Invicta Men Make Division One Debut

Having earned promotion from Division Two of the Men’s & Women’s National Touch Series last season, Invicta’s elite men’s team took their place among the top eight men’s sides in the country as the 2024 series got underway in Watford on Saturday.

In the first game of the day the team came up just short in a close-fought encounter against Old Wesley. Despite a tight first half, the Irish side led 3-1 at the break. There was nothing between the teams in the second half and with three tries apiece, including two from Invicta’s Dan Eaglestone, the final score was 6-4 to Old Wesley.

London Eagles were the opposition for game two. A failure to make yards in the first half led to a 3-0 deficit at half-time but a strong start to the second-half twice brought the lead back to within a single score before a high penalty count contributed to the Eagles pulling away for a 9-3 win.

The final game of the round was against eventual pool winners Nottingham Hoods. After a strong opening 15 minutes Invicta led 5-3, with Gus Lister’s acrobatic finish in the corner a highlight, but Nottingham pulled it back to lead 6-5 at half-time and eventually triumphed 14-8.

Despite not registering a win in this first round, the team was competitive throughout and will be confident of retaining Division One status for next year when the competition resumes in Leamington Spa on 18th May, starting with a quarter-final against London Scorpions.

Team: Dan Dyer, Dan Eaglestone, Gus Lister, JJ Lister, Toby Lister, Matt Mayall, Charlie Meredith, Vaughn Meredith, Michael Roberts, Christian Scott, Sam Ticehurst, Alex Waldron, James Waldron