Manchester DTS – 2015

The weather was typical of Manchester, as the sun shone down on us for the duration of the tournament, dismissing rumours that it only ever rains in Manchester!

Thanks to everyone who helped out in the very successful running of the 3rd leg of the Steeden England Touch DTS in Manchester.

New England Touch stash turned up in time for the NTS CTS in Maidenhead next weekend so we had the opportunity to test drive it at our event. It looks great too. Thanks to the 3 series sponsors for being onboard this season, it’s great to have such great support from Belief Sports, SPORTTAPE and Steeden over the season.

Thanks to all the full and part time referees from the host club and surrounding areas, the most non-player referees DTS so far, a big achievement for the club! You all did a stirling job and your assistance hasn’t gone unnoticed. The improvements of the referees over the day and the feedback from England’s NDR, Shelley Grace was really positive. Upgrades coming to some of our referees too, great news for the region.

Adam Brimelow
Gregg Cropper
Kevin Hill
Zack Romanu
Matthew Walker
Mike Murray
Daniel Wines
Paul Riordan
Huw Buckley
John Peet
Dan Twist
Mike Mulroy

Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) brought a contingent of physiotherapy students to be on hand for the day, overseen by Cari Thorpe, the ETA medical director. A big thanks to those guys for supporting our tournament, they were all very professional and we hope they go on to make great Physios as we know they can.

The step up in skill level and structured play was very noticeable from previous DTS events as at this stage teams vie not only for silverware, but also a spot in the finals weekend, which is an invite only ‘Top 8*’ in Cambridge, coinciding with the 2015 Touch Nationals, on Sunday August 9th.

An amazing job by our cake bakers/sellers too. We managed to raise an outstanding £300 for our friend Mex. Thanks to those who baked and bought the cake. More of the same at the Manchester NTS/CTS too, so bring your cash and your sweet tooth! #CancerCanWait

A big thanks to England Touch events director Kevin Hill and Referee Director Shelley Grace for overseeing the event too.

Thanks to the host Club, Altrincham Kersal RFC, fantastic hosts and great BarBQ put on too. Thanks to Mel, Pablo, BarBQ guy and Neil for all your efforts. We hope to host there again in the future too. See you Monday nights for the Fully Charged Events summer #O2Touch league.

There were lots of helpers at the event too, thanks to everyone involved who made it a success, the biggest thanks must also go to the clubs chairman Gregg Cropper, who meticulously organised the event from start to finish as well as donning his yellow jersey to referee the competition too.

Chargers had players in 4 different teams, ensuring all teams had enough players to participate and compete. They were also proud to have took an emerging 11 year old star into the squad for the day to give her the experience of playing Touch at that level and growing her confidence as she went. Her mentors for the day had nothing but praise for her, and current WO player Pam Tomlinson, who played against young Macy, quoted “Well played Macy. We tried to score round you, but failed! Hope to see you at the next one”

Winners:

Manchester DTS Cup Winners 2015

Sandymount Touch, beating Canterbury Cougars 6-3 in the final, a reversal of the last round.

Manchester DTS Plate Winners 2015

Halton Storm, beating Chester Cheetahs 7-2 in final. Great to see the lad and dad Tu’iono combo in the middle of the park, with that Polynesian flair.

Manchester DTS Bowl Winners 2015

Wigan Touch, beating CSSC 3-2 in a close game.

Manchester DTS Shield Winners 2015

Lincoln Touch, winning the playoffs on point difference.

Great team spirit from this team, as they all donned their charity socks for the late Mike Beard and did him proud on the pitch by winning the clubs first price of silverware to date.