Second half comeback seals U16 trophy win
STIRLING COUNTY ................................ 32 EAST LOTHIAN ....................................... 17
Stirling County’s under 16 girls came back from 17-10 to win the Scottish National U16 Girls Cup Final at Murrayfield on Sunday.
They ran in two early tries but their opponents scored three times to lead only for the County girls to up their efforts with four more tries to seal the win.
After a slightly nervy start on both sides, County’s Ella Gibbons opened the scoring, swiftly followed by one from Charlotte Heath, who saw an opportunity from a tap and go penalty.
Almost on the stroke of half-time, East Lothian fly-half Emily Love made it through the County defence to bring the score to 10-5.
The first 10 minutes of the second half had the Stirling County supporters with their hearts in their mouths as East Lothian twice made it through a struggling defence, and Emily Love (who would later be awarded Player of the Match) converted the second, bringing the score to 17-10.
As the East Lothian coaches bowed to the crowd, however, the Stirling County girls picked themselves up. A try from winger Ella Crozier saw her power through four tackles before stretching for the line and placing the ball down. This seemed to give the rest of the team a much-needed boost as less than five minutes later, centre Niamh Robertson-jack crossed the line and then Gibbons bagged her second.
Minutes before full-time Robertsonjack made a run from 30 metres out and scored her second under the posts making the conversion for captain and fly-half Emily Forsyth an easier prospect.
Speaking at full-time, an emotional head coach Joey Crozier said: “I am overjoyed at the result but what makes me proudest is the resilience that these players showed when they went down at the start of the second half.
“Coming back after that took maturity and strength that only comes from knowing your whole team is capable and willing to work together. Hopefully, this is something they can use outside of rugby too.
“They are a fantastic group to be involved with, I hope this is just the next step in their rugby journey.”
Stirling County: M Walker; E Crozier, N Robertson-jack, J Fletcher, E Spiers; E Forsyth, C Heath; A Hannigan, Z Pike, M Lidbetter, D Morrison, G Thomson, E Gibbons. Subs: R Mackenzie, F Mahoney, P Poole, E Sansom, O Izon, S Haddow, K Grieve.