All aboard the party bus

Hartlepool Rovers u18s made the long trip to Morpeth with 13 players due to family commitments and injuries and came away with a fine 31-17 victory after a hard fought physical game. With the hosts only able to field 9 players, Adele and Rebecca sportingly agreed to guest for Morpeth to allow for even numbers in the first half.

Rovers started very well, and pressure on Morpeth caused the home side to concede a penalty which Grace took quickly to race through from thirty yards to score under the posts, with Ellie converting. Morpeth were quick to respond as their physical pack turned Rovers ball over and despite some last ditch tackling, the scores were level at 7-7 after fifteen minutes. Rovers very definitely had a fight on their hands up front as Morpeth showed great ability at counter rucking and regaining possession but it was Rovers who grabbed the next try as the two centres combined to make a tackle, with Amy's superb work allowing Grace to regain the possession and use her pace to restore Rovers' lead, with Ellie's trusty left boot adding the extras yet again.

It was a real battle amongst the forwards, with Rovers giving as good as they got with some great tackling from Sophie and Abbie, and brilliant strong running from Jay and captain Libby. Bekkah made two great breaks when the ball was fed out along the backs and was unfortunate to be tackled when tries looked likely Great rucking then allowed Mia to fire the ball to Ellie, who fed fullback Nicole, who sliced through the Morpeth defence and again score under the posts. Ellie added yet another conversion in a nerveless first half display of kicking to make the score 21-7 to rovers at the break.

Inevitably, Morpeth were going to enjoy a spell of possession and with Abbie and Olivia swapping shirts to assist the hosts, Rovers suffered a slight dip in intensity and a very fit Morpeth side were able to add two unconverted tries to drag the score back to 21-17. This Rovers side, however, have learnt to manage games much better this season and after a brilliant series of rucks and some ferocious tackling from Olivia and Amy, Adele responded quickest to make good ground and feed Ellie who stormed over in the corner for a great team try.

As so often this season, Rovers second half performance seals victory. It took them a while to get to grips with Morpeth's strong counter rucking, but by the last quarter the reduced Rovers scrum was absolutely dominating. Rebecca, back in the Rovers colours for the second half, produced her most confident display yet with a couple of great carries and some fearsome tackling. The Rovers pack forced yet another penalty, and a tired Morpeth side were unable to prevent a rampant Sophie from powering a quickly taken tap penalty over from forty yards to seal a well deserved 31-17 win.

Another very pleasing performance and result for the u18s, who are quickly becoming a very tight knit team. They showed a very resilient team spirit to weather the Morpeth storm early in the second half and from the sidelines we felt it was only a matter of time before the girls responded. It was a mature performance with every one contributing with and without the ball. Particular credit must go to the girls who volunteered to play for Morpeth, showing that they understand the spirit of the game at this level, but it was brilliant to see our three newer girls, Rebecca, Olivia and Adele really growing into the team. Adele showed some great hands and real strength to set up Ellie's try, Olivia's speed to the breakdown was fantastic and she made some brave tackles, while Rebecca improves with every appearance.

Major thanks must go to Morpeth RUFC who made us very welcome and played the game with superb spirit throughout, and to the very vocal parental support.

ALL ABOARD THE PARTY BUS !!