Heath Rugby Club captain Harvey Keighley-Payne hailed a dramatic Papa Johns Community Cup success at Twickenham as the best day of his life.

Keighley-Payne’s side won a thriller via the first try scored tiebreaker after a pulsating 35-all draw with Barnstaple at a sun-drenched home of rugby.

After finishing a narrow second to Harrogate in the league, Keighley-Payne believes an epic cup success was the perfect reward for a season of hard work.

“I’m speechless to be honest, the fact that we’ve scored to win it with the last play of the game, what a team and what an outfit – Barnstaple were phenomenal, what a game,” said Keighley-Payne.

“This will be the best day of my life for a very long time, even with the kids now. It was amazing.

“We’ve really worked on becoming a bit more of a professional outfit, doing reviews.

“We’re a local club at heart. We finished second in the league and could have definitely done the double which we’ll be pushing for next year, but we won at Twickenham, so we can’t complain.”

The finale on day one of the Papa Johns Community Cup started with a bang as Heath’s Calum Harriott-Brown touched down in the corner inside two minutes.

But it was Devon-outfit Barnstaple who looked set for victory when fly-half Tyler Gordon-Oke kicked two penalties to nudge his side 35-30 in front with just seconds remaining of a frenetic encounter.

That was until, with one last faultless drive, Heath broke Barnstable hearts, scoring the trophy-clinching try with the clock in the red courtesy of replacement hooker Jack Malthouse.

“They started creeping with points and penalties but the Heath way is to stick at it for 80 minutes,” said skipper Keighley-Payne.

“Kudos to the coaching staff for pumping us with fitness and it’s really shown towards the end of season.

“It was a 22-man effort, the subs made the difference and they could all easily start and that really showed today.

“We have a second, third, fourth wind, that last 10 minutes is where we turn the screw or we get a bigger lead. Here we just had to keep going to get that win.”

A year-long celebration of community rugby, the Papa Johns Community Cup has enabled clubs to play different opposition and visit new places, while others reignited old local rivalries, all making plenty of memories along the way.

Finals weekend witnessed non-stop action across the country with more matches being held at Sixways Stadium, Shaftesbury Park and Darlington Mowden Park. 

Keighley-Payne added: “It’s been a long season but all the games we’ve played were great, tough games so it’s been an enjoyable tournament.” 

For a round up of all the Papa Johns Community Cup Final action and to watch the games back follow @RFU on X or search for #PapaJohnsCommunityCup