Match Report | Dragons v Aberdeenshire Quines 28-9-19

Tennent's Women's North League (East)
Kirkwall Grammar School -
Saturday 28th September 2019
Orkney Dragons 34, Aberdeenshire Quines 10

On Saturday 28th September the Orkney Dragons faced Aberdeenshire Quines in the Tennent's North League (east). The teams had only met once before in the Sarah Beaney Cup where Orkney came out on top by just one point.
Both teams have evolved quite considerably since then so neither side was sure quite what to expect.

The match kicked off at 12 on the KGS pitch and it was clear both sides were determined to come out hard and fast. The weather conditions meant the ball was quite greasy and this resulted in some handling errors and plenty of scrums. In the beginning Quines’ big  pack had the edge in scrum but the Dragons soon began to thwart the Big Cats’ efforts with Laura Baillie at prop and Florence Ungaro both hooking the Quines’ balls from them.

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The scoring was opened by Dragon Vice Captain Tiphanie Cazaneve followed by Rebecca Scott successfully converted by Nikita Scollie leaving the half time score at 12-0

The second half continued in the same vein with strong aggressive play coming from the forwards, allowing the backs the freedom to run the ball up the pitch.
The Dragons were starting to tire and Aberdeenshire were able to score themselves. Getting back into the game the Orkney Dragons continued to dominate with Emmerleigh Smith crashing over the line to score for the Dragons from a well executed penalty play.
Nikita Scollie spotted a gap and scored followed by Jennifer Scott and Beki Russell. In the final 15 minutes both teams dropped to 14 players due to Aberdeenshire injuries and in the dying minutes the Quines made their second score of the game.

Final score 34-10

Coach Gary Nicolson commented;

“I was extremely pleased with how the team performed. Their hard work and dedication in training is really starting to show. 
We knew that the Quines were going to be tough opposition but with such a strong forward pack I knew that if they could control the phases, it would allow the backs to play good rugby.  Our back line has come on leaps and bounds since the beginning of the season- they really are going from strength to strength. The whole team are really starting to find their stride and I hope we can go on to finish in the top half of the league before the split.”

Queen of the Team awards go to Beki Russell, Laura Baillie and Tiphanie Cazaneve

Thanks to Match day Sponsors Kerr Carpentry and the Dragon Mascot Amelie Kerr. Thanks also to the staff at the KGS, all the supporters and everyone who helped make the day a success.

J.I.