CHETWYNDE School tasted rugby union and cricket glory during a successful spring term.

The Barrow school's under-15s RU side were crowned the inaugural Cumbria Schools Plate winners, with the under-13s cricket team the district eight-a-side champions.

On the rugby field, Chetwynde were involved in an enthralling Plate final against Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Penrith. The game itself finished 22-22, which meant the shield was shard.

In a close game, which saw six Year 9 students playing up a year group and two students who had never played competitive rugby before taking part, the achievement was even more remarkable.

The game started with an early try for the opposition, however, as the first half progressed the Barrow school grew in confidence with some excellent ball carrying from Mikee Light and Saul Doherty.

Strong last-ditch defending from Archie Brownlee and Connor Karasek enabled the side to lead 15-10 at the break.

With the game reaching the final five minutes Chetwynde led 22-15, however a knock-on allowed QEGS to win the scrum and break through to score under the posts. The conversion was successful meaning the score was tied.

Chetwynde's tries came from Antoni Kudelski (2), Light and a superb individual effort from Will Woods.

The under-13s cricket team were crowned district indoor eight-a-side champions, which meant they represented the region in the county competition.

In the county round, Chetwynde lost their first game of the group stage to Trinity School, Carlisle, however thy responded by beating Keswick School by the closest of margins.

This set up the semi-final. Batting first, they reached a total of 62, with Max Dixon top-scoring with 28 not out. The opposition reached the total with only two balls to spare.

There was disappointment, but the games this set the team up nicely for the outdoor season, which is due to start with an away fixture at Sedbergh Prep in May.

Martin Swainson, head of physical education at Chetwynde, said: “The achievements of these students in rugby and cricket are even more impressive due to the size of the opposition schools.

“To get to the latter stages in any county competition is a huge achievement for a school with an average of 28 boys in a year group.

“These students commit to extra-curricular practices across a number of sports and we are now seeing a certain amount of success.”