Having been losing finalists three times in the previous three years, the girls from Tynedale headed off to Bullocksteads for this year's competition with great determination. Omens were good, with only five teams entered there would be no final as the teams all played each other and the winners would be decided on points.
Tynedale Vs Cockermouth
The game started with Tynedale chasing the kick off with good strong tackling by Heather Hardy, Rosie Dickinson and Rachel Coffey getting possession back for Tynedale. After some good work from Amy Livesey the ball was fed to Chloe Graham who found a gap and burst through to score the first try of the day. The try settled the team down to playing controlled rugby and the forwards kept the ball for a few phases, Sarah Hogg and Nicola Jameson always in the action.
The next try came after four successive rucks with Amy Livesey spinning the ball to Sarah Williams who darted through a gap and passed on to Charlotte Telfer, who plucked the low ball from her toes. Charlotte's run drew a defender and she passed out to Lottie Gilhespy to show real pace and run in the second try. At half-time, changes were made to give all squad members a feel of the ball. The consistency of play showed the whole squad working as one, coping well with the player changes. Sarah Williams showed her footwork making space for herself to ghost in for the third score. The final score saw Emily Cessford doing some good work out on the left wing and when the ball went back inside, Charlotte Telfer made a nifty dart for the line being stopped by a brave tackle but she managed to pass out of the tackle to Nicola Jameson who with a big hand off was over the line. Sarah Graham converted three times to make the score 26-0.
Tynedale Vs Morpeth
Next up were Morpeth the favourites to win the competition. Morpeth had only managed to draw in their first game against Darlington Mowden Park, and came at Tynedale from the start only to be met by the mighty Tyne forwards who never gave an inch of ground all day, Elizabeth Kaiser and Rachel Coffey doing an immense amount of tackling. When Morpeth tried to run the ball in through the backs, the big hits kept on coming with Ruth Todd and Megan Lamb outstanding and with Juliet Short lurking at fullback like a shark patrolling the beach, there was no real chances even though both teams were flat out for the full 20 minutes. Tynedale knew a draw would keep them ahead over all and with the crowd almost as breathless as the players, the final whistle went.
Tynedale Vs Darlington Mowden Park
The other danger team awaited the Panthers and with only a brief rest it was back into battle. It seemed as if the previous Morpeth game had taken its toll on the team and it was nearly half time before they started to get a bit of control and rhythm. In the second half the forwards got cranked up starting to make some good ground, driving forwards with the ball, Sarah Hogg looking calm, her short-fuse temper under wraps for the day led the pack, with Amy Livesey expertly steering play from the base of the scrum giving the backs some room to run. With Sarah Williams, Chloe Graham and Juliet Short the Panthers have three of the most exiting runners in the country and it was only a matter of time before they would break through. With the Darlington forwards engaged in trying to stop another strong drive by Nicola Jameson, Amy Livesey spotted an all-important opportunity to spin the ball to Sarah Williams, to feed Chloe Graham whose power and pace saw her score under the posts. With Sarah Graham converting, there was no way back for Darlington. Tynedale Panthers defence held out for a 7-0 final score.
Tynedale Vs Percy Park/Gosforth Angels
In the final game the Panthers were able to relax and play some great running rugby giving some of the younger squad members a chance to show what they can do against a big combined side. The Panthers needed to win this game to pick up the Cup and coaches Pete Telfer and James Johnson showed great confidence in the talented youngsters leaving six players on the sidelines that currently represent the North East region. It took a few minutes to gel but a couple of great runs from Harriet Chapman playing at scrum half and looking as if she had been there for three seasons not just three games, got Tyne on the attack. Some good work from Rebecca Holliday and Emily Cessford saw the ball arrive in the hands of Grace Towler with an eye for a gap and pace to spare, Grace left the Park defence for dead to score a great try. Chloe Graham soon followed her over the try line not bothering to go around the defence just blasting straight through for try number two. The feature of the game in the second half was the superb way the forwards returned the ball back after the restarts with Becky Mortimer outstanding catching the ball and driving back or knocking down often two or three of the opposition before passing on to Lottie Gilhespy or Rosie Dickinson who were always in support. Becky played the whole game with a later x-rayed broken hand from the earlier Morpeth game which makes her performance all the more remarkable. This hard work by the forwards was creating space for the backs to show excellent running and handling skills. The Panthers notched up three more tries through Grace Towler Juliet Short and Chloe Graham with four conversions from Sarah Graham and never having their line crossed the whole tournament, Tynedale won 31-0.
