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Sun 19 Jan 2020
Kettering
Girls U14s
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Girls tough it out at Kettering
Will Morris20 Jan 2020 - 07:45
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Excellent performance in challenging conditions
The U13 girls travelled to Kettering on Sunday to play a triangular match with the hosts and Leicester Forest. The squad was Eva (Captain), Hattie, Ella, Hollie, Evie, Madeleine, Freyja and Amalia, Shelby and Lily from Bedford. We were down on numbers due to illness and unavailability which, when added to the fact that this was a follow-up to a combative match earlier in the season, gave the coaches some cause for concern. In addition, we were missing our skipper and kicker. How would the girls cope?
Oh ye of little faith. On a glue pot pitch, playing four 10 minute matches against the two physically biggest teams we will face this season, the girls traded blow for blow and came out with a very creditable two wins and two draws. We had the bye in the first round and so watched the hosts entertain Leicester. To our surprise this was a very close game, especially so given that Kettering are one of the strongest teams in the region and Leicester are new. We were second on, playing Kettering. It is hard to overstate how challenging the pitch was, narrow and a morass. It played right to Kettering’s strengths of strong forwards and right against ours of quick offloading. That said, we may not be as big but our pack can be as brutal as the others. Hattie continued her wonder season, snaffling up any opposition runners close to the ruck and choke tackling to win turnover ball. Ella was dominant at hooker, winning a couple against the head even when the ball was fed into the second row. She also made some brave dives to win loose ball on the deck and was desperately unlucky not to score in the last game having shrugged off four tacklers. Equally pleasing was the huge contribution made by the two younger Bedford girls, Amalia and Shelby, who were both a credit to their club. Excellent running from defence and cover tackling kept us in the game. Amalia in particular put in a performance to win joint girl of the match.
The first game finished 0-0, the bludgeon and the rapier cancelling each other out. Match 2 saw us play Leicester in a similar match-up. Leicester did have some wheels on the outside and Eva made a couple of great cover tackles. She had struggled to get free in the first match but at the opposition tired she was able to exploit space and make huge yards, going close twice. It was Evie who finally broke the shackles and, dropping a shoulder to move the full back, burnt round on the outside to score. The game finished 1-0 with Lily, having taken a few minutes to get up to pace, making some telling contributions in defence.
Next up we played Kettering again in what was their final match (that said, the size of their squad enabled them to swap on and off). A big late hit on Eva was justifiably penalised but we still couldn’t break their defence. Freyja took the game to them and gave some real go forward, hoovering up loose ball. We were guilty of trying one too many passes at times, but that’s the nature of the offloading game we play. Eventually and despite a desperate effort Kettering scored. Minutes to go, what to do? Cometh the hour, cometh the Hollie. She put in a rampaging display all day but save her best for this game, breaking two tackles and galloping to the line. The crowd exulted, or at least the Olney/Bedford part. The match finished 1-1.
In the final game we turned to screw from the off with an excellent display of outside back play. Madeleine, who again progressed and was only denied by some frantic tackling, opened the door to her winger. Eva needs no second invitation and hammered in for two tries, one a masterpiece of judging where the touchline was. We then slacked off and Leicester pulled one back via their own flier. We were not to be denied, however, and Eva completed her hat trick with a minute to go.
Lots and lots of positives to take from this. Players out of position, tough opposition and hard yards. A great example of this was joint girl of the match Evie, who despite carrying a couple of knocks and playing in at least three positions during the game showed her potential to go a long way in rugby, putting in a great shift in defence and managing field position well. She also shared kicking duties with Eva.
Next week Buckingham at home.
Oh ye of little faith. On a glue pot pitch, playing four 10 minute matches against the two physically biggest teams we will face this season, the girls traded blow for blow and came out with a very creditable two wins and two draws. We had the bye in the first round and so watched the hosts entertain Leicester. To our surprise this was a very close game, especially so given that Kettering are one of the strongest teams in the region and Leicester are new. We were second on, playing Kettering. It is hard to overstate how challenging the pitch was, narrow and a morass. It played right to Kettering’s strengths of strong forwards and right against ours of quick offloading. That said, we may not be as big but our pack can be as brutal as the others. Hattie continued her wonder season, snaffling up any opposition runners close to the ruck and choke tackling to win turnover ball. Ella was dominant at hooker, winning a couple against the head even when the ball was fed into the second row. She also made some brave dives to win loose ball on the deck and was desperately unlucky not to score in the last game having shrugged off four tacklers. Equally pleasing was the huge contribution made by the two younger Bedford girls, Amalia and Shelby, who were both a credit to their club. Excellent running from defence and cover tackling kept us in the game. Amalia in particular put in a performance to win joint girl of the match.
The first game finished 0-0, the bludgeon and the rapier cancelling each other out. Match 2 saw us play Leicester in a similar match-up. Leicester did have some wheels on the outside and Eva made a couple of great cover tackles. She had struggled to get free in the first match but at the opposition tired she was able to exploit space and make huge yards, going close twice. It was Evie who finally broke the shackles and, dropping a shoulder to move the full back, burnt round on the outside to score. The game finished 1-0 with Lily, having taken a few minutes to get up to pace, making some telling contributions in defence.
Next up we played Kettering again in what was their final match (that said, the size of their squad enabled them to swap on and off). A big late hit on Eva was justifiably penalised but we still couldn’t break their defence. Freyja took the game to them and gave some real go forward, hoovering up loose ball. We were guilty of trying one too many passes at times, but that’s the nature of the offloading game we play. Eventually and despite a desperate effort Kettering scored. Minutes to go, what to do? Cometh the hour, cometh the Hollie. She put in a rampaging display all day but save her best for this game, breaking two tackles and galloping to the line. The crowd exulted, or at least the Olney/Bedford part. The match finished 1-1.
In the final game we turned to screw from the off with an excellent display of outside back play. Madeleine, who again progressed and was only denied by some frantic tackling, opened the door to her winger. Eva needs no second invitation and hammered in for two tries, one a masterpiece of judging where the touchline was. We then slacked off and Leicester pulled one back via their own flier. We were not to be denied, however, and Eva completed her hat trick with a minute to go.
Lots and lots of positives to take from this. Players out of position, tough opposition and hard yards. A great example of this was joint girl of the match Evie, who despite carrying a couple of knocks and playing in at least three positions during the game showed her potential to go a long way in rugby, putting in a great shift in defence and managing field position well. She also shared kicking duties with Eva.
Next week Buckingham at home.
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