U13 Girls finish 2nd in White Rose Yorkshire Tournament
Sirius Academy U13 girls managed to finish in 2nd place in the White Rose Yorkshire Tournament by winning 4 out of the 5 games played. The squad of Year 7 and 8 girls had never played in the same team before, with some playing rugby union for the first time also.
Sirius Academy 0 Settle 2
In a very evenly matched first game the difference was that Settle played the rucks and mauls to their advantage recognising the Sirius girls were used to playing rugby league. The first try was conceded when the Sirius girls thought they had won the maul but the referee let the player release the ball as the ball was passed out for the first try. Another maul was how the second try was also scored as the girls kept moving in the tackle and fell over the tryline to make the final score 2 – 0 to Settle.
Sirius Academy 7 Huntington 2
Once Sirius had got into the rules of the game they started to play some outstanding rugby with a superb victory scoring seven tries. Alyx Worth went over for the first before Lucy Sainty doubled the lead. Great footwork from Gerogia Coggin made it 3 – 0. Huntington went over for a try but it was all Sirius as Leah Pearson, Abbie Brennan (2) and Rachel Robinson made it a convincing win.
Horsfoth 3 Sirius Academy 6
Horsforth were probably the biggest side at the tournament, and it looked like they were going to win this one as they went over on their first drive as the defence struggled to tackle the powerful player. Credit to Sirius, they replied immediately with our strong powerful player – Lucy Sainty bursting through their defence line to race over 50 meters. Georgia Coggin put Sirius in the lead and Lucy Sainty scored two more tries before Horsforth got over again for two quick tries. Sirius had the final word as Nicole George stole the ball in the tackle and went the full length of the pitch before Chantelle Dunn stepped her way to the tryline to make it 6 – 3.
Sirius Academy 6 Crossley Heath 3
Sirius got over for an early try in this game as Abbie Brennan showed her strength and intelligence to spin out of the tackle and crash over. Alyx Worth and Lucy Sainty were next over the whitewash. Crossley Heath scored a couple of good tries of their own before Abbie Brennan and Geogia Coggin (2) put the game out of sight. Crossley Hill went over late on to make it another 6 – 3 win.
Harrogate Grammer 0 Sirius Academy 2
Sirius knew that If they won this one then they would finish second, as Settle had gone on to win all their games. Harrogate Grammer were the next strongest team in the league so it was always going to be a tough match. The Sirius defence was outstanding as Harrogate threw everything into the final game. Talia Martinez and Mia Cheeseman made some try saving tackles to ensure Harrogate didn’t go over. The game remained 0 – 0 till there were two minutes remaining, quick thinking from Alyx Worth noticed the loose carry and stole the ball to race over. Sirius needed to hang on in defence and they did just that with Paige Collingwood, Tegan Purdon and Leah Pearson not taking a backwards step in defence. The best try of the competition came on the final whistle when Alyx Worth noticed the overlap out wide and passed a long ball out to the supporting Abbie Brennan who raced over to seal the victory 2 – 0.
The girls improved with every game in attack and defence and can be very proud of their performance today against some good strong sides.
Please congratulate the squad on their achievement, behaviour and attitude throughout:-
Lucy Sainty
Georgia Coggin
Alyx Worth
Abbie Brennan
Paige Collingwood
Rachel Robinson
Mia Cheeseman
Nicole George
Chantelle Dunn
Talia Martinez
Leah Pearson
Tegan Purdon
