Come Ashore Cup - Women’s Sevens 1-6-24

On Saturday 1st of June the Orkney Dragons travelled to Caithness RFC for the annual “Come Ashore Cup” event incorporating the Caithness Krakens 7s tournament.

Caithness had very kindly arranged the fixtures so that Orkney could travel over on the mid morning Hamnavoe.

The event was in full swing when the team arrived at Millbank in fantastic summer sunshine where it was boots on and straight on the pitch for their first game against Caithness Green.

Caithness fresh from their National Plate triumph gave the Dragons a fast lesson in the slick running rugby we saw them produce earlier in the year at the Orkney 7s. The Dragons didn’t really have much to reply with as they struggled to retain possession and adjust to 7s game tactics so Caithness were able to run out clear winners.

Next Orkney faced Dundee and by this time they were firing on all cylinders with their 7s heads firmly screwed on. New Dragon talent Aliesha Womack found she could make ground, not just through kicking but by trusting her ability to carry and dodge the opposition. Support play was much improved and scores went on the board with the game ending in a draw.

Orkney continued to gel as the day went on with their improvements bringing a 25-5 win against Caithness Yellow.

Their last game was against Grangemouth and although they didn’t pull off another victory they scored tries with the last score of the game coming off a scrum to Tiphaine Cazaneve who ran in the try before the scrum fully dismantled.

Grangemouth went on to narrowly lose out to Caithness Green in the final ending a spectacular day of women’s 7s.

Try scorers for Orkney were Aliesha Womack (top try scorer) Tiphaine Cazaneve Hannah Cursiter Donna Wilson Jackie Chan and Jo Inkster.

Thank you to Caithness RFC for hosting such a worthwhile event and for providing transport to and from the ferry, to Northlink Ferries for their sponsorship and to the Orkney players who helped out Grangemouth, in true rugby spirit when they were short of players.

Orkney Dragons 7s Squad: Emma Staunton, Sandra Davey, Nikita Scollie, Donna Wilson, Hannah Cursiter, Aliesha Womack, Florence Ungaro, Tiphaine Cazaneve, Jackie Chan, Jo Inkster

Tojo