Heart charity set to benefit from match

More than £3,000 was raised for charity at Totnes on Sunday in the inaugural Ollie Marsden Memorial Shield game.

Ollie, who was only 21, collapsed and died during a training session at Totnes last October.

While training to be a teacher at Rolle College in Exmouth, Ollie turned out for Withycombe last season.

The two clubs got together to play a game in Ollie's memory and raise money for heart charity CRY – Cardiac Risk in the Young – which carries out heart tests on sporty youngster to check for irregularities.

Fine weather saw a bumper crowd turn out to see some expansive rugby from both sides, providing a feast of tries and bags of entertainment for all those present. The outcome was a win for Withycombe with a score line of 27 points to 35.

Supporters dug deep into their pockets for both the charity buckets and a grand draw. Karen Smith from Totnes RFC went to local shopkeepers for donations, and was amazed with the response with more than 50 donations forthcoming.

Master of ceremonies John Massey held an ad-hoc auction for five major donations which moved the total upwards.

Ten per cent of the bar taking will be added to the final total.

"Our chairman, Barrie Snell, is still counting the taking buts it looks like being over £3,000." said Totnes's director of communications John Massey.