IN the first major rugby sevens tournament of the season, Kelly reached the final at Millfield for the third time in the school's history.

Kings Bruton were well beaten 29-5 in the first group match, with tries from Mark Slee (2), Ollie Pitts, Mark Galliford and Mark Bloxham, with Pitts slotting two conversions.

Next up were the hosts Millfield. After six minutes the scores were still level and disaster struck, Kelly lost captain Ollie Pitts after a high tackle and Mark Bloxham with a damaged finger.

In the disorganisation that followed, Millfield claimed two soft tries and followed this up with a third to finish winners 19-0.

However, despite losing two such key players Kelly powered back against Plymouth College to win 17-5, scoring three fine tries from Slee (2) and Galliford, with a conversion by Ed May.

This put Kelly into the semi-finals against the winners of group B, Ivybridge, a repeat of the 15-a-side Devon Cup semi final of the last two years.

In a tight, well contested match, Kelly scored two early tries through Slee and James Myerscough to take a 10-0 lead.

However, from a tap penalty five metres out, Ivybridge prop Michael Scott barrelled his way over to pull the score back to 10-5.

After half-time, Mark Galliford scored a superb individual effort to give Kelly a seemingly unassailable 15-5 lead. However, Ivybridge were not finished and Scott crossed for his second to set up a tingling finish

Ed May had a try disallowed for a forward pass, and Alex Edwards went close, but the Ivybridge line held.

In the dying moments Ivybridge appeared to have engineered an overlap before the final pass went to ground and the final whistle blew to see Kelly through to final 15-10.

The final was somewhat of an anti-climax. Kelly had lost four key players to injury, and fielded an inexperienced side, including four Under 16 players.

Despite heroic tackling and fine runs from Galliford and Edwards, Millfield coasted to victory. However, the future looks bright for Kelly in the tournaments to come.

l Right: Kelly team at Millfield