Harborough Girls shine in the sun

Harborough Girls travelled to Ampthill to play in a triangular with Bury St Edmonds. Harborough were supported by 3 girls from Oakham, 2 of which were making their match debuts and all 3 Teams had ‘guest appearances’ from a couple of U18s.

In their opening game against Bury, Harborough distributed the ball to great effect, making use of the space in the wide channels. 3 excellent tries from Cassie Holyoak, Lauren Riley & Hannah Jenkins meant that Harborough went into the Break 15-0 up. The 2nd Half saw more of the same, with a great display of running rugby and supporting play from all the Girls. Their continued efforts were rewarded with a try from Fran Brimley and 2 from Klaudia Wasko, with Hannah West kicking a conversion to round off a great Win. Final Score : Market Harborough 32 Bury St Edmonds 12.

In the 2nd Game, Ampthill surprised Harborough in the way in which they took the game to their opposition. Harborough lost the structure that they enjoyed in the first game and turned the ball over several times. Ampthill made great use of their possession and scored 3 good tries in the 1st Half. This meant that Harborough found themselves 15-0 down at the Break and knew that they had to quickly re-group if they were to have any chance in this game. In the 2nd Half, Harborough played with far more conviction and began to gather momentum once more. They distributed the ball out wide and Fran finished off to great effect, working hard to score under the posts; the conversion was duly converted by Hannah. With the score now at 15-7, Harborough played with far more confidence and determination. Unlike in the first half, the ball was controlled well and the Girls played with great spirit. The continued pressure was too much for the hosts and Lauren finished off a great period of play. With just 1 score between the 2 Teams, Harborough again worked their way up the pitch, but Ampthill defended well. With time almost up, an Ampthill injury gave Harborough opportunity to rally round and, following the subsequent scrum, the Girls immediately put the Visitors under pressure on their try-line. The ball was continually recycled really well and then eventually Lauren found a gap in the defence to cross the line for her hat-trick but more importantly the lead for Market Harborough. With Hannah West nursing a bruised shoulder, Cassie stepped up to take the conversion. As it bisected the posts, her scream of delight was met by the Final Whistle and the Girls celebrated a memorable come-back. Final Score : Ampthill 15 Market Harborough 19.

Huge credit must go to all the Girls for their team spirit during both of these games, especially coming from 3 scores down to win in the final play of the game. Well Done !

The squad today consisted of :

Francesca Brimm, Ruby Evans, Pippa Haslam, Cassie Holyoak, Hannah Jenkins, Alice Liles, Mairead McErlean, Jade Newton, Cerys Powell, Lauren Riley, Hannah Shakespeare, Rose Smith, Rebecca Town, Klaudia Wasko, Hannah West, Eleanor Wilkinson