Liam Smye, who once helped at the Iffley Road ground on a work experience course, returned there in triumph last week when helping Henley 2nd to lift the David Charles Oxfordshire Cup.

A proud Liam Smye with the Ron Grimshaw Memorial Trophy

The 23-year-old scrum half, from Littlemore, won the Ron Grimshaw Memorial Trophy as man-of-the-match as Henley raced away to a 36-9 victory over Banbury in a surprisingly one-sided final.

With his sniping around the base of the scrum and quick passing to release the backs, Smye played a key role in securing their first cup success for six years.

"With the club coaches watching, it was important to do well," said Smye, who has been third choice behind Ben Ayres and Dan Smaje all season.

It was while he was a pupil at Oxford Boys School that he assisted groundsman Terry Jones at Iffley Road, where his only previous match was for Oxfordshire.

Indeed, Smye, who started his rugby with Oxford Marathon, has won county honours at both junior and senior level. But during his six years at Henley, he has been unable to secure a regular first-team berth.

Having just left college, Smye is helping out at Peers Sports Centre while looking for a job.

Meanwhile, Oxfordshire still don't know how many representatives they will have in next season's Tetley's Bitter Cup.

In recent years, Henley, as a National League side, plus the two county cup finalists have qualified.

But the possible introduction of a British Cup means that the RFU want to cut the numbers in the first round from 64 to 32, which would leave just Henley and Banbury in the competition.

If the third spot is still open for Oxon, then the two losing semi-finalists in the county cup, Witney and Littlemore, will play-off for the honour.