Witham Junior Rugby Club’s under-sevens came home with a runners-up trophy from the Romford and Gidea Park Minis Festival.

The team of Archie Simper, Elliot Cawley, Emilio Feller, George Williams, Sophie Halls and Vic Collett-Hughes started with an 8-6 defeat by Romford firsts and after a 7-4 defeat by Bancroft, they knew they had to raise their game to stay in the competition.

They were more focused from the start against Old Brentwood and Feller scored five tries in a 9-5 win, before a 6-4 victory against Ongar saw them finish second in pool A and into the play-off game against pool B winners Romford seconds.

Witham started well, but trailed 5-4 at half-time and even though they collected a lot of important tags and scored some tries, Romford managed to edge ahead in the last few minutes to seal a 10-7 win.

Feller scored a hat-trick in the final game, Halls got a brace and there was one apiece for Williams and Simper as Witham received the runners-up trophy and medals.

Witham’s under-eights also entered the tournament.

The team of Becky Benham, Jimmy Dines, Oscar Burton, Raphael Feller, Ruby Gronan, Sid Simper and Stanley Collett-Hughes opened with a 5-2 loss to hosts Romford, before a 7-6 loss to Burnham and a 6-6 draw against Old Brentwood.