Three finals, four clubs and six teams make up the end-of-season rugby jamboree that is the North Gloucestershire Combination’s finals day.

The eagerly anticipated event takes place at Kingsholm on Sunday 8th May with the action getting under way with the Glanville Cup final at 11am.

All-conquering Matson, who have raced to the Western Countries North title this season, have teams in all three finals – the Senior Cup, the Martin Slatter Junior Cup and the Glanville Cup.

Their flagship team take on fellow Western Counties North side Chosen Hill in the Senior Cup at 5pm, their 2^nd XV play Longlevens 2nds in the Junior Cup at 2pm while long-term rivals Old Centralians are their opponents in the Glanville Cup.

“I’m hoping it will be a fantastic day,” said Andy Payne, Combination treasurer and the driving force behind the cup competitions. “We’ve got four clubs competing in the three finals, they are all good clubs.”

Payne is particularly looking forward to the Junior Cup final.

“I reckon that could be a real good game,” he said. “Longlevens beat Old Centralians in the quarter-finals so they are obviously a good team, it will be very interesting.”

Old Centralians won all three finals when the competition was last played back in 2019 but this season they are through to just the 3^rd XV final.

“That’s another very interesting game,” continued Payne. “Old Centralians have got a lot of veterans in their side – Paul Knight, Dave Knight and Rich Pinkney – and they will be up against a very young Matson side. It’s the old versus the new!”

By the time the Senior Cup final kicks off, Matson’s supporters will, of course, be hoping that their club are two-thirds of the way to completing a clean sweep.

They will go into the game as favourites against a Chosen Hill team who they have  already beaten twice in the league this season. Matson play their final league game of the season at home to mid-table Chipping Sodbury tomorrow knowing that a victory will complete a perfect 24 wins from 24 games. They also need to score 52 points to reach 1,000 for the league campaign.

“Chosen Hill have done really well to reach the final, you never know what will happen on the day,” said Payne, who confirmed that the Senior Cup will be presented to the winners by Gloucester MP Richard Graham.