A day near the seaside ....

Very early on Sunday morning, a number of insomniacs set forth to Worthing to join up with a further bunch of insomniacs who had set off the previous evening. Of course, those who went down on Saturday didn't know they were going to be insomniacs as well but then they hadn't heard Wonky snoring before, had they? Apparently, the sound of donkeys being sawn in half have nothing on Wonky's efforts .... that's the thing about tents - no sound proofing! ( ... and no thermal insulation, either, as some of this bold troupe found out overnight).

Anyway, around 9am we all gathered at Worthing RFC to register and be told that, due to a number of teams having withdrawn, the draw was being redone to simplify the group structure and that we would all receive a revised timetable shortly. Actually, we never got ours ......! When the games did get started it was around 10.50am and, according to the pitch marshal, Letchworth had 3 scheduled group games at 11.30 against Esher, 12.10 against Basford and 14.10 against Thomas Beckett. Needless to say that it didn't quite work out like that!

The first game against Esher eventually got underway at about 11.50, I think, and, as is too often the case, Letchworth were slow off the mark. Esher are a good side and needed no second invitation to press their advantage which saw them cruise away to a 3 tries to one advantage by the break. Only then did Letchworth start to compete more strongly but it was too late to turn the game around. Letchworth stepped up their play for the match against Basford but were still not in top gear and, though it was a much closer affair, Basford ran out winners 12-5. And so to the third match against Thomas Beckett (or, in my case, and so to the hospital with Mel who had taken a bad knock to the shoulder) where at last the girls started to play as they would wish to and ran out comfortable winners 34-5 thanks to tries by Jess, Georgie, Lizell, Natalie and Katie.

The 3 group games secured Letchworth a Plate quarter-final tie against Glossop which, I understand, was a well contested tight game that Letchworth won 14-5 thanks to two tries by Lizell which Nikki converted. Unfortunately, Lizell also took a heavy blow to the hand which promptly ballooned up and she was unable to take any further part in proceedings ....

The Plate semifinal against Folkstone was tied at 0-0 when we returned from the hospital with Mel who, fortunately, has not broken her collar bone as was feared. The second half was a thrilling encounter with Natalie breaking away down the wing to give Letchworth the lead and Folkstone replying in kind to score at the other end and take the tie to sudden death extra time. Letchworth kept up the pressure until a break by Jess sent Natalie away to force her way over and score a try under the posts.

Like the semi-final, the final against Oakmedians was a wonderfully exciting, keenly contested match which was a credit to both sides. Letchworth took the lead with a first half try by Jess only to see Oakmedians score straight from the restart and, crucially as it turned out, convert the try. The second half started with concerted attacks by Oakmedians which Letchworth were only just able to repell and then it was Letchworth on the attack and Oakmedians defending. With 5 minutes to go, Laura took a bang to the head and had to leave the fray and Letchworth had finally run out of players. However, despite being reduced to 9 girls, Letchworth pressed home the attack to the very last whistle which came with Carla failing by only an inch or so to score the winning try. Ultimately, it was wonderful resolute defence by Oakmedians which earned them the Plate but the Letchworth girls were fantastic in supporting each other and giving their all to win the game - all in all, a great advert for girls rugby.

I am immensly proud to have been associated with the Letchworth girls team on Sunday and I know that all the coaches, parents and supporters feel the same. After such performances it would be quite wrong to single out any individual for particular praise as every player gave their all to the very end. As a former coach of yours would definately have said, "AWESOME, Girls! Just AWESOME!"

Results :

Group :

Letchworth 5 Esher 22

Letchworth 5 Basford 12

Letchworth 34 Thomas Beckett 5

Plate QF : Letchworth 14 Glossop 5

Plate SF : Letchworth 10 Folkstone 5

Plate final : Letchworth 5 Oakmedians 7

Letchworth scorers :

Tries : Jess (4), Lizell (4), Natalie (3), Georgie (2), Katie

Conversions : Nikki (3), Carla

Laura (Bubbles) :

As all of you who were there know, Laura was taken ill after the end of the final game and had to be taken off to hospital to be checked out. I'm pleased to report that she was allowed home later that evening and is getting back to her normal bouncy self.

Photos : In addition to my few pictures above and to the Threlfall archive, you may be interested in looking at the DE Photo website at http://www.dephoto.biz/ where many hundreds of professional pictures of the event can be seen and, should you be so inclined, purchased.