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The Village Lions hosted the Hell Gates 7s in New York City this weekend, and welcomed 15 men’s and women’s teams to the picturesque Ward’s Island fields. Brooklyn came out winning the men’s Cup and New York A walked away with the women’s.

It was Village Lions A who went undefeated in the pool stages in the women's division, including a victory over the eventual winners 20-10 thanks to tries from Kim Dacres, Aislinn Smith, Jess Houser and Jackie Finlan.

But the New York A women bounced back after this opening round loss, and the orange and blue coloured side bagged themselves a semi final slot with a 21-0 win over MetNY and a 10-0 forfeit win over Happy Valley.

For the semi finals the New York A side busted out their big guns, adding Vanesha McGee and Laura Bilazarian to the starting line-up that dismantled Harrisburg 46-0 – although Harrisburg had been lending players to injury-ridden teams all day.

In the other pool New York B defeated Village Lions B 29-7, Motley 26-12 and Harrisburg 22-12 to set up a semi final match against the Village Lions A which they snuck 17-15 to set up a final against the A side.

But since several of the New York players were competing in the following days City-Based League tournament, the final was conceded and New York A took home the trophy.

In the men's competition, a preview of the men’s final had occurred in pool play when Brooklyn defeated North Jersey 17-12. After two more pool play wins against Village Lions A and New York, they defeated Lansdowne 17-7 in the semis for a berth in the final.

North Jersey earned a cup bid after downing New York 35-10 and Village Lions A 19-12. After their 47-0 defeat of Village Lions B in the semi final, they prepared for the final.

Brooklyn won the final 19-5 thanks to 14 points from their fly half, but North Jersey showed their fighting spirt, preventing a shutout with a try in the corner in the closing seconds.

Upon hearing the final whistle the Brooklyn club brought a little bit of Paris to New York with a rendition of the French national anthem.

“The tournament was a great success,” said tournament director Bret Costain.

“We’ve already been guaranteed qualifier status for the men next year and will develop an Elite Division for the women.”

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