Harborough’s 7 tries were not enough in Girls Cup

In a game that saw no less than 16 tries, Market Harborough can be proud of their determined effort to not give up, despite a strong performance from the Peterborough / Olney / Wellingborough (‘POW’) Cluster.

Harborough opened the scoring, with Cassie Holyoak’s speed on the wing too much for the opposition. POW then ‘retaliated’ with 3 well taken tries of their own. Harborough responded with a fine team effort, rounded off with a try by Fran Brimm. Unfortunately, Harborough’s defence was stretched to the limits and another 2 tries were conceded. Harborough once again responded well though and, following some excellent support play from Hannah West, the ball was fed out to Tahei Baikeinuku whose strong running led to the final try of the first half. Phoebe Andrews converted to make the score 33-17 at the break.

With the wind supporting Harborough in the second half, the Girls were determined to close the gap. Once again, it was Cassie to open the scoring with a deserved try under the posts. With Phoebe’s conversion, the gap was reduced to 9 points. POW then took advantage of a seemingly reduced period of concentration and, utilising Wellingborough’s Mallard twins to great effect, scored 3 tries in quick succession. Although Harborough found themselves 52-24 down, there was no sign of giving up and certainly finished the game the stronger side. Hannah Shakespeare showed her strength and was unlucky not to score her first try of the season; however, Phoebe was there to cross the line and convert her own try. A further 2 tries and a conversion took Phoebe’s points tally for the day to 23.

The Final Score of 59-43 meant that POW ended up above Market Harborough in the League and took the Semi-Final place that the Harborough Girls were hoping for. However, the Girls can certainly be proud of what they have achieved this Season.

Starting Team
Mairead McErlean, Phoebe Andrews, Pippa Haslam, Ruby Evans, Hannah Shakespeare, Rosie Tremlett, Olivia Perrin, Hannah West, Cassie Holyoak, Tahei Baikeinuku, Francesca Brimm, Lucia Norfolk, Sabine Brewster

Subs
Eleanor Wilkinson, Eve Pollard, Lucy-May Burman

A massive congratulations must go out to those girls who were successful in being included in the 29-strong Midlands Squad (Phoebe Andrews, Tahei Baikeinuku & Sabine Brewster). Those that narrowly missed out on a Midlands place (Cassie Holyoak & Hannah West) should indeed be very proud of what they have achieved this Season.