Two wins from two for an improving under 18s

Rovers travelled to Bishop Auckland for the first Durham County festival of the season.

Recent performance's have been good with wins against Bishop Auckland and DMP in the cup. 52 girls took part in Sundays festival. Rovers faced Bishop Auckland in their first game and the winners of this match would face the winners of Houghton v DMP.

Rovers got off to a good start and capitalised on a Bishop mistake to get an early score. Like previous weeks Rovers were onto the front foot with strong carries from Sophie, Jay, and Amy. Rovers welcomed back Ebonni into the squad after injury and Olivia was available. Both had excellent games with Ebonni making a number of big tackles and Olivia's support play and ability to secure the ball at the break down allowed Rovers to create a platform to attack from.

Rovers stuck to the game plan and scored a couple more tries but so did Bishop and at half time it was a close game and could have gone either way.

The second half Rovers turned up the pressure and allowed their backs to run in tries. Nicole took the game to Bishop with several strong runs and Kristen and Grace complemented each other in the midfield. Mia S is learning the scrum half position and her delivery is getting stronger and stronger. Ellie R was able to move the ball and was unlucky that a few final passes didn't quite go to hand. Rovers ran out comfortable winners.

The second game was against Houghton. Rovers hadn't played Houghton this season so they were a bit of an unknown quantity for the girls. Rovers started like a house on fire and their off loading game, pace and power was too much for Houghton. Bekkah finished off a good team play as did Grace. Rebekah's confidence was growing and couple of strong runs showed the supporters the potential she has.

The forwards worked really well together with close support play and a willingness to get stuck in and do the hard work of securing the ball. Olivia and Ellie were particularly good at this. Ebonni tackled everything that came her and was equally supported by Mia and Amy. Amy once again was all over the place in her new position of flanker and has really adapted well to the switch. Player of the match last week Jay kept her high standards and was a thorn in the side of both opposition teams carrying hard and never missing a tackle. But the team really came alive when the strong ball carrying forwards linked up with the backs and moved the ball. When the backs received the ball with Houghton on the back foot Rovers ran riot. Some of the tries were great examples of support play.

All of the girls contributed to the team and like previous weeks the team spirit and togetherness is starting to show through. There were three players of the match.
Nicole - made a number of last ditch tackles to save certain tries. In attack she ran with intensity and purpose. Also pleasingly made tries for others with an unselfish attitude.
Bekkah - turned up with a dodgy ankle but was determined to play. Tackled bravely, chased down everything, and finished off a number of good team moves to score.
Grace - back in the team after missing last game. Scored a bag full of tries with her electric pace and quick feet but was also strong in defence.

This was one of the best performances from this group and will build confidence ahead of the next fixture.

A big thank you to Stuart for organising and Bishop for hosting. The referees were excellent and the food after top draw.