A Macclesfield school rugby team has won their third county title in four years.

King's 1st XV secured the Cheshire Cup with a 17-8 win over Sandbach School, capping off a memorable cup run.

Their road to the final saw King's sweep aside Caldy Grange in the quarter final with a commanding 50-point win before edging past local rivals Stockport Grammar in a tense and hard-fought semi-final.

The final brought a familiar foe in Sandbach, the sides having already met earlier in the season under floodlights where King's emerged narrow victors.

King's overcame Sandbach 17-8 (Credit: King's)

This time the stage was a mud-soaked Wilmslow Rugby Club, with rain hammering down through dim floodlights.

Sandbach adapted quickest to the conditions and opened the scoring with a well-struck penalty in front of the posts.

King's gradually grew into the contest, and their set piece soon became the defining feature of the evening.

A kick to the corner and a powerful lineout drive ended with hooker Rory Horne crashing over for the first try.

Fly half Hayden Oliver struck the conversion sweetly to give King's the lead.

Sustained pressure followed, and another attacking platform inside the Sandbach 22 led to number eight Josh Phillips carrying powerfully to within inches of the line.

From the next phase prop Joseph Brady spotted a gap at the fringe and sniped over to score King's second try.

Sandbach rallied strongly before the interval, hammering away at the King's line, but the defence held firm to preserve a 12–3 advantage at half time.

It is King's third Cheshire Cup in four years (Credit: King's)

The second half was dictated by the worsening conditions, with both sides resorting to tactical kicking and territory.

The deadlock was finally broken by a moment of magic. A loose Sandbach clearance fell to front-rower Caolan Coulthurst on his own 10-metre line.

He swerved past one defender, handed off two more, and outpaced a fourth to finish an extraordinary 60-metre solo try that lit up the final.

Sandbach deservedly hit back with a late score after continued pressure, but King's closed out the match with maturity, controlling possession and eventually booting the ball into the night sky to spark celebrations from the travelling blue-and-white support.