Longlevens head into Friday’s rescheduled North Gloucestershire Combination Senior Cup final against Matson in buoyant mood.

And it’s easy to see why after their fine showing in the Papa John’s Community Cup Counties 1 South Plate final on Saturday when they defeated Twickenham 24-11 at the StoneX Stadium, home of Premiership high-fliers Saracens.

It was a win that delighted their director of rugby Andy Deacon.

“It was a tough game, a very tough game,” he said. “They came at us strongly in the first 15 minutes but then we got into it and played very well. The opportunities we had, we deserved to win.”

And Deacon is certainly a fan of the RFU’s new end-of-season knockout competition.

“To play at a Premiership ground, that doesn’t come around too often,” he said. “We’ll take that all day.

“We’ve worked very hard, we’ve had four tough games. And we’ve been fighting on two fronts, we’ve been playing Saturday-midweek with the North Gloucestershire Combination games as well. The guys have shown real character.”

Longlevens were given a walkover in the first round of the competition but then enjoyed impressive wins over Combe Down, North Dorset and Barton Hill before overcoming Twickenham, who play in Counties 1 Surrey/Sussex in the London and South East Division, at the weekend. 

“It’s a good competition, but it needs to be around in 10 years’ time,” said Deacon. “There needs to be some continuity, it needs to become part of the fixtures calendar.”

The North Gloucestershire Combination’s end-of-season cup competitions have been a regular feature of the rugby calendar around these parts for many years, of course, and Longlevens would love to add the Senior Cup to their trophy haul.

The final had originally been set for just 24 hours after Longlevens’ game at Saracens, but because of concerns about player welfare the Counties 1 Western North asked the North Gloucestershire Combination to reschedule.

Friday’s game at Kingsholm will start at 7pm and Matson, the holders and Regional 2 Severn title winners, will start as favourites.

“We’re under no illusions about how good Matson are,” said Deacon. “They’ll be up for it, we’ve got to match them and see what we can do.

“It’s our 33^rd game of the season. It’s been a long, hard season but it’s our last game and we want to cap it off.”

Longlevens, who finished third in Counties 1 Western North which is a level below Matson, have won the Senior Cup once in their 69-year history, back in 1960/61. Matson have won it more than 30 times.