Formed 2004 ... Herts 7s U14 Runners-up 2005 ... North Herts U14 team, Herts Youth Games 2005 runners-up (coached by Letchworth)... Herts Superteams U14 Runners-up 2005 ... Herts SuperTeams "Fairplay" winners 2006 ... Rochford 10s U17 Champions 2006 ... East Midlands 10s U17 Runners-up 2007 ... East Midlands 10s U17 "Fairplay" winners 2007 ... National 10s U17 5th place and "Fairplay" winners 2007 ... Herts 7s U17 Plate runners-up 2007 ... National 7s U17 Plate winners 2007 ... RFU "President's XV" Award winners 2007 ... Herts Superteams winners 2007 ... Midlands 10s U18 Runners-up 2008 ... National 10s U18 4th place 2008 ... North Herts U11 team, Herts Youth Games 2008 runners-up (coached by Letchworth girls) ... London and SE 7s U18 Plate runners-up 2008 ... Herts 7s U18s runners-up 2008 ... National 7s U18s quarter-finalists 2008 ... Gloucester City 10s U18 Bowl runner-up (6th) 2009 ... Worthing 10s U18 Plate runner-up 2009 ... National 7s U18 Plate winners 2009... Worthing 10s U15 Plate winners 2010... Worthing 10s U18 Shield winners 2010... Herts 7s U15 and U18 Bowl runners-up 2010... National 7s U18 Plate runners-up 2010...

Monday, May 05, 2008

National 10s at Lichfield

What a frenetic competition! The match scheduling saw all 6 teams competing in matches every 40 minutes from 12.15 pm to 2.50 pm which, with the usual array of stoppages for injuries, etc., meant that almost every one of the games we played in finished after the next one was due to start!

The competitors in the 2008 RFUW National 10s finals were from all over England : Darlington MP, Letchworth, Reading, Tynedale, Wimbourne & Worcester : and the competition was fierce from the first whistle to the last.

Letchworth opened against Wimbourne who we drew with only a few weeks ago at Reading and a very close fought battle again ended in a draw with the same 10-10 scoreline! Try scorers for Letchworth were Sasha and Hayley.

The second game was against Tynedale in which Letchworth built up a sound lead through 3 tries by Hayley and a try and 2 conversions from Sasha only to have Tynedale respond strongly to the challenge scoring 3 tries of their own and chasing the game all the way to the final whistle. The final score was Letchworth 24 Tynedale 17.

The third game was against favourites Worcester who lived up to that billing with some fine rugby. Despite Letchworth's best efforts, Worcester scored 6 tries and ran out 38 - 0 winners.

The penultimate game was against Darlington Mowden Park who stormed away to lead Letchworth 15 - 0 at the interval and, but for some determined defence, it could have been more - Katie got underneath the ball as Darlington tried to ground it for a try, Charlie drove a Darlington attacker out from the in goal area, etc.. I don't know what was said at half-time, but the Letchworth that came out for the second half were in determined mood and they forced themselves back into the game with tries by Carla and Natalie to make it 15-10 with just two minutes remaining. The finale of the game came with Nikki breaking through the centre of the Darlington defence deep in the Letchworth half, running half a pitch length before the defence got to her and then offloading to Randy who galloped under the posts to level the scores. Sasha held her nerve to kick over the conversion and Letchworth had secured the narrowest of wins 17 - 15.

The last game was against our old adversary, Reading. Our last meeting at Reading a few weeks ago had resulted in a convincing victory for the hosts and this match was to be no different. Although Letchworth were competing strongly throughout the match, Reading cut though to score 4 tries and the match ended with Letchworth camped on the Reading line but unable to convert that position into points. Final score : Reading 24 Letchworth 0.

The major downside of this match was the injury to Rosie who had put in tremendous effort all day. I understand that, although the injury is not as bad as at first feared, Rosie is likely to be out of action for several weeks. Get well soon, Rosie!

And so we come to the final positions. Having won 2 games and drawn another we found ourselves in mid-table with an identical record to Wimbourne who, by virtue of a much better points difference, are placed above us :

1st Worcester
2nd Reading
3rd Wimbourne
4th Letchworth
5th Darlington Mowden Park
6th Tynedale

What a hard day that was! The Letchworth squad all pulled together fantastically throughout the day and they never gave up even when the task appeared impossible. The reward for that belief and that effort is to be be placed 4th in the RFUW National 10s - one place higher than last year - and the highest placing Letchworth Girls have ever achieved in an RFUW National competition!
Selecting our player of the tournament was a very difficult job for the coaches because all the squad excelled themselves on the day. When the deliberations were over, the final verdict gave the title to Randy.

Results :

Letchworth 10 Wimbourne 10
Letchworth 24 Tynedale 17
Letchworth 0 Worcester 38
Letchworth 17 Darlington MP 15
Letchworth 0 Reading 24

Tries :

Hayley 4
Sasha 3
Carla 1
Natalie 1
Randy 1

Conversions :

Sasha 3

3 comments:

  1. Well done everyone - sorry I missed it (again!). The result against Darlington Mowden Park in particular - a club with a reputation second only to Worcester - must count as the most impressive single result we have ever achieved.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well done, sounds like an excellent day's activity.

    Next year hopefully we'll be in a place to take part at Under 18. As ever very enjoyable report.

    spike

    ReplyDelete
  3. Apologies to all the viewers, but Flikr has just been a nightware to upload to at the moment. Still resolved now I hope.

    ReplyDelete

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