The opening game against Aylesford was a tense affair, with the lead changing hands no less than 5 times. It was the opposition who struck first, recycling to great effect and scoring in the corner. This galvanised our Girls, who started to show what they were capable of. Some great off-loading put Eve Pollard into space, who charged down the pitch from the half way line, only to be tackled inches from the try line. However, a sublime offload to her Captain, Grace Standbridge, secured the try for Harborough, successfully converted by Hannah West. Aylesford immediately struck back, which meant that Harborough were trailing at Half Time (12-7). In the Second Half, it was Harborough to strike first, with Emmy Russell's turn of pace surprising everyone with an excellent try. With Hannah West once again securing the vital extras, Harborough were back in the lead (14-12). Aylesford were determined not to give up and some sublime running lines from their Backs meant that Harborough were once again trailing. All credit to Harborough who were not intimidated by their resilient opposition. Instead, they controlled the closing minutes of the game to great effect, retaining possession and applying continuous pressure on the opposition. In the end, Aylesford could not withstand the strong running, as Sabine Brewster crossed the line to close off an amazing team performance. Hannah West retained her 100% kicking record, to close the game 21-17 to Harborough.

The Semi-Final of the Plate Competition was against Cobham, who were an extremely well-drilled squad. However, they could not stop an electric Sabine Brewster who scored 2 tries in as many minutes. With Hannah West successfully converting the 2nd try, Harborough found themselves 12-0 up. Cobham's quality then showed and, with some good ball retention, they opened their scoring with an excellent try. It was really pleasing to see how Harborough were now gelling as a Team and playing with real maturity. The ball was spread wide to Lucy Giles who effortlessly glided through the opposition defence and ran in to score her first ever try for Harborough, converted by Hannah West. Cobham immediately struck back just before Half Time to put the score at the break at 19-10 to Harborough. For what seemed like the whole of the 2nd Half, Harborough found themselves defending, which they performed with the bravest tenacity. The tackling from all the Girls was exceptional, undoubtedly aided by the previous day's ZubaBall !! It was inevitable though that after so much possession, Cobham were going to score; however, the fact that Harborough had prevented Cobham from scoring for over 6 minutes, meant that the opposition had run out of time when they finally did cross the line. In another tense game, the final score was 19-17 to Harborough, with the accuracy of Hannah West's drop goal conversions being a key differentiator.

An amazing performance from all the Girls had secured them a place in the Final. It was just a shame that there was an extended gap between games - a further delay just before kick-off meant that there had been 3h between Semi-Final and Final. Nevertheless, the Girls took to the Pitch, in front of a large enthusiastic crowd, which included former British Lions hooker, Brian Moore, and current England international, Amy Wilson-Hardy. Surprisingly, Harborough were once again facing Aylesford, who had been using the extra time to great effect. They had been bitterly disappointed by losing to Harborough earlier in the day and started the game with a surprising amount of energy and tempo. 3 well executed moves left Harborough trailing at the break 17-0. However, the Harborough Girls were not going to give in and started the 2nd Half with real determination. Catching the ball deep in her own 22, Tia Rich tore through the opposition defence, scoring the standout Try of the Day. Grace Standbridge then added to her try-count, with excellent support running. Hannah West converted both tries; an impressive 88% success rate with the boot today was a fitting finale for her 12-years in the Mini + Juniors at Market Harborough. With all the momentum now with Harborough, the result could have been much closer; however, there was not enough time to close and gap and Aylesford ended up worthy Champions 34-14.

The Girls can be extremely proud of their performance on the day. Coaches Paul West, Wayne Swinglehurst and Chris Pollard were certainly most impressed with the maturity of how the Girls played. Wishing the best of luck to those Girls who played their final game for Harborough U18s (Sabine, Tia, Hannah W, Lucy + Grace). Looking forward to seeing how the remaining Squad develop in the next Season.

U18 Tourists
Sabine Brewster, Tia Rich, Emmy Russell, Hannah West, Amber Swinglehurst, Ruby Evans, Zoë Frew, Hannah Jenkins, Eve Pollard, Lucy Giles, Pippa Haslam, Mairead McErlean, Grace Standbridge