Buck Jesters/Middlesex Leopards match reports

12 Saracens U15 Girls went up to Milton Keynes on Sunday 7th October 2007 for their first Thames Valley Cluster League Game. Combining with Harlequins and Northolt to give a squad of 18, they played two games. The squad was made up of a few experienced girls, but most were making their first start in a competitive game having only started this season. The first game against Bucks Jesters saw the Lions, the name the Girls chose, concede an early try, due to the girls having literally just met. As the game proceeded they came more and more into the match. The defence grew stronger and they were able to hold off any further try attempts. Confidence grew and in the second half the Lions started to attack, but the Jesters always had enough defenders to prevent any Lions players breaking through. The Game finished 7:0 to the Jesters. After a very short break the Lions kicked off their second game against the Leopards, made up of players from Ealing and Grasshoppers. Early Lions pressure unfortunately led to turnover ball and the Leopards scored a breakaway try from their own 22m. The Lions roared back and again pressured the Leopards line. The Leopards intercepted the ball on their own 5m line and ran back to score under the posts. The team turned around 12:0 down at half time. The Lions kicked off the second half, a hanging kick just into the Leopards 22m, which was knocked on. From the resulting scrum the Lions broke left and managed to score out wide through Tara (Harlequins) playing her first game. The Leopards kicked off and the Lions ran it back into their 22m. The ball was recycled and passed out wide left. Even though the Leopards made their tackles, the Lions kept the ball alive in the tackle and passed it out wide to looping support runners, with Claire finally scoring in the corner. The Leopards kicked off again and the Lions ran the ball back to halfway before tuning it over. The Leopards attacked, but the ball was dropped and the Lions fly hacked it into the Leopards 5m line. Ball was recovered by the Leopards and passed back over their try line, but no defender could get to it before the Saracens and Lions wing Michelle pounced to score her first try in her first game. The try was converted by Claire. Again the Leopards kicked off and the Lions ran it back at them again. Strong defending by the Leopards saw the lions switching play from one side to the other, but to no avail. Finally a 5m penalty was awarded to the Lions for handling in a ruck. As the Lions forwards adjusted their position to attack in filed from the penalty, the Lions scrum half Claire, took a quick tap and dived through a hole that had appeared in the Leopards defence. Final score the Lions winning 22:12.

Middlesex County Festival

On the 4th of November Herts U15's entered two Teams into a Festival for the first time and a total of 32 Girls (from Saracens, Hertford and Welwyn) represented the Herts A and B (Development) teams today. In total there were 5 County Teams playing in the Middlesex Festival who played each other in a round robin: Results affecting Herts U15 Teams: Herts A 17 : 0 East Midlands (Claire Tx1 Cx1, Georgia Tx2) East Midlands 10 : 12 Herts B (Jo Tx2, Abbi Cx1) Herts A 21 : 0 Middlesex (Sam Tx1, Alice Finn Tx1, Georgia Tx1, Claire Cx3) Hampshire 24 Herts B 0 Herts A 0 Hampshire 5 Herts A 35 : 0 Herts B (Courtney Tx2 Cx2, Claire Tx1 Cx3, Lotte Tx1, Alice Finn Tx1) Herts B 0 : 19 Middlesex Tournament Final Standings: Winners: Hampshire Runners Up: Herts A 3rd: Middlesex 4th: Herts B 5th: East Midlands

Sarries Girls win at Witney

The Sarries Girls took 11 players as part of the Middlesex Lions U15 girls cluster squad, to rainy Witney RFC on Sunday 11th November. They were joined by some players from Harlequin Ladies Youth Academy and Northolt RFC. We received the kick off and immediately attempted to pressurise Oxon deep into their 22. However, the rain obviously had made the conditions wet, contributing to andling errors and the girls had difficulty controlling the ball in the slippery conditions. However our pressure eventually took its toll and forced Oxford firmly on the backfoot. A break in the weather allowed for some nifty passing, but the ground remained too heavy to allow a speed advantage. However, scrum-half Claire effectively controlled the breakdown, and the partnership with fly-half Cathy proved decisive in unleashing the backs at the critical moment. Although they were held up just short of the line, the forwards arrived quickly and from the ruck Alice crossed the line to score, converted by Bell. Oxford rallied immediately, and close contact support saw them quickly gather momentum and move into our girls half. However, we managed to turn over the ball and again work it into the Oxon 22, applying pressure again. From an Oxon lineout close to their line confusion at the fringes allowed hooker Melissa to recover the ball and burst free of the tackle and power over the try-line. From the resulting kick off we recovered the ball and passed it out wide for Alice to score from 70m again converted by Bell. Half-time score Oxford 0 - Lions 19. The second half saw Oxford emerge envigourated, and begin to play a far more attacking game. A number of substitutions saw more of the girls involved. This time it was the Lions on the defensive, as Oxford made good use of the quick ruck ball to gain territory. Desperate defending kept Oxford from scoring, as they camped out on the Lions 5m for a full five minutes, but eventually the ball was turned over, and a clearance kick moved them away from the red zone. Notable contributions where made by Michelle and Sophie who both made some good breaks and each made potential try saving tackles in the second half. Full-time score: Oxford 0 - Lions 19

Hertfordshire retain the Essex County Festival Trophy

On the November 18th, 7 Sarencens U15's went to a very cold Harlow to play at the Essex County Festival for Hertforshire against Leicestershire, Eastern Counties, Oxfordshire, Essex and Middlesex. In what is possibly the toughest county competition the girls played some of the best rugby seen at any county festival over the last few years. In five matches they did not concede a single try, with some outstanding defence and great individual tackling. The girls scored 111 unanswered points in their 5 matches. All the games were played at a great pace with the girls running onto the passes and offloading in the tackles. The forwards won most of the scrums they took part in - even on the opposition put-in. The squad should be very proud of an exceptional performance, and congratulated for retaining the trophy. This was a great win and would not have been possible without every member of the squad playing their part. The great spirit and fairness of the squad showed when they elected to play on in the Essex game with reduced numbers, to match Essex whose numbers were reduced through injury

Sarries Girls Vs Bucks Jesters

On Sunday 25th November the U15's and U18's will be playing a cluster match at home. It kicks off at 2pm , Bramely Road. Good luck to all the girls and enjoy the game!