U14 Girls v Wasps & Twickenham & Grasshoppers

On Sunday morning the Ealing / Richmond U14 Girls assembled at Vallis Way in glorious sunshine for their first home match of the season, against a cluster side from Wasps, Twickenham and Grasshoppers. Having only played their first 15-a-side match a fortnight ago, this was going to be another challenge on a full size pitch. Our very own youth referee Martha was taking charge of the game and was kept busy from the off, with the first quarter being punctuated by numerous scrums. The opposition had a very effective threat in the shape of a powerful ball-carrying No 8, and their first try came early in the first quarter from a pick and go. The Ealing / Richmond girls were struggling with the opposition’s offloading game, and were under pressure again before Catherine picked up the ball after her own try-saving tackle and ran the length of the field for our first try.

As the girls tried to move the ball through the hands, some unforced errors enabled the opposition to gain territory in our ’22, and dot down from close range. The second quarter, saw the girls more willing to run with the ball and make territory, and strong runs by Harriet, Charlotte and Elspeth had the opposition worried before Ula, on her debut, ran in the equaliser from the 10 metre line, beating 5 defenders in the process. With half time approaching, the girls were soaking up more pressure in our ’22, before conceding a try in the final passage of play before the break.

The third quarter was characterised by lots of breaks in play for both scrums and injuries. After Wasps had a try ruled out for a forward pass, Emily picked the ball up from the resulting scrum and ran in from her own ’22. After another lengthy injury break, it was Ellie’s turn to run in a try from deep, and saw our girls take the lead for the first time in the match.

The match ended with a frantic and chaotic final quarter, with Wasps equalising after building pressure on our try line, before Ula spotted a gap and darted through to score for us to re-take the lead. More pressure in our ’22 saw Wasps equalise again however, straight from the restart, a knock-on gave our girls an attacking platform just outside the Wasps ’22. After a strong run by Bella, and a couple of attempts to burst through the try-line defence, Ula was on hand to touch down from close range for a debut hat-trick, sealing the win. Final score Ealing / Richmond 30 – 25 Wasps / Twickenham / Grasshoppers.

Many thanks to the players and coaching staff of Wasps, Twickenham and Grasshoppers girls for their part in what was a fantastic morning of girls rugby, and to our own parents for turning out in such good numbers to support the girls. Special thanks also to referee, Martha, for doing such a great job and being an inspiration to so many of the girls taking part!

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