The squad thoroughly deserved this win working so hard all season. To bring the season to a close, the Panthers are playing an exhibition game on the 1st May at Tynedale Park KO 1.00 with trips to Darlington for their last league game and an end of season 7s tournament on the 8th and 15th respectively.
Cockermouth Vs Tynedale Panthers
On a fine Sunday morning, Tynedale Panthers U14s, made their debut appearance at the North East Girls Cup Championship, which was held at Bullocksteads. After some good handling, the ball went wide to Janey Eccles who used her pace to put Tynedale in the lead by scoring the first try. Cockermouth swiftly replied with a try of their own to make the scores level. Tynedale's agility and superior ball skills proved too much for their opponents with tries from Amanda Gray, Anna Fergus, Catherine Dixon and Naomi Todd.
The final score ended with a victory to Tynedale 7 tries to 5.
Tynedale Panthers Vs Darlington
With Darlington scoring first, it didn't look good for the Panthers. Strong tackling from Naomi Todd and Anna Fergus gave Tynedale confidence. A knock on by Darlington meant that Tynedale could capitalize on the situation and did so by scoring a well-crafted try through Anna Fergus. The sides were pretty even but the Tynedale girls won again by a singe try in the dying moments of the game.
Percy Park Angels Vs Tynedale Panthers
With a strong start from Percy Park Angels who scored a try within the first 20 seconds though the game was going to be easy, however they did not rattle the Tynedale girls. With great encouragement from Amanda Gray and determination in defence from Naomi Todd, the Tynedale squad quickly brought the Angels back to earth. Tynedale quickly took control of the game with strong running from Catherine Dixon, Janey Eccles and Anna Fergus made the score 7 tries to 4 at half time. The Angels didn't give up without a fight and scored 3 very good tries at the start of the second half. The two Morpeth players that Tynedale had to borrow through injury made an outstanding contribution in every game by adding to the Panthers score sheet. The final score ended 13 tries to 7.
Tynedale Panthers Vs Morpeth
The final game was between Tynedale and Morpeth with both sides winning all their games. Morpeth being the stronger side due to Tynedale injury crisis and the fact they had to borrow players, the outcome was inevitable with Morpeth winning 10 tries to 2. Tynedale girls showed Great Spirit by playing hard and pushing Morpeth to the final whistle. Had they been full strength the score might have been somewhat different. We look forward to seeing them play again in the future at full strength. Well-done girls!!
Tynedale Panthers Under 17s travelled to Jedburgh RFC on Wednesday night to play the Scottish team The Borders, and local rivals, Morpeth.
During the break Tynedale strengthened the team bringing on Rebecca Holliday and Becky Mortimer on the wings, Emily Cessford and Rosie Dickinson bringing fresh legs in the pack, and Amy Livesey resuming her position behind the scrum. The second half was fast and furious as both teams were eager to get a second try. Tynedale managed to keep the ball in the attacking half for the majority of the second half and came together as a cohesive team to play an extraordinary half of rugby. With three minutes until the final whistle, the Tynedale side found themselves with a scrum, ten metres from the try line. Scrum half Amy Livesey took the ball in herself and popped it up to Chloe Graham to storm through the gap and score Tynedale's second try.
Excellent defence by the high-spirited Tynedale side with Rebecca Holliday and Becky Mortimer putting in some strong tackles, held the Morpeth power in check to the final whistle.
The girls from Tynedale were in top gear from the opening whistle on Sunday against a side from Alnwick which had arrived with only 10 players.Tynedale gave Alnwick four of their strong players to even up the sides, but, within three minutes the swift hands of the Tynedale back row and a solid run from Ruth Todd had got the ball out to Sarah Williams who surged forward to score the opening try.
The next five minutes saw constant pressure from Tynedale, with Sarah Graham and Chloe Graham combining intuitively to constantly confound a struggling Alnwick side even with the borrowed Tynedale girls strengthening their ranks. A forward pass by Tynedale gave Alnwick the ball, but a clumsy drop left a loose ball, deftly picked up by Emily Cessford playing her first full game for Tynedale. After running straight at the opposition Emily passed a superb ball out to Chloe Graham whose unbeatable speed and strength resulted in Tynedale's second try. Sarah Graham expertly converted in high, gusty winds to bring the score to 12-0 in eight minutes.
