Finals day is here and the team were about to face the extremely good Old Northamptonians U16 Girls. This was always going to be a hard match but would provide some much needed competition. This was the best match the U16 girls played this season, it was anyone's game right until the end with both sides showing their skills with strong defence, massive tackles, numerous turnovers, moments of individual brilliance, and fantastic teamwork. The lead changed multiple times and at no point did either team back down and resign themselves to losing the game.

First Half

Old Northamptonians kicked off and immediately put Gosford under pressure with a strong and sustained attack. They managed to remain in possession for an extended period forcing Gosford to defend. Despite the constant attack Gosford held firm with Taia, Lily and Sophie putting in key tackles to keep ON from breaking through. Despite several phases of pressure, Gosford forced a turnover through aggressive counter-rucking and began their attack.

A brilliant break from Bethany saw her run down the touchline before being forced into touch. Gosford continued to build pressure, forcing mistakes from ONs. After a sustained period inside the 22, the ball was worked wide through Bella, Taia, and Eve, but a knock-on close to the line denied the opening score.

After a period of attack where both both teams displayed control and patience, a great pass from Monica set up Bella, who finally broke the deadlock with a try. The conversion was missed, but Gosford took the lead (0-5).

Old Northamptonians responded strongly, using their powerful forwards to gain territory. Despite excellent defensive work from Lola, Lily, Taia and Bethany, ONs eventually crashed over the line to level the score (5-5).

After another long period of attack from ON's and with halftime approaching Gosford secured the ball and started their run up the pitch. A well worked move involving Sophie, Lucy, and Monica ended with Monica finishing in style, putting Gosford back in front. Lucie added the conversion, and Gosford took a (5-12) lead into halftime.

Second Half
Gosford restarted the second half and kept possession, Taia broke through multiple defenders from the kickoff, and with some amazing handling from Sophie, Alyce, and Monica space was created for a try, but unfortunately the final pass went to ground.

ONs capitalized with a turnover and quickly went on the attack. They pushed deep into Gosford’s 22 and eventually powered over for a try. A successful conversion levelled the score at (12-12). ONs had the momentum now and broke through again to take the lead for the first time in the game (12-17). Gosford lost Lily for a period, which was a big lose from the scrum and the overall Gosford defence. With Gosford tyring from prolonged periods of defence ON's stuck again bringing the score to (12-24) after the successful conversion.

At this point it would have been easy for the Gosford heads to go down as they were behind against a strong team and were tired from defencing for long periods. But that didn't happen the team rallied and showed how good they are and how well they function as a team. Alyce intercepted a loose pass, and started a move from Eve to Lily and then to Izzy who made massive ground before offloading to Eve who finished in the corner for a fantastic team try (17-24). The game was back on!

With both teams sore and tired Gosford managed push through and score again. Off the restart, Monica linked up with Eve and Bella who broke multiple tackles to get over the line for the equalizer (24-24), with Lucie making the conversion, leaving the scores tied with just minutes left.

With less than two minutes on the clock, both teams were pushing for the win. ONs launched a threatening attack, but a huge defensive stand on the line from Gosford kept them out. A pass from ONs was intercepted by Izzy, who broke away and linked with Eve who showed her phenomenal pace to cross the line, scoring the winning try in a very tense game. Lucie made the conversion to seal the win with the final score (24-31).

Final Score: Gosford 31 – Old Northamptonians 24

Tries:
Bella x 2
Eve x 2
Monica x 1

Conversions:
Lucy x 3

Thanks to Steve for the amazing photos. The album is available here

This was the final game of the season and what a game it was. This game showed just how well these ladies can play and what a fantastic team sprit they have. I would like to give my thanks to the coaches who have turned these ladies into the best performing team in Oxfordshire.