After the penultimate Saturday of the competition, the Daily Mail Trophy is still wide open, and the Top 10 has seen yet another shake up.
The big news was Wellington College’s defeat to St Paul’s, which knocked them off top spot and into second, with Bedford’s 7-0 win over Stowe pushing them to the top of the table, and dropping Stowe out of the top 10.
Bedford’s chances of holding onto that spot were given a boost too by the fact that Kirkham Grammar School, the only other side now besides Bedford and Wellington that lift the trophy, had to cancel their game against Sir Thomas Rich’s.
They retained their third place though, and fourth place Sedbergh held their spot despite not playing, Bromsgrove, who won 50-0 over KES Birmingham, secured fifth and could yet move higher with a win over Warwick next week.
Woodhouse Grove’s win over Hymers bumped them back up to sixth, with Stockport Grammar down to seventh.
Millfield’s win over Monmouth saw them soar up the table, jumping up to eighth, where they replaced the beaten Stowe.
Clifton College held firm in ninth, and St Paul’s, thanks to that superb win over Wellington, soared to tenth, replacing Solihull, despite them 50-0 effort against Adams Grammar.
The next ten days will decide the title. Bedford are all finished for the term but Wellington College and Kirkham Grammar School still have one game left each.
Wellington College face Marlborough College on Saturday, and Kirkham face Lymm High School a week on Tuesday.
A win of any kind for Wellington College will see them leapfrog Bedford, and a bonus point win will seal them the title for the second year in a row.
Should they fail to get the bonus then they will have to wait on Kirkham’s result. A win for Kirkham would see them level with Bedford, and behind Wellington, assuming a Wellington win. If Kirkham get the bonus point win, they would win the title, unless Wellington had also secured the bonus point on Saturday.
Laid out in numbers, here are the permutations:
Bedford – Finished – 6.35 points
Wellington College – 1 to play:
| Win with BP | 6.46 |
| Win | 6.39 |
| Draw with BP | 6.31 |
| Draw | 6.23 |
| Loss with 2 BP | 6.23 |
| Loss with BP | 6.15 |
| Loss | 6.07 |
Kirkham Grammar – 1 to play:
| Win with BP | 6.44 |
| Win | 6.35 |
| Draw with BP | 6.26 |
| Draw | 6.16 |
| Loss With 2BP | 6.16 |
| Loss With BP | 6.07 |
| Loss | 5.98 |
It looks like we’ll be going right down to the wire!
| Daily Mail Trophy Table – Top 10 | ||||||
| Pos | School | P | W | D | L | Points |
| 1 | Bedford | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6.35 |
| 2 | Wellington College | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 6.23 |
| 3 | Kirkham Grammar School | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 6.10 |
| 4 | Sedbergh | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 6.10 |
| 5 | Bromsgrove | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6.03 |
| 6 | Woodhouse Grove | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5.65 |
| 7 | Stockport Grammar | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.50 |
| 8 | Millfield | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5.21 |
| 9 | Clifton College | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5.11 |
| 10 | St Paul’s | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 5.10 |