The Matthew Bowen 7s trophy is with Ignatius Park College after they won the inaugural competition named in honour of the Toyota Cowboys’ games record holder.
Ten teams competed in the one-day carnival last weekend, with Iggy Park reversing a loss earlier in the day against Townsville rivals Kirwan State High Black when they played in the final at the Ingham Showgrounds.
Kirwan won the Pool A game that kicked off the event 20-0 but were then downed 14-8 in the trophy decider.
After that opening loss, Ignatius Park beat Columba Catholic College, Abergowrie Green and Ingham State High School to finish second in the pool before beating Pool B winners Kirwan Park Red in the semi-finals.
Kirwan Park Black eliminated Pool B runners-up Abergowrie College Yellow in the other semi.
Matthew Bowen’s cousin Tara was on hand to present the trophy to Iggy Park skipper Rhein Frank.
“We’re really happy with the response we’ve had from the schools this year and the standard of the footy that we saw throughout the day,” tournament director Aaron Payne said.
“There was some exciting football played with a couple of draws and some other very close games.
“Playing sevens was unusual for everyone at the start, but the boys adapted pretty quickly and we had a high quality final at the end.”
All of the pool matches were hosted by Abergowrie College, with the final played during the half-time break of a pre-season clash between the NYC Cowboys and the reigning TDRL premiers, the Herbert River Crushers.
