Biggar Ladies land spot in National Shield final
Biggar Ladies ........................ 27 Broughton .............................. 5
BIGGAR Ladies triumphed over Broughton to clinch their National Shield final spot against West of Scotland.
The bright and sunny conditions at the start of the game belied a howling gale which played havoc with handling, and then, as the game wore on, heavy showers tested those supporters who had not been sensible enough to take shelter in the stand.
This was a great advert for the women’s game, however, with both sides doing their bit to entertain the large crowd, with Broughton bringing an enthusiastic travelling support.
Broughton were runners up in the Caledonia East Region League and then winners of their pool in the round robin shield competition.
They had a large pack which tested the Biggar 8 at set piece. Allied to that was their stand off who distributed well throughout, the angles run by the outside backs threatening on several occasions to breach Biggar.
The hosts’ defence was sound, however, and time and again the Broughton runners were brought to a sudden halt as they attacked the Biggar line.
On those occasions when they did get through, the cover defence was up to the mark to prevent Broughton from scoring. Pressure did pay off for the visitors, however, who managed a try in the first half.
An early Biggar try from Gerry
Kimm settled the Biggar nerves a little, although they had to work hard as Broughton came back into the game. Biggar had the lion’s share of possession and made light of the gale which in the first half was in their faces.
The home side’s handling was not as effective, however, with players struggling to adjust to the impact of the wind. Long passes often failed to go to hand and this led to knock-ons and dropped passes.
Broughton had their best spell of the game after half time when they held onto the ball really well, short passes key to maintaining possession and forcing the best out of the home squad.
It was Biggar who eventually opened up a gap, however, to record the 27-point tally. Kicking was a bit of a lottery and so only one conversion found its mark.
This was a great squad effort and the squad can now look forward to a Murrayfield final.
Several of the squad have been to Murrayfield before, some on numerous occasions through age group rugby, so there will be great excitement and anticipation at another visit.
Indeed some of the team will be making their second Murrayfield appearance of the season as they were in the U18 squad which triumphed over Stirling County back in December.
The National Shield final is scheduled for Saturday, April 27, with the kick off time still to be confirmed.
This week: Saturday - 2nds v GHA Inter-city Reserve league (A) KO 3pm.
Sunday - Micros and Minis training, Boys Youth training.