Women's Gold Team Round-up
12/06/2024
The first two Sundays in June have seen the Eagles Women Gold development squad travel away to West Lancashire and Cumbria in succession. Each game revealed differing areas to work on but also aspects of character.
The first game two weeks ago saw the Gold Team travel to Orrell St James ARLFC in Wigan. After falling 14-0 behind after half-an-hour, the Gold Team got themselves on the board with a try through Amy Moxon, who twisted out of the tackle and managed to ground the ball near the corner flag.
Orrell went further ahead, but the Eagles once again responded with a try as the ball was switched to the right edge and Megan Holocuk raced away and managed to get the ball down in the corner despite being under pressure from an Orrell defender in the 54th minute to bring the score back to 24-8.
Orrell produced a handful more tries in the closing stages of the second half to round off a 44-8 victory.
Having suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Orrell and a shortage of players at this time of year due to holiday commitments, the Eagles Gold could only take 14 players down on confidence on a long coach trip on June 9th to play Workington Town Ladies at Derwent Park on the Cumbrian coast. However given the disparity in the squad sizes, a challenge was presented of character and resilience.
After going 12-0 down early on, two tries either side of the break pulled the game back to 12-10 as the Eagles closed the gap to only a two point lead. Leah Steel first got the ball down after good work by Rebecca Dex in the build-up, before Phoebe Evans got the ball down at the start of the second half after running clear down the right edge, before Tori Thomas added a successful conversion with the boot.
A long break down the right, followed by a cross-field kick forced a goal line error and the ball into the Eagles hands. From the tackle on Rebeeca Dex a short side play put the ball into the hands of Steel who forced a way over in the 35th minute 3m in from the left flag, conversion missed for 12-4 and the last score of the half.
After going 28-10 behind, the Eagles closed the gap once again as Steel’s try and another kick from Thomas pulled the game back to 28-16, but a late try from Workington rounded off a 32-16 victory for the home side.
Yes, a loss, but a loss by sixteen POINTS against a team with a full squad of 20. Going from self-doubt and trepidation at the start, the Golds displayed the true grit that was asked of them throughout this game, and a newfound confidence in themselves on the long journey home.
