Tom Griffiths says he “couldn’t be happier” after helping Longlevens to cup final glory at Twickenham on Saturday.

The 28-year-old fly-half and captain was a key man as the Gloucester club, roared on by their supporters, held off a late Widnes rally to win the Papa John’s Community Cup Counties 1 Championship final 25-19 at the home of English rugby.

“It was an awesome day,” said Griffiths, who is also the club’s backs/attack coach. “Everyone from the supporters, the staff and the players; it was really special, it will live long in the memory.”

It was Griffiths who kicked the ball into touch to end the game which in turn sparked huge celebrations on and off  the pitch.

And there has certainly been plenty to celebrate at Longlevens over the past couple of seasons.

They won the Papa John’s Community Cup Counties 1 South Plate final at the StoneX Stadium a year ago and made it a cup double a few days later when they lifted the North Gloucestershire Combination Senior Cup for the first time in more than 60 years.

This season they won promotion from Counties 1 Western North and Griffiths added: “The win at Twickenham was the cherry on top, it was a big final.

“Playing rugby with your friends, I couldn’t be happier.”

Griffiths, a former Churchdown School pupil, started playing for Longlevens when he was just six.

He was part of the team that won the RFU Junior Vase at Twickenham in May 2014 – eight of Saturday’s 22-man squad were involved a decade ago – and returned to the club a couple of seasons ago after spells with Saracens, Bedford Blues, London Scottish, Dragons and Coventry.

“Kicking the ball off the field when we won the game was a fantastic moment,” added Griffiths. “We started the first half really well, the first 20 minutes were brutal.

“We let them back into the game in the second half, it was very hot and we got a bit tired. We conceded a soft try, but we held on.”

They certainly did and the victory was all the more impressive as Widnes arrived at Twickenham on the back of a fine season after winning Counties 1 adm Lancashire & Cheshire.

“We’re very proud of what we do,” said Longlevens director of rugby Andy Deacon. “Twenty of the 22-man squad are Longlevens products, it’s a great boost to the junior section for everything that they do. Hard work reaps rewards.”

Number eight Steve Phillips was making his 200^th appearance for the club on Saturday – he scored one of the club's four tries – and Deacon added: “Everything about the day was very, very special.

“We played very well in the first half but didn’t finish them off, that’s something we’ve done in the whole competition. Widnes are a tough team and it was a tough game, but we stuck to it.”

All 22 of Longlevens’ squad were used by Deacon, who was particularly pleased for blindside flanker Mark Hancock.

“He’s probably in the twilight of his career but he’s a tackling machine, he never stopped,” said Deacon. “He just gets on with it, you need people like him in your team.

“He’s been playing for the club since he was six, he played very well on Saturday.”

Longlevens' other try-scorers were James Butler, Matt Smith and Tom Barton.