Penrith U13 Girls enjoy 3rd Cumbria Festival at Kendal RUFC

Penrith travelled to Kendal for the 3rd Cumbria Girls festival with several Yorkshire teams also invited we had some new opposition.
Like the other squads Penrith had a mixture of experienced players and some playing their first game in the squad of 16. We welcomed Sarah Rothwell for her 1st game of the season and Rebecca Newby back from a dance cruise!
They enjoyed 3 competitive games of 12 a aside, 15 mins each way against Netherall, Wharfedale/North Ribblesdale and Burnley/Kirkby Lonsdale.
Thanks to Kendal RUFC for excellent organisation as hosts.

The first game was against Netherall we took an early lead, Netherall came back well then we ran in 3 good tries to win 10-7. Penrith had a good start, positional roles being introduced in training helped with moving the ball to space through Capt Charlotte Harnwell at scrum half and Amber Beaty as fly half/playmaker.
Lelia Robinson weaving run saw her break through to pass to Amber to score first. Lily Thompson- Parry showed her pace to score after several phases and good off loading. Lily then helped set up a try for Sofia Hellivik in the corner and Leila scored after a determined run.
Rebecca showed good footwork to finished impressively in support after Katie Smith had caught a kick well and made a length of the field run from fullback. Lily added a 2nd after fine run and superb pass round the back of the tackler from Chloe Brown.
Try scorers - Amber (4) Lily (3) Sofia, Rebecca and Lelia.

The 2nd match proved a step up in physicality against Wharfedale and North Ribblesdale combined squad. The match finished 4 – 8. The team played well but it should be mentioned Wharfedale have an outstanding player, she scored 6 or 7 of their tries and didn’t play the full game! The opposition competed well at the breakdown an area the girls are still working on and were strong maulers so keeping possession was more difficult.
When they did keep the ball they scored 4 fine tries by Amber, Lily, Charlotte and Sofia. 1st try was finished strongly by Amber after direct running by Sofia. Good defence by Jess Graham, Keira Robinson and Sofia forced a turnover for Lily to score then Sofia made a fine run up the wing to score. The final try was the best of the day with Sofia half break before passing inside to Amber who made ground and passed inside to Charlotte to drive through the cover defenders to score.

The final match was a disappointing 7-0 loss to a combined Burnley/Kirkby Lonsdale squad.
The opposition had some elusive runners and mauled well. Probably due to tiredness the girls lost any shape in attack and defence and it ended with lots of mauls going nowhere!
The highlight being some fine last ditch tackling from Katie, one of which was the most aggressive of the day to save a try. The girls never gave up and tried for an elusive try but it didn’t come.

Coach comments.
Individual skills have progressed and team organisation improved especially in the first game.
At training we will continue to work on the tackle area and what happens next especially for the girls who have just started.
Individual player notes.
Charlotte- more involved at scrum half, distributed well and ran with more confidence gaining ground. Led the team well.
Katie- fine all round game, excellent tackling at fullback, positioned well for kicks and made several strong runs.
Jess – carried strongly and worked hard in defence.
Amber – organised team well at fly half, tackled well and made a lot of ground with her runs.
Summer – passed well and avoided contact.
Lexie - good passing to space and made some tackles!
Lelia – more involved this week with strong mauling, turnovers at the breakdown, tackles and runs.
Keira – strong in the tackle holding up the ball carrier several times.
Hope - ran forwards, gaining confidence.
Scarlett – enthusiastic tackler, good ball retention and awareness of positioning in defence.
Lily – great runs at pace and cover tackling.
Sofia – strong running, kicking and tackling game.
Chloe – good breaks, amount of tackles increasing with each game, offload pass to Lily to score the pass of the day.
Sarah – good support play, great start for 1st game of the season
Evie- passed well and covered well in defence.
Rebecca – excellent tackles often try saving on the wing and good running including a fine try.

We now look forward to hosting the 4th Cumbria Festival at Penrith on Sun 24th November 1.30pm kick off.
Any girls interested in playing please email Nigel - n.beaty@sky.com
Squad
Charlotte Harnwell (Capt) Katie Smith, Jess Graham, Amber Beaty, Summer Goodwin, Lexie Clark, Leila Robinson, Keira Robinson, Hope Weir, Scarlett Turnbull, Lili Thompson- Parry, Sofia Yanes-Hellivik, Chloe Brown, Sarah Rothwell, Evie Lightburn, Rebecca Newby.
Water girl - Jessica Branstone.
Match reporter – Steve Harnwell
Team Photographer – Lindsey Robinson
Team Manager/First Aid – Audrey Turnbull
Touch Judge – Andrew Turnbull