Match Report | Orkney Dragons v Leith RFC 21-3-26

24/3/2026

Women’s National Plate
Pickaquoy, Saturday 21 March 2026
Orkney Dragons 71, Leith RFC 12

The Dragons kicked off at 3pm and immediately showed intent, with Skye Taylor making a strong early carry. Although possession briefly turned over,

Photo: Orkney Photographic

Freya Laurenson produced a huge moment—turning the ball over on Leith’s try line before making a powerful run.
She linked with Cady Denoon, who made excellent metres, setting up Ealasaid Nicleoid to open the scoring.

Momentum quickly built. A break from Cailynn Williamson created space, feeding back inside to Ealasaid for her second try, with Cailynn adding the conversion. Despite