Under-18 Bowl Final
Argyll & Bute 106 – 0 Ellon
Argyll & Bute U’18 Girls lifted the Scottish U’18 National Bowl at Murrayfield last Sunday with an Impressive score over Ellon Academy.
The Argyll side made of players from Oban and Tobermory High Schools have never played a full 15 aside fixture together with the majority of their games being friendlies or smaller sided competitive fixtures at local festivals.
Argyll and Bute took control of the match immediately, with Rebecca Sims, Shannon Reynolds, Katy Montgomery, Kitty Raven and Jane Carson all touching down more than once in the first half. This was the result of some fantastic rucking from the Argyll girls and also a steady scrum that gave them the platform to provide the scores that were all finished clinically with considerable pace.
Kelly Lamont added one conversion with some impressive kicking from flanker Hannah Rokitta who added another four through the uprights, giving a score of 52-0 at halftime.
This scoreline was put down as the official score for the final with any second half points not counting towards the eventual outcome.
Argyll started the second period well with Kitty Raven scoring her third of the afternoon. This was followed by a period lasting 10 minutes of the game with some scrappy play from both sides and also a few injuries that let neither team gain any momentum.
The Argyll girls however turned the try machine back on and added another seven tries and five conversions. The tries came from Hannah Rokitta plus three conversions, Kelly Lamont, Shannon Reynolds, Hannah Croucher and Lucy Langford pushing the scoreline to 106-0.
In addition to some more fantastic tries the second half also saw some superb work at the lineout and again at the breakdown showing that the players had all taken in what had been taught to them by their coaches in the build-up to the game.
Credit must go to the Ellon side who battled until the final whistle and also had some impressive periods of play themselves particularly from their back row who provided player of the match, number 8 Emma Waissel.
After the game the players were presented with the U’18 Brewin Dolphin National Bowl in front of the other teams and supporters taking their part in the girl’s final day. This was followed by a series of photographs taken of the team and their coaches Murray Hamilton, Babs Whyte, Dee Bradbury and Allan Wright along with the ball girls from Argyll who were present at the match.
This is a huge achievement for Girls Rugby in the region and has also provided Argyll and Bute with its first ever National Competition Trophy.
Argyll and Bute Team v Ellon Academy.
Julie Campbell (OHS), Shona MacVicar (OHS), Jane Carson (OHS), Ruth MacDonald (TOB), C. Montgomery (TOB), Hannah Rokitta (OHS), Rebecca Sims (OHS), Zoe MacPherson (OHS), Kelly Lamont (OHS), Hannah Croucher (OHS), Katy Montgomery (TOB), Emma Roxburgh (OHS), Kitty Raven (TOB), Shannon Reynolds (OHS), Lucy Langford (TOB), Jessica Fraser (OHS)
