A brilliant all-round performance saw Workington Zebra Finches advance to the next round of the RFU Junior Women’s Plate as they convincingly defeated Old Brodleians 21-5 at The Ellis, writes John Hastings.
Before kick-off, both teams and the Ellis spectators united for an impeccably observed minute’s silence to mark the fourth anniversary of the passing of former Finches player Nicola Wilson.
Her valuable contribution in the Finches’ early years will always be remembered by all involved with the club.
Workington swamped their opponents half direct from kick off and within ten minutes were 8-0 up.
A Nicole Stewart penalty on three minutes was then followed five minutes later by a well-drilled scrummage which enabled a slick passing routine that was finished off by Georgia Porter, who ghosted in for an unconverted try.
As attack after attack was launched, Old Brodleians to their credit managed to keep the score down with some impressive tackling and tough, no-nonsense defending.
But the West Yorkshire ladies could only withstand the pressure to a certain extent and their rearguard was eventually breached on 22 minutes.
Workington stepped up a level and more excellent passing, allied to nifty movement, led to new recruit Meagan Poynton marking her first appearance in Finches colours with a well-taken try.
By this time, the atrocious weather had ceased and proceedings were enlightened by a rainbow – which was to re-appear later.
Workington continued to dominate with more lightning inroads into opposition territory, as Elsa Whelan, Jodie Morley and Sophie Weir looked especially dangerous.
Once again Old Brodleians managed to weather the storm until half time, only conceding another penalty – smoothly executed by Stewart – a minute before the interval.
The second half began once again with Workington looking livelier and most likely to increase their lead.
But the Halifax visitors were not giving up without a fight and having already made a couple of rare attacks in Finches territory during the first half, began to make regular return visits.
They were deep ones, too, as they got within sight of the try line twice but were thwarted by dogged tackling from Whelan, who looked very comfortable and efficient at full-back.
Workington rode-out the storm and eventually regained control of the match, especially with the introduction of Charlotte Cammack for her first game of the season.
She suffered a serious injury in May which ruled her out of the Cumbria squad and out of the Finches first four matches.
Then on the hour the Finches effectively booked their passage to the next round with their third try.
Another great mix of feisty scrummaging and constructive passing ended with Weir crashing over for an unconverted try.
With a 21-0 lead Workington felt confident enough to close out the game and stifle their opponents, with Kathryn Chesney and Beth Sunderland, in particular, providing no-nonsense resistance.
But Old Brodleians were determined to leave The Ellis with something and on 71 minutes got just that when they capitalised on out of character Finches slackness to grab an unconverted try of their own.
The inclement conditions saw none of the four tries being converted.
Just before full time, another rainbow appeared – but on the final whistle it was Workington who claimed the pot of gold in the form of a visit in the next round to Scarborough Valkyries on 13th November.
But before that, it’s back to league action at The Ellis this Sunday as they host Sunderland Flames.
