Cup competitions in any sport are exciting… thrills, spills and no second chances.

That’s very much the case in rugby, of course, and with the clocks about to go forward, many are counting down the days until the annual end-of-season Combination Cup matches kick off across the county.

It’s likely there will be the odd upset result, even more likely that there will be moments of controversy, and an absolute certainty that some games will provide great stories which will be told for years to come.

But whatever happens this year, those involved will have to go some to match the story of the 1972 Cheltenham Combination Senior Cup final – a game that saw a one-time England and British Lions player add another winner’s medal to his collection.

Ray Lynch, who played in that match at the old Athletic Ground, takes up the story.

“The final was between Old Patesians and Cheltenham North,” he said. “I’d joined the Pats at the start of the season and, as was the way in those days, I started in the Vandals – the 3rds – and had to work my way up.

“Ray Kingscott was captain of the 1st XV and the cup final was a big thing for us because we’d never won the competition. The North had won it in seven of the previous nine years.”

And in the build-up to the game, Pats were hit by a spate of untimely injuries in the three-quarters which made it seem more than likely that their wait to get their hands on the trophy would go on.

But cometh the hour, cometh the man… and that man was no other than Phil Davies – known throughout rugby as WPC Davies – the former Cheltenham, Harlequins, England and British Lions centre, who sadly died at the age of 89 earlier this year.

The then 43-year-old answered the club’s call to arms and helped them to a famous extra time victory over their biggest rivals – a win that is still talked about at the Pats today, not least because it was the first time that Davies had ever dropped a goal.

“That win was huge for us,” said Lynch. “It was an amazing season and a famous win, it was the highlight of my career and to win it while playing alongside an international player was just a wonderful piece of luck.”

Phil Davies, who was headmaster of Cheltenham College Junior School for many years, had been playing for the Pats’ 3rd team for much of that season and Lynch, a three-quarter himself, had played a handful of games alongside him.

“He was a great guy and great player,” said Lynch, who has just turned 70. “I was his outside centre and I also played outside him on the wing. He was so good, he had so much time. He’d give me the ball and say, ‘There you are my son, go on and score a try!’

“He was a real gent. When he was getting his caps for England and the British Lions, I was about eight so I remember him growing up. I’d have been about 24 when I played alongside him.

“He was quite happy playing for the Vandals, he just wanted a runout and to play rugby. That was the sort of guy he was and he was very keen not to block the development of any of the up and coming players at the club.”

And while Davies’ involvement in the Pats’ midfield on that cup final day in ‘72 certainly adds to the intrigue surrounding the game, there were other factors that played a big part in that historic cup win.

Lynch, who had joined the Pats from Cheltenham Civil Service, said: “The 1971/72 season gained from a change in the club rules in the 60s stating that you no longer had to be an Old Grammarian to play for the Pats.

“That changed everything. During the 60s the Pats gained a reputation of having a great social club and the rugby teams were growing stronger.

“They were putting out four sides on a Saturday and after the success of the 71/72 season, culminating in the cup final win, the Pats became a force to be reckoned with and since then they’ve never looked back.”

Lynch, who still watches the Pats play occasionally, retired from rugby two or three years after their cup win, but has spent the last 40-plus years at the club playing squash, a sport he still plays today.

Second row Ray Kingscott, meanwhile, was succeeded as captain by Chris Elliott, a blindside flanker who learned his rugby in the days of Norman Rees at Cheltenham Colts.

Elliott was in that first Pats Senior Cup final-winning side and he too has fond memories of WPC Davies.

“I think that was the only game I played alongside him,” he said. “It was Pete ‘Fred’ McMurray who got injured.”

But while Elliott didn’t play too many minutes with the great man on the field, he remembers him being a great help to him off it.

“He was good for the Pats,” said Elliott, who is 74 next month. “It was the Pats’ 60th jubilee in my first season as captain and I remember he brought along an international team to mark the occasion.”

That team contained some stellar names from yesteryear including the likes of Alan Ashcroft, Roger Hosen, Peter Woodruff, Peter Ford and Mickey Booth.

And Elliott also tells another story about WPC Davies which has gone down in Pats folklore.

“It was when he was playing for the Vandals,” chuckled Elliott. “In those days the players would get changed at the club and then drive to Naunton Park or the Burrows for the game.

“It was WPC Davies’ first game and the Vandals captain Dave Osman, who was sat in the back of the car next to him before the game, didn’t know who he was.

“Osman asked him, ‘Have you played before?’.

“Davies replied, ‘A little bit’. To which Osman said, ‘You’ll be alright, just follow me!’

“He was too nice a guy to let on who he really was.”

The players in the two photos accompanying this story are as follows. Old Patesians’ cup final-winning team in 1972 -Standing (left to right) Martin Penny (inside centre), Phil (WPC) Davis (outside centre), Barrie Oliver, Dave 'Gary' Owen (fly half), John 'Farmer' Harvey, Ray Lynch (right wing), Tim Greenwood (left wing), Roger Goldby (hooker). Sitting (left to right) Bob Griffin, Phil Newport-Black (full back), Ray Kingscott (captain), Pete Shaw, Chris Elliott. Front (left to right) Chris Harper, Keith Remnant (scrum half).

The Old Pats Vandals during the 1971/72 season – Standing (left to right): Unknown, Carl Quinn, Dave Willowby, Paul Cheshire, Nigel 'Seggy' Newcombe, Adam Greaves, Bob Beale, Hugh Etheridge (referee). Kneeling (left to right) Phil (WPC) Davis, Reg Millington, Ray Jones (captain), Bob Gunnell, Ray Lynch, Keith Davie.