Glen Willow was a hive of activity for the Hornets Regional Touch annual Don Green Western Junior Championships on the weekend.
Mudgee Touch Association hosted the tournament, with ten Mudcrabs teams taking to the field to kick off the junior representative season.
Finishing second overall to Orange Thunder, it was a successful weekend for the home club, winning three divisions.
Run under strict COVID guidelines, the tournament attracted a total of 45 teams from across the Central West and Hunter Valley.
Heavy rain on Friday threatened the event, but a sunny weekend provided the perfect setting for a great display of touch football.
Mudgee under 8s boys and girls teams took home the winners’ medals.
The boys defeated Orange Thunder 7-6 in the grand final and the girls were named outright winners of the 8 years division after playing against under 10 teams throughout the tournament.
In the under 10 girls, the Mudcrabs took out the championship with an exciting three tries to one victory over Orange Thunder.
Mudgee’s Ruby Wright was named Player of the Final.
The under 14 girls also played off against Orange Thunder in the grand final, going down 4-1.
Mudcrabs under 10 boys, under 12 boys and girls, under 14 boys and under 18 boys and girls all finished third.
COVID restrictions meant no semi-finals were played, with the top two teams in each age group advancing to the grand final.
Mudgee also fielded a strong contingent of referees, with grand final appointments for Mudcrabs Blake Coulthard and Rolleston Smith (8 boys), Connor McLean and Jamie Gallen (10 girls) Flynn McLean (10 boys), Nikki O’Brien (12 girls), Kerry Reynolds (14 girls) and Justin Brydon (14 boys).
Mudgee Touch president Payden Lawson said the weekend was a great success for the club.
“It was great to see so many of your teams playing so well, improving throughout the weekend and making a great start to the representative season,” Lawson said.
“We had so many wonderful comments on the fantastic venue, the canteen and what a great carnival it was.
“Our committee and volunteers worked tirelessly to make sure the weekend ran smoothly and despite all of the restrictions from COVID-19, Hornets still put on a fantastic tournament.”
The junior representative squads will continue training hard for their upcoming carnivals, such as Peter Wilson Championships in Nelson Bay and Junior State Cup in Wagga Wagga in February.
The Mudcrabs won three divisions and were runners-up in another.
