Bareback Riders and CSSC take home first NTS and CTS silverware

By Julia Kang

After a wonderful week of sunshine across the country, temperatures plummeted and heavy grey skies threatened in the East Midlands last Saturday, which meant it must be the start of the NTS/CTS season.

An expanse of open space at Grove Farm, Riverside, was the new venue for the opener in Nottingham, which saw 32 teams descend on the fields, players hungry to put all their months of preparation together as Round 1 of the 2017 series got underway.

The pristine Nottingham University pitches provided the stage for some fantastic Touch as teams battled it out to bag their points to start off their campaigns.

Last year's NTS overall winners Wigan Warriors had a quieter day and were held off the top spot, knocked out of the Cup semi-finals by Cambridge Hornets. Through to the final Cambridge faced a strong opposition, with Bareback Riders building on their impressive semi-final win over London Galaxy to beat the Hornets 5-2 in a gripping final.

The Plate winners were Hot Custard, with Nottingham Hoods winning the Bowl and Oxford the Shield.

Not to be overshadowed by the NTS, the talent on show in the CTS was the highest it's ever been with a spread of experience across all teams and touchdowns coming thick and fast.

The eventual cup winners were CSSC, who beat Nottingham Mavericks 3-1, with Thames Valley Vikings taking home the Plate, Wigan Warriors the Bowl and London Galaxy the Shield.

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