Year 8 RL Girls lose out in Semi Final of Yorkshire Tournament
The Year 8 Girls showed real determination to win two out of the three games played in the group stages of the Yorkshire Tournament to finish in second place, but ended up losing against the National Champions – St John Fisher in the semi final. The girls can be extremely proud of their performance, showing real team work, character and aggression throughout.
Castleford Academy 12 Sirius Academy West 0
Sirius started the tournament with great defence against a big, strong and organised Castleford side, but was really holding their own as the game was evenly matched in the early stages. The Sirius side was poor in attack and when they lost the ball in three consecutive sets of six they practically gave Castleford their two tries as they crashed over from close range. Sirius got near the Castleford tryline when they did manage to hold on to the ball, but was not smart enough to get the ball wide where they could have found the gaps. Alyx Worth went over in the late stages of the game but the referee deemed that she was held up over the tryline.
Sirius Academy 10 Settle 6
Sirius Academy responded well from their poor attacking performance in the last game, and when they managed to complete their set of six they got near the Settle tryline. Great defence from Rachel Robinson and Abbie Brennan forced the Settle player to knock on early in the tackle count and from the resulting set of six Georgia Coggin showed great footwork to go over for the first try of the game, Lucy Sainty failed to convert. Settle managed to get a try back of their own and convert it to make the scoreline 6 – 4 in favour of Settle. Paige Collingwood made many try saving tackles on some of their biggest players to keep Sirius in the game. The girls knew they needed a try before the final whistle and did everything could to get close to the tryline. A great run from Lucy Sainty and a quick play the ball saw Georgia Coggin cross over on the last play of the game, Lucy Sainty converted to make the final score 10 – 6 to Sirius.
Sirius Academy 12 Farnley Academy 4
Farnley looked a good side and like Sirius had won one and lost one in their previous games, so whoever won this would go through to the semi-finals. Sirius gave this game everything as the determination on both sides was there for all to see. Sirius got over the tryline early on, once again Georgia Coggin finding the gap out wide and diving over to take the lead, Lucy Sainty converted. Farnley Academy were looking strong in attack as they tries to go round the outsides, but Nicole George and Paige Collingwood won every defensive battle. After a string of penalties for offside Farnley managed to go over, but could not convert, leaving Sirius still in front 6 – 4. Another try saving tackle came from Tarri Trafford as she bundled the player in touch, from the resulting scrum Georgia Coggin went over to seal the game 12 – 4, which mean Sirius finished in 2nd place in their group, a great achievement and massive improvement on last year.
St John Fisher 18 – Sirius Academy 0
St John Fisher were the team that had finished top of their group, and you could see why, after beating every team convincingly and not conceding one try. The National Champions looked big, fast, strong and organised and they got off to a great start when a mistake from the kick off gave them a set of six on the Sirius tryline, which they crashed over on the second tackle. Sirius were struggling to cope with the size of their team and were getting outmuscled all over the field. Credit to the Sirius girls, they never gave up and kept going till the final whistle. Final score 18 – 0.
Please congratulate the girls on their performance, attitude and behaviour throughout the tournament. I believe that if they had started the tournament better in the first game against Castleford then they could have gone on to finish top of their group, then against a different opponent in the semi-final it could have been a different story. Massive improvements have been made by this group of girls and they should be very proud of how they played today, especially in defence.
Squad:
Georgia Coggin
Alyx Worth
Lucy Sainty
Chelsea Anderson
Caitlin Reed
Abbie Brennan
Rachel Robinson
Gracie Elletson
Paige Collingwood
Tarri Trafford
Ruby Dunn
Demi Robson
Emma Waller
Kacey Broadbent
Nicole George (Year 7)
Special thanks to Mr Bilton for his support with the team.