2005-6 North West Match Reports
Page set aside for match reports from the three North West Women’s and girls Regional squads.

February 19th North West Women’s vs North East @ Broughton Park Won 35-12
Sylvia Baaijens and Jodie Silver from Cheshire both made their debut for the Regional squad against in the North East game. With Sylvia playing in the second row and Jodie scoring a try from the wing. Overall the North West scored five tries to gain a bonus point.

February 19th North West Women’s vs East Midlands @ Waterloo Won 31-3
 The North West started the game well battling against a strong wind. The team have a very strong back row and mobile forwards and managed to secure possession and dominate the initial exchanges. The North West attacked deep into the visitors half and were eventually rewarded with the first of five tries. Jenny Evans, Rici Brown, Sharon Harrogate all scored tries with fly –half Caroline Royle scoring twice to earn the North West Team a vital bonus point. Ally Little added three conversions. The East Midlands team battled hard and looked like scoring with two dangerous runners but solid defence kept them outside our twenty two. Their determination was rewarded with a penalty mid way through the second half which was slotted over by Lisa Harris.

With the North East win, the North West have now secured the maximum points from their first two games of the regional programme. We are now looking forward to our final game away at Lichfield at the end of the month. If we win that we stand a good chance of reaching the regional finals in May.

The coaching staff of Steve Wands and Dave Crank and myself have been impressed with the standard of rugby in the North West this year, with lots of clubs in the area playing regular league games. This has led to a competitive county programme with both Cheshire and Lancashire Counties running teams which resulted in over sixty players being nominated to attend trials for the North West Team. The squad is made up of players from Vale of Lune, Northwich, Chester, Preston Grasshoppers, Ormskirk and Waterloo Rugby Clubs.

March 19th North West U14’s vs West Midlands U14’s @ Lichfield Lost 50-5
In their first competitive game the North West team met arguably one of the best U14 regional squads teams in the UK and showed they need more match preparation. The West Midlands were able to run the ball at will and with poor tackling from the North West girls, ran in 10 tries in all. However not down hearted the North West continued to battle and in the second half held their own in the forwards winning most of the possession. Thea Breau from Northwich Rugby Club earned a well deserved try late on to show that the West Midlands team that they are not invincible.

April 30th North West U14’s @ Royal & Sun Alliance National Tournament
The U14’s were drawn in a very tough group comprising the South East and West Midlands team and in the first game against West Midlands were slow to rise to their normal form, paying too much respect to their rivals. However against the South East, they played their best game of the day, keeping the South East in their own half for much of the match. Unfortunately the South East snatched just the one try to win the game. In the final game of the group against the South West, the U14’s played well but just couldn’t raise their game enough and lost to get 4th place in their group. This put them into the ‘Bowl’ part of the competition with 4th place teams from the other groups - Yorkshire and North East. With half and hour break and time to stock up on sandwiches and crisps the girls were ready for Yorkshire and soon capitalised on Yorkshire’s inexperience scoring 5 tries. Only one match to go to win the bowl against the North East. While the North East played Yorkshire, the girls got a welcome breather and showed that they are the best team in the North of England with a determined performance to win the last match and the Bowl. England Women’s captain presented the trophies at the close of the day to cap a very enjoyable day and one to reflect on for next year.