With a few late straggler spectators still arriving in the car park it looked doubtful if they would see much play with new county rules calling a halt to games once the score reaches a difference of 35 points. An accurate fast ball from scrum half Amy Livesey saw Megan Lamb and Sarah Williams combining their speed and agility to touch down another score for Sarah Williams under the posts. Sarah Graham again showed the visiting team her kicking prowess by converting.
Solid tackles and co-ordinated play from Amy Livesey, Nicola Jamieson and Ruth Todd meant that Tynedale continued to dominate, with ball passed swiftly out to Becca Holiday, having her first run out for Tynedale, and adding yet another sprinting winger to the squad. The first half had been very much a backs game, but the second half saw a change in the play with the Tynedale forwards coming into their own. Strong play from Sarah Hogg, Charlotte Telfer, Anna Murray, Lotte Gilhespie, Nicola Jamieson, Rosie Dickinson and Megan Robinson throughout the half meant that several times the scrum had to be called back as their superior power pushed the Alnwick scrum back further than the allowed 1.5 metres.
Another change of players to refresh the Alnwick side meant that Grace Towler and Harriet Chapman returned to the Tynedale side, both immediately adding their speed and agility to the backs. The forwards continued to push on and were rewarded by an excellent try from Anna Murray who surged over an Alnwick pack to put the ball down. As the scoreline reached 22-0, the play was disrupted again with another change in players in an attempt to lift a somewhat dispirited Alnwick. With some Tynedale players still settling back into position, Alnwick managed to touch down a ball for their first and only try of the game, the try ironically being scored by borrowed Tynedale flying winger Megan Lamb. However, Tynedale settled back to the task with Amy Livesey calmly continuing to control play from the back of the scrum, ordering the back line and calming the forwards to settle the pace.
Anna Murray scored another magnificent try after blazing her way through the Alnwick pack. Grace Towler and Megan Robinson also ran in tries in the last 15 minutes of play, with Megan stylishly plucking the ball out of the air from a wayward Alnwick pass. In the last few minutes, Ruth Todd finished what had been her best performance so far this season with a well deserved try to round up a magnificent score for the Tynedale squad.
Tynedale’s first game of the season started in the best possible way with a try in the first minute of the game.Westoe kicked the ball straight to Sarah Hogg who set the tone for the game by running straight at Westoe’s advancing pack. The ball was passed along Tynedale’s notoriously fast back line and a speeding cross field run and subsequent try from full back Sarah Williams, opened the score.
The ball was magnificently converted in high winds by fly half Sarah Graham.
Tynedale’s second try came six minutes later from Tynedale’s scrum half and captain Amy Livesey after a neat step through on the blind side and a 30 yard run which Westoe couldn’t match. The experienced and strong Westoe side picked themselves up and gathered force, but staunch defending and excellent tackling from the whole squad meant that Westoe were continually frustrated even when they were just yards away from the try line.
During the second half, Westoe did manage to break through twice to score two tries, but no conversions, kicking into the ever-increasing gales.
The speed, agility and determination of Grace Towler on the Tynedale wing gave her two tries. The wing was further strengthened by the pace of Harriet Chapman who looks set to have a fine season with her sure ball handling and weaving runs. Outside centre Chloe Graham spent her trademark game putting in tackles and blazing past the opposition to put the game even further out of Westoe’s reach with her try.
Ruth Todd and Juliet Short took the forwards’ approach to scoring their tries by tearing through the centre of the Westoe pack, ably assisted by the strong and proactive forwards Anna Murray and Megan Robinson.
Sarah Graham and Nicola Jameson placed four conversions between them in strong gusty winds.
Rosie Dickinson and Lottie Gilhespy came on as forward replacements in the second half showing that Tynedale have built a strong, focused squad through their summer training, Even Megan Lamb suffering from flu demanded 20 minutes’ play and came on to disrupt Westoe’s play with her strong running down the wing.
Congratulations to Emily Cessford for her first run out for the Panthers, the newest member of the team adding to the stock of fast wingers at Tynedale.
The squad was Front row: Sarah Hogg, Megan Robinson, Anna Murray, Lottie Gilhespy: Second row: Nicola Jameson, Juliet Short, Rosy Dickinson; Half backs: Amy Livesey (Capt) and Sarah Graham: Backs: Megan Lamb, Ruth Todd, Chloe Graham, Harriet Chapman, Sarah Williams, Grace Towler and Emily Cessford.