More Cup Success for U18 Girls

The second round of this phase of the cup saw the girls renew acquaintances with Medway and South Surrey Belles this time in Kent.

First up, we took on South Surrey and soon had the upper hand dominating possession and territory but unable to break down a stubborn Belles defence until a quick tap penalty saw Katya Motuel show good strength and determination to score under the posts. Ellie Gisbourne added the conversion. This seemed to give the girls confidence and the quality of the passing and support play improved with an excellently timed pass putting Jess Breach away to score Boro’s second with Ellie again converting. Soon after, another flowing move between forwards and backs and a well timed arrival in the line from full back Issy Mayhew resulted in the girls’ third try. Shannon Gilmartin then added a fourth try with excellent support work coming in off her wing on the half time whistle. Ellie converted once more to give Boro a 26-0 half time lead.

The second half followed a similar pattern with Pulborough in charge but spirited Belles defence making scoring difficult. Lily Dibb-Fuller was driven over by the forwards after she collected a loose ball which Ellie converted but then there was a lengthy gap before Issy scored her second of the game getting on the end of a backs move to score in the corner. Boro added two further tries from Jordan Hopkins with a strong run through the Belles defence and Karis Curtis rounding off some good recycling of possession to give Boro a 48-0 win.

As with the first round of matches, Medway presented a different type of challenge but an early score by Issy, once again joining the line to create the extra player, gave Boro an early 5-0 lead which they held to half time as the game ebbed and flowed as both sides probed for an opening.

Early in the second half, a quick tap penalty from Medway saw them break away to score and even things up. Still neither side could find that little extra that would allow them to ease away as the game went into its final quarter but it was Pulborough who finally made the breakthrough when the backs spread the ball and Jess found enough space to break away and put the girls 10-5 in front.

Medway were not in the mood to give up though and put the Boro line under real pressure with some heroic defending needed to keep them out when they threatened to score under the posts. But just when it looked like the girls had done enough, Medway finally breached their defences. A very tense conversion attempt followed but it was unsuccessful and that was the last play so 10-10 was the final score.