Following that heart-breaking and highly controversial defeat at Lancaster last Sunday, it was undiluted glee for Workington Zebra Finches as they reached their third successive RFU Community Plate Final, writes John Hastings.
In a complete and absorbing 80 minutes, the Finches overcame a determined Harpenden 22-15 at The Ellis to set up a date at Worcester on May 17 against Devon side Okehampton.
Having won the RFU League 2 South Midlands Championship with a 100% record, Harpenden arrived with quiet confidence, but it was Workington who dominated proceedings right from the opening whistle with swift surges into their opponents’ half.
The Finches’ dominance was finally rewarded after 10 minutes as a series of drives ended with prop Codey Johnston charging her way through to crash down for an unconverted try.
Five minutes later, the lead was doubled when after been blocked off at one corner, a snappy passing exchange was followed by a short punt that found Megan Donald, who ruthlessly snaffled the ball and stormed into the corner for her 18th try of the season – and her last at The Ellis as she is leaving at the end of the season to study at Gloucester University.
Harpenden finally began to play from the restart as they made the first inroads into Finches territory and it was Caitlin Pidgeon who picked the defence’s lock by sprinting clear before offloading to Lily Hughes who touched down unopposed to halve the deficit as their try went unconverted.
But Workington were soon back in control, with wingers Megan Donald and Caitlin Jenkinson always looking dangerous, as well as the half-back alliance of captain Juliet Porter and Stacey Carruthers always alert and prepared to punish when necessary, while the new centre duo of Megan Mayhew-Beach and Beth Sunderland instantly clicked with the perfect mix of attack and defence
On 25 minutes, it was Porter who applied the final punishment as she finished of a smart pass and move to clinch her 20th try of the season and thus reach 100 points. This time, the conversion was calmly dispatched by Donald.
The lead could have been extended as Workington again swamped the visitors’ half, but Harpenden weathered the storm and although they had their own moments in attack, they were content to close out the first half with a view on making an impression after the break.
And that is exactly what they did from the start as they pinned Workington into their own half with a mix of strong drives and pacy attacks – especially by Caitlin Pidgeon, her sister Annabel and Ella Whytock – before hitting the jackpot on 44 minutes as Nancy Harrison exploited slack marking to cruise home, but once again conversion came there none.
Workington regrouped quickly and from the restart began another spell of dominance as short, probing runs turned into fully fledged attacks – with Lottie Cammack, Megan Mayhew-Beach, Donald and Porter all on top form – and on 52 minutes Porter found Lauren Coulson, who marked her comeback from injury to score her 7th try in just 7 games this season.
Once again, no conversion followed and with the score at 22-10, Workington were determined to clinch at least one more try that would wrap up the game, but Harpenden’s defensive cordon held firm and solid against incredible pressure in both scrummaging and open play.
Then five minutes from time, the ladies from Hertfordshire produced a sucker punch that Muhammad Ali would have been proud of as a quick pass and go caught the Finches off-guard and it was Claudia Holmes who produced an elementary run to nip in under the posts for a fine try – but incredibly the conversion kick hit the post and bounced away to safety.
With only seven points the difference, the closing five minutes felt like treble that as Workington were determined to close out the game by grinding down Harpenden and pressuring them into knock-ons, along with solid tackling and powerful drives – especially from Sally Fenwick, who indeed was excellent with her ball control in open play throughout the game.
The final whistle triggered cries of joy from the Finches players and loud cheers from the home crowd as the reality of a third Final in a row swiftly sunk in.
Among the spectators were the mayor and mayoress of Workington, plus members of the women’s mental health group Nic’s Voices of Hope, created and named in memory of former Finches player Nicola Wilson.
Workington now meet Okehampton, who hammered Windsor 100-10 in the other semi-final and have just been crowned RFU League 2 South West Champions.
