Guildford/Camberley U14s 27 vs Barnes U14s 5

Guildford Rugby Club

Guildford/Camberley U14s 27 vs Barnes U14s 5 - match report, 090225

GUILBERLEY SHOW CONTROL & MATURITY IN RETURNING TO WINNING WAYS IN THE CUP

On Sunday 9th February, Guilberley (Guildford Grizzlies/Camberley U14s girls cluster = Guilberley) played Barnes in round 2 of the Surrey Cup. It's fair to say 2025 has been a bit of a slow burner with the girls yet to reach the levels shown in the first half of the season. Round 1's heavy defeat away at the top seeds could have played on the minds of the U14s as we faced the team we beat by a single try in the plate final back in September at the county value's festival. However, with the pack reminded before kick-off of their responsibility to keep things simple, retain the ball and show control around the break down, the first play of the match provided all present with a reminder of just how good this team is when they get things right.

Forcing a turnover from kick off on our own 10m line, Guilberely settled beautifully into their patterns of attack. What followed was a 17 phase attack which included strong carries from the entire front 5, both Lily's in the centre and the ever impressive Milly deployed at 7 again for the morning, until Barnes simply ran out of tacklers leaving a gap on the blind side spotted by Amberley who fed our captain Sophia P to score in the corner.

With the players clearly focused and energised by their start, they were soon back into the groove, retaining the ball through multiple phases with the Barnes players being run ragged and unable to get any possession. Playing a penalty advantage following another dominant scrum, the backs showed great skill to swing the ball left to right allowing our newest signing Emily to turn on the afterburners and head for the corner. A superb cover tackle by the Barnes 15 stopped her just short of the line but as the ruck formed the ball spilt loose and it was Emily again who was quickest to react and reached over for a 10 - 0 lead. The dominance continued with Barnes failing to enter the Guilberley half for the remainder of the first period and credit must be given to their continued scramble defence which kept them in the game. However, we were now starting to see more and more dominant carries from Evie, Tilda, Maya and most pleasing, our fabulous hooker Darcey who had that look back in her eyes which meant stopping her today was not going to be easy! And so it proved as we neared half time and some quick hands from Sophia B, (who gets a special mention for covering a depleted front row owing to injuries despite it being anything other than her preferred position) allowed Darcey to score under the posts. Converted by Lily F., the girls went in for oranges 17-0 up. Experience of playing in this team for 3 years now, meant the players themselves delivered the half time chat, focusing on maintaining intensity and accuracy.

In the second half, with Guilberley attacking the half that had seen no action to date yet still resembled a mud rink, the players delivered. Time and time again, Evie, Tilda, Sophia P, Milly and the two Lily's made significant hard yardage through a defence that refused to buckle. On 3 separate occasions Barnes held us up over the line, before another storming run by our towering 2nd row Evie saw her score with numerous defenders on her back. A consolation and well-deserved breakaway try for Barnes came in the final 10 minutes as once again, they had had little to no possession in the 2nd half so was just rewards for their efforts. Fittingly, the final try came from our smiling Darcey who was once again on hand to crash over under the posts following multiple phases and outstanding support play to round off an outstanding 27 - 5 victory.

Next week the team play a development fixture against Old Reigatians at Guildford before back-to-back cup matches against Dorking and Cobham. It's fair to say that the U14's are very much back in the hunt for more silverware this season.

Jay Wilcox

U14's Girls Head Coach

Camberley RFC

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