Year 8 Girls win Hull Schools RL Competition
The Sirius Academy Year 8 Girls played in their first ever full contact game of Rugby League, when they took on Newland School for Girls in the Hull Schools Final. In a very one sided contest the Sirius girls were outstanding in defence and attack, coming away with a 76 – 6 victory.
Ebony Hepworth opened the scoring with a fine individual try as Sirius grew in confidence. There was no way through for Newland as the Sirius defence stood strong, with Megan Whittles, Sophie Potter, Rachelle Longbone and Charlotte Winton leading the way. Megan Kay was quick from dummy half on several occasions, causing the defence all sorts of problems. On the only occasion that Newland did break through the line, full back Melissa Tulley was on hand to make a fine one on one tackle. But Sirius was well on top and continued to dominate the play. The score line at half time was 36 – 0 and although the attack was very impressive, it was the grit and determination of the defence that was the most pleasing aspect, keeping Newland out with two sets of six on the Sirius try line. In a very hot day, the four substitutes needed to be utilised on a regular basis, and when Carmen Coates, Jordan Longden, Olivia Palmer, Leoni Campbell got their opportunity, they did not disappoint, with some excellent runs in attack and strong tackles in defence. Esther Godwin was one of the standout performers in the forwards and did not take a step back when taking the ball in.
The second half started the same with a well worked Sirius try, with the ball being passed through no less than 5 pairs of hands before being finished off by Carmen Coates in the corner. The combination of Hepworth and Megan Atkinson at half backs was working well, with both players taking on the line but also finding some good passes wide for wingers Chelsea Yardley and Olivia Young to exploit the space out wide. Sirius however did not have it all their own way, and when they failed to move quickly off the line the Newland prop managed to use power and strength to crash over the try line. The Sirius team were angry at conceding the try and went on to score another 5 tries unanswered in the 2nd half. With the boot of Megan Atkinson kicking 12 conversations, the scoreline finished 76 – 6, with a fantastic win for Sirius Academy Year 8 Girls, who are now crowned as the Hull Schools Champions. Their next step is the Yorkshire Finals which will take place in May.
Tries came from player of the match Ebony Hepworth (4), Esther Godwin (2), Megan Atkinson (2), Carmen Coates (2), Olivia Young, Jordan Longden, Megan Whittles.
Special thanks to Ms Stephenson for her support and assistance with the team.
Please congratulate the following girls on their success, attitude and behaviour:
Melissa Tulley
Olivia Young
Chelsea Yardley
Ebony Hepworth
Megan Atkinson
Esther Godwin
Charlotte Winton
Sophie Potter
Olivia Palmer
Jordan Longden
Carmen Coates
Megan Kay
Rachelle Longbone
Leoni Campbell
Megan Whittles
