Ripon (Harrogate) Under 18s V Horden. Bowl Final at Darlington 5th March 2017

The U18s girls turned up at Darlington for the Bowl final not knowing what to expect in their opposition of Horden and Peters Lee , with 7 Ripon girls and 9 from Harrogate it was always going to be a big ask with only 30 minutes training before match.

It soon became apparent that Horden had their North of England and county girls available this week making it an uphill battle from the kick off.

The girls stuck to their task and realised that tackling high was not going to work against Hordens powerful girls. The girls held their own in the scrums against a very well drilled pack. Achele at 8 made some powerful pickups off the scrum supported by Abby at scrum half.
Alice harassed their 10 and managed to rip the ball on a few occasions , but the well organised back line exposed our lack of training and game time together.

The forwards stuck to their task with Helen making them work hard at the breakdown, ripon made them work hard for every yard, with Lauren having a spell in the forwards due to an injury. Every girl can hold their heads high with the passion, willingness to play out of position and not giving a yard.
I would like to take the credit for the way they played but it is down to Gary's hard work over the last 2 years and the determination of the girls to fight to the last whistle.