Penrith RUFC U16 Girls 19 v 19 Houghton RUFC 30 4 23

Penrith U16 Girls save their best to last!

The squad had their final match together before the older year move up to U18s and produced their best performance of the season against Durham champions Houghton RUFC.
Although Penrith led 14-0 at half time and 19-7 a determined Houghton side came back well to 19-19 there then followed a frantic nerve wracking 12 mins before the final whistle when all greed a draw was a fitting way to end the season.
There was a large enthusiastic noisy crowd filling the stand – Houghton bringing many supporters with them. The rain was persistent for the first half but faired up as the game progressed.
The standard was excellent, errors occurred but mainly due to some excellent defence from both teams, to be expected when both teams were mainly made up of players involved in the England DPP. Penrith looked sharp from the start, dominating the breakdown and from good counter rucking scrum half Charlotte Harnwell moved the ball right to wing Becca Newby who put centre Caitlin Padgett in space, her pace and power took her clear, she stepped inside and looked clear for a try but a superb cover tackle by Houghton centre brought her down 2m short, Becca had tracked her superbly and took the pop pass to score under the posts, No8 Penny Robinson knocked over the conversion for a 7-0 lead.
From the restart Matilda McTear caught well and weaved her way forward.
Houghton in possession had powerful runners, they were well met as the home team pressed well and worked as a connected unit. Invidually some dominant tackles by centre Evie Holme, Charlotte and back row Lili Thompson – Parry with the hard working 2nd row Lily Salmon cleaning out at nearly every breakdown!
Penrith attacked well with front row Chloe Brown and Neve Winder making ground, fly half Amber Beaty dummied and broke through but sadly the pass to support didn’t stick.
More defence and again a turnover saw Penny feed Charlotte who dummied and broke clear and put Caitlin away, she found Lili in support but good defence put her into touch on their 22m.
The game continued to ebb and flow, very few stoppages with back row Katie Smith ,Penny and Lili assisted by Amber, Chloe and Neve turning over ball and halting Houghton attacks with Evie continuing to relish the big tackles!
The next try came from a messy Penrith scrum. Charlotte managed to get the ball away to Amber she switched blind and fed Penny she made ground before a well timed pass to Caitlin, there was no catching her this time as she stepped the full back to score well - converted by penny for a 14-0 lead at half time.
A fast furious half, both sides with pace, physicality and working well at the breakdown.
Houghton came out strongly in the 2nd half, forcing errors and penalties to get a foothold in the Penrith 22, from a scrum the No8 broke well and offloaded to the scrum half who powered over, converted for 14-7 score.
From the kick off Penrith pressed well and gained a scrum, Penny drove open to the right, from the ruck Charlotte passed to Amber switching back to Lili who made another strong run, from the ruck the ball was passed left to Chloe to run home from 20m, too wide to convert so 19-7.
Straight from the kick off Becca filded well and weaved her way through 2 tackles but the ball came loose in the tackle, their no9 picked up powered through a tackle then stepped full back Eimhear McGrath to score in the corner, too wide for the conversion so 19-12 with 25 mins to go.
Houghton were gaining more territory as their powerful runners were making more metres against a tiring defence. Ambers kicks and good chases were relieving pressure and Eimhear last line of defence came to the rescue on several occasions. Prop Cara Hind made good ground with her carries supported by her front row partner Jess Hodgson.
The pressure told with a yellow card for a high tackle, Houghton immediately scored with their No8 going through a gap, converted for 19-19 with 12 mins to go.
Penrith had some attacks but couldn’t maintain possession and the game ebbed and flowed with Houghton moving the ball to the wide areas so wingers Skye Smith and Sofia Hellevik had to make crucial tackles with replacement forwards Hayley little and Ella Barnett giving their all. The very fast Houghton centre got away on their own 22 and weaved her way forward, Eimhear tackled but couldn’t hold on, Evie showed great fitness to get back with the next attempted tackle before Becca finally got her down metres from the line. Penrith cleared their lines with 2 good kicks and were on the attack but lost possession before experienced referee Martyn Maughan blew the whistle for full time. Phew!

The teams then enjoyed tug of war with what little energy they had left (Houghton the winners!)

Thanks to referee Martyn, U13 parent Helen for bringing the veo, touch judges Sean McGrath & president elect David Snaith, Lilian for the tug of war, Coaches Sean, Nigel, Lee, match reporter Steve and first aid Ryan and all the supporters all appreciated by the girls.

The squad;, Cara Hind Jessica Hodgson, Chloe Brown, Neve Winder, Lily Salmon, Matida McTear,Hayley Little, Ella Barnett, Lili Thompson - Parry ,Katie Smith, Penny Robinson, Charlotte Harnwell, Amber Beaty ,Rebecca Newby, Evie Holme, Caitin Padgett, Skye Smith, Eimhear McGrath, Sofia Hellevik,