BIRMINGHAM Civil Service won their first ever North Midlands competition at the weekend, when beating favourites and holders Ross-on-Wye 29-19 in the North Midlands Vase Cup final on Sunday.
Held at Dudley Kingswinford RFC’s Swindon Road home, Ross were searching for a fifth Vase in their history, but were denied by a plucky Civil Service side who made history of their own.
Birmingham prevented the Gloucester One title winners from getting in behind the backs, and remained resilient throughout the contest.
Civil Service’s Ryan Clohessy demonstrated great speed when racing away from a scrum with the ball, crashing over the line for the opener after ten minutes, with Liam Clarke adding the conversion.
Matt Parvin added to the lead with a converted try, before Clarke kicked a penalty late in the first-half.
Ross-on-Wye were denied by a knock on when going over the try line, as Civil Service continued to build up a strong lead, scoring a third try through Clarke – who again successfully added the extra points.
Ross did score 15 minutes from time through Craig Smith for a converted score, prior to Civil Service countering and adding a fourth try, with Ryan Wiggin’s being in the right place at the right time to collect a loose ball and score.
Ross scored again late on, but it was too little, too late to prevent Birmingham Civil Service from lifting their maiden North Midlands Vase Cup.
