Saturday 19th August saw TagFest Yorkshire return to Stanningley ARLFC for its ninth year. Teams from Ireland, London, Reading, Manchester and Wigan travelled to compete against a large number of teams from Yorkshire on home soil. An Outer Space fancy dress theme gave teams the opportunity to show off their creative sides with some out of this world efforts on display. Tryders from Mars caught the eye of staff members on the day and were awarded the best dressed.
The day began with all teams split into pools, final positions determining which teams would enter which competition in the afternoon’s games. Velcrocity TRC, Tagon Wheelz, Taginifinity and Beyond, Southern Fairies, MiB: Extratagrestrial, Claire’s Dream Team and T for Tagger all put in comprehensive performances during the pool stage to go into the Cup unbeaten in the afternoon. They were joined by Kencredible Barbie-ariarians who progressed with a superior points difference to the other remaining teams.
Once the pool stage had been completed, the lunchtime break saw the first piece of silverware up for grabs in the form of a gravy boat. The hugely popular Yorkshire Pudding and Spoon race provided another enthralling, controversy filled spectacle. Despite crossing the finishing line first, T for Tagger were disqualified having been deemed to have kept hold of their Yorkshire Pudding during the race. Tryders from Mars were crowned champions, finishing the race first without keeping hold of their Yorkshire Pudding.
The afternoon saw the teams compete for either the Cup, Plate, Bowl or Shield. All consisted of Quarter Finals, Semi Finals & Finals, with the exception of the Shield which was played as a 4 team round robin.
In a closely contested Shield, Taggers in Hats came out victorious, 2 victories out of 3 proving enough to come away with the title. A draw between Intergalactic Federation & Gotta Tag em All leaving both teams with one victory, one draw and one loss ultimately proving decisive for those teams.
Extra-tagestrial space invaders were victorious in the Bowl, putting in convincing performances to overcome Tryders from Mars and Tagga the Hut in the Quarter and Semi Finals, before seeing their way past Battlegalactictag 6-3 in the final.
Llamagedon and Angry Gorillas made their way to the final in the Plate, both putting in strong performances along the way. Firstly in their quarter finals, with Llamagedon overcoming USS Entertries 3-0 & Angry Gorillas defeating Extratagrestrial 6-1. The Semi Finals proved tougher, with No Scrums & Friesans being narrowly defeated. Angry Gorillas eventually claimed the Plate title, with a 7-3 victory in the final.
The Cup Quarter Finals saw emphatic victories for MiB Extratagrestrial, Velcrocity and Tagon Wheelz, joined in the Semi Finals by Claire’s Dream Team after a more challenging Quarter Final. Velcrocity, fresh from being crowned champions at Wigan and Coventry & Warwickshire TagFests were then eliminated in their Semi Final by Tagon Wheelz. The final, saw Tagon Wheelz against MiB Extratagrestrial, look all set to go to drop-off, until a winning try by Dan Waters. This try, being the last play of the game, gave MiB Extratagrestrial a 3-2 victory, and saw them crowned Cup champions, becoming the first Yorkshire based team to take home the title.
There were strong refereeing performances throughout the day from all involved with all contributing to a great day of Tag Rugby. Only one could take away the accolade for Referee of the Day however, with Paul Ward being selected as the well deserved winner.
A summary of the Champions and award winners can be seen below:
Cup Champions: MiB Extratagrestrial
Cup Player of the Final: Andy Harkins
Cup Male Player of the Tournament: James Pitman
Cup Female Player of the Tournament: Vicki Oyesola
Plate Champions: Angry Gorillas
Plate Player of the Final: Adam Pearce
Plate Male Player of the Tournament: Cillian Byrne
Plate Female Player of the Tournament: Rai Prescott
Bowl Champions: Extra-tagestrial space invaders
Bowl Player of the Final: Theo Williams
Bowl Male Player of the Tournament: Billy Longley
Bowl Female Player of the Tournament: Katy Dinsdale
Shield Champions: Taggers in Hats
Shield Player of the Tournament: Sean Hill
Yorkshire Pudding and Spoon Race: Tryders from Mars
Fancy Dress: Tryders from Mars
Referee of the Day: Paul Ward