a rematch from 2017 as the Royal Marines Rugby League once again went into battle against the ‘Young Guns’ of the Army Rugby League Academy.

Game 2 was a real favourite with many in the huge crowd and also a local derby . The ‘Coleridge Cup’ clash of the titans was between the Mercian Regiment and Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment, the two Regiments that recruit their soldiers from Warrington going head to head once more. This year The Duke of Lancaster regiment ran out 32 – 20 winners in a keenly fought contest. Michael O’Brian , the Mercian number 6, picked up a deserved man of steel trophy.

The main event of the Armed Forces Day, the ‘Sephton Trophy’ match, saw the traditional match up between the Crosfield’s ARLFC select X111 and the might of the Army Rugby League Senior X111.

Last year’s thriller saw the Crosfield’s team score in the dying seconds to take a 2 point victory and this year was no less exciting. With Crosfield’s leading with minutes to go Army number 6 Kieran Roach went over under the sticks to seal a hard fought victory 36 – 32

It was an intensely hard fought game under a baking sun which at times saw tempers become a little frayed but the match referee, Tara Jones from Penketh , did a magnificent job keeping it all under control.

Voted Man of Steel was a proud Brad Stanway from Crosfield’s ARLFC who was never far from the action.

The event is held in memory of Private Tom Sephton, a Soldier from Warrington who served in the 1st Battalion, The Mercian Regiment (1 MERCIAN). In 2010 Tom deployed on operations to Afghanistan and was seriously wounded on patrol and succumbed to his injuries the following day.

For many years he played Rugby League for Crosfields Rugby League Club, and it was Tom’s ex-team mates who came up with the original idea for a charity fund raising Rugby League match to be held in memory of their friend.

The Coleridge Cup is also a game in honour of former Warrington soldier Tom Coleridge, who was seriously injured in Afghanistan but has rebuilt his life working for local charity Warrington Disability Partnership.

Tom had his life torn apart at 18 when he was serving with the Duke Of Lancaster regiment in Afghanistan and his patrol was ambushed, leaving him with a ruptured spleen and paralysed. But now aged 26, he holds down a full time job with Warrington Disability Partnership