Anyone who doubts that fairytales really can happen need look no further than Cleobury Mortimer Rugby Club for proof that anything is possible.
The small market town - population less than 3,000 - has hardly made a splash on the sporting scene over the years, but all that changed in 2006 as their little-known rugby club defied all the odds to reach a Twickenham final.
Butchers, builders, candlestick makers, Cleobury had the lot - but they all also had a steely determination to succeed that was to see them grace the home of English rugby.
The final itself might be described as something of an anti-climax - Dorking beat our Shropshire heroes 46-3 in the showpiece final of the Junior Vase after all - but the true achievement was just in getting there.
“Now it’s all done and dusted, you look back and can hardly believe what it was all about,” said skipper Paul Harding, who can still scarcely take in that he led a side out onto the most famous rugby pitch in the world.
“We just went along with it at the time, but you look back now and think that it was actually quite an achievement.
“I was looking at a scrap book the other night and flicking through all the cuttings and it brought it all back.
“We talk about it all the time within the club, both the players and the committee. It was an unforgettable experience and it was a great team that got us there.”
For all the thrill of playing at Twickenham himself, Harding points to the dramatic semi-final with London Exiles as his highlight of an unforgettable cup run.
A Paul Hulland try six minutes into second half injury-time saw them record a scarcely believable 15-14 victory in a nerve-wrenching match.
“The thing that stood out for me was when we won the semi-final against London Exiles,” Harding admitted.
“When the final whistle went we knew we’d achieved our goal and got there,” he recalled.
“At Twickenham we had a great day but we didn’t really perform to our potential.
There were people making errors on the day that hadn’t made errors all season and I think it was a case of a few pre-match nerves.
“If we’d got an early score it might have balanced things out and they might have approached the game in a different way, but it wasn’t to be.”
Cleobury have gone through something of a transition since then, with five of the Twickenham side stepping down from first team duties.
They have struggled in their league, Midlands 4 West (South), this season - though Harding believes there are signs that things are coming together again.
“Last year it all clicked at the right time and I’d say that was the best team Cleobury have ever had,” he said. “It had been building for a couple of years and it was a pleasure to captain them.
“”We’ve lost five players since then, and if you take five people out of any team it knocks you about.
“We’re starting to pull it together now though, and hopefully we can stay up in our league.
“We’ve got a new pitch and we’re getting used to that.
“It’s much bigger but we’ve got a good set of backs who can throw the ball about a bit and who have got some pace. This season we’ve looked to spin the ball out and use the extra width and James Manley, in particular, has benefited from that on the wing and looked very dangerous.
“Who knows, we might get back to Twickenham one day.
“You never say ‘never’.”
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