Rugby success
After winning both the Dalziel Schools Youth Festival and NLL Tournament, the Bellshill Barbarians were invited to play in the Schools Cup Final. This final is played between the best teams from North and South Lanarkshire. For Bellshill to make this final is an absolutely remarkable achievement for a group of boys who only started playing rugby in January this year. However their opponents were Duncanrig High who are a school of rugby and boast a team predominately made up of club players with years of experience. Duncanrig made this experience count and their better organisation allowed them to beat the Bellshill boys relatively comfortably. However, our boys got better and better as the game went on and their plucky performance saw them praised by their opponents and the referee. Their coach and teacher, Dougie Clark, said “People could barely believe that such an inexperienced team could play in such a spirited way. The boys team spirit was incredible and even when losing they kept trying, supported each other and won the admiration of the crowd.” To crown what has been a truly remarkable season, Lewis Donnelly was given the most valuable player of the tournament award. which, considering he had never touched a rugby ball before January, is probably the most extraordinary thing in what has been an extraordinary season for the Bellshill team.
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