FRUSTRATION beckoned for Ilkley RFC in July when their annual La Casita Summer 7's tournament was pushed back.

However, a month on and Ilkley were able to hold their popular competition on Saturday and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

Over 1000 people spectated the event and those lucky enough to attend were treated to a day of thrilling rugby.

Ilkley themselves entered five teams into the three event categories; Men’s Elite, Men’s Social and the Ladies Cup, but it was Speranza 22 who ran out winners against Ilkley in the Men’s Elite final.

More importantly, the event proved to be a huge success and the club's head of rugby, Rhys Morgan echoed that in his thoughts post tournament.

He said: “Obviously, we lost so many teams with the event having to be re-arranged but in the end, we arrived only one team light of being our best ever attendance so it certainly didn’t harm the competition.

“What was fantastic as well is that it ended up going on late into the evening. People usually tend to disappear at 7:00 pm but it just carried on into the evening and it was brilliant to have teams like Speranza there.

“Although they beat our boys in the final, I was still delighted for Speranza winning the event. Their quality shone through and our boys just ran out of steam in the end, but it was a great day.”

Morgan added: “I managed the whole event and I felt such a pride in how it was run. I just couldn’t give you a list of all of the people who helped out, whether it was sponsors, volunteers and everyone who pitched in to make it happen.

“It was just overwhelming to see the support we had and the list could go on and on. It was a tough day of work for me and I was still running around at half past nine at night, but at ten o’clock I had time to sit there with my wife and take it all in.

“To see everybody still enjoying themselves at that time, it was wonderful. I’m absolute proud as punch to be involved with Ilkley Rugby Club and it was a great performance from all five teams.”

Morgan also went on to express his delight with the amount of people in attendance at the event.

He said: “We had over 1000 people in attendance in total which was brilliant to see.

“I’ve had so many nice emails from people thanking me for running the event, especially under the current circumstances.

“But I’ve got to say, it should be me thanking those people for coming. It was amazing to have that community feel back at Ilkley Rugby Club again and it’s a day I will certainly remember for a long time.”

Unfortunately for Ilkley, they haven't been able to participate in a game involving the usual 15 a-side format, however Morgan believes the 7's will provide his side with a good base of fitness.

He said: "We had to cancel a pre-season fixture for the 7's but the event will have allowed our players to gain match fitness going into the new season."

"It's all about getting minutes under your belt going into the new campaign. This weekend, we've got a training schedule planned and we are also taking 30 players to Waterloo for a fixture late in August, so we should be set for the league campaign.

"Thankfully, we were still playing in May so we didn't need to make massive changes and we've seen what we need to in training and the 7's tournament."

Ilkley kick-off their league campaign on Saturday 4 September at home Consett Rugby Club.