A rare weekend off from the league has given our new players a fantastic opportunity to put into practice everything we've been teaching them at training.

Darlington RFC hosted the Durham tens competition which saw 8 development teams from Newcastle down to Bradford play some free flowing rugby. It's great to see so many new women's teams being set up even if some of their tactics was still a bit of old school (finger nails in eyes!!)

Our first game was against the Ba Bas and no doubt the nerves were rushing through the veins of those playing their first game. This didn't show much on the pitch though as we gathered the ball from the kick off, set up a nice ruck and straight away went blind with some fantastic off loading by Louise Partridge and Jen Atkinson to put someone in for the first try (I'm not going to remember everyones trys!). Ba Bas kicked off again and in similar vein, Novos ladies really were showing off the skills learnt in training with fantastic off loading and support (Calum would be proud!). The second try came with a few more phases of play, which meant everyone got to get their hands on the ball. Fanny Fouin converted with a drop kick to take the lead 12-0. A slight error in the managing of the games meant the team conceding the try kicked off, enabling us to get plenty of attacking opportunities allowing another try to finish 17-0.

Second game was against new to the Leagues Acklam. Novos carried on in the same vein and won convincingly 22-0. All players were getting plenty of space to run with the ball with Lauren Gowland showing her pace on the wing. The few times we were defending, our tackling was technically excellent and Jen and Louise in particular were really getting stuck in. Kirsty Nolan was strong in the rucks providing nice clean ball for scrum half Emma Clement who did fantastically well offloading and supporting all day long (however her celebration before scoring her first try for Novos will be severely fined!). Skipper and fly half Cathy Foster distributed the ball brilliantly and my advice to run and avoid contact was clearly heard as the ball was passed out nice and early to allow the wings to dance round the opponents. Cathy also backed herself on several occasions with a great step to score under the posts.

Everyone's confidence was sky high and everyone was beaming come off the pitch. Final pool game was always going to be a tougher competition against a physical Bishop Auckland side. Emily Yarrow provided some great structure to the games and in moments where the game could have got scrappy she took the ball over the gain line and set up ready for the next phase. Sarah Kilby, despite being severley handicapped thanks to free drinks in Flares the night before, linked well by popping the ball from the rucks allowing quick ball for the backs. Unfortunately, we had a couple of serious injuries with Kat Prudders and Claire having to go to hospital. We hope for speedy recoveries. Kat playing in her first ever rugby game had some amazing breaks down the wing and it was clear to see she was loving getting her hands on the ball. Claire too had some nice running lines and always beat 2 defenders before finally being tackled before the try line. The score I think was 2 tries to 1.(to us)

Into the Semi's and with a depleted squad and a niggle from Katy Chamberlain (who carried strongly as ever), we decided to field 9 v Darlington's 10. With this in mind, the girls put their heart and soul in the game and despite leaking a few tries in the first half and then going down to 8 (what a shame I didn't bring my boots!) a stern word at half time resulted in a far better performance in the second half where Darlington only scored one try...not bad with only 8 on the pitch (and Darlo were clearly fielding a few more experienced players!)

All in all a great day of rugby. I'm certainly impressed and proud with everyone who attended. The more experienced girls led brilliantly and took charge which was great to see. Things are certainly looking bright in the Ladies section! And onwards we go, back to the League with a home fixture Sunday 11th October against newbies Northwitch and a development game against Bishop Auckland before hand! The u15 girls are also playing their first game against Blyth at home. Good luck to all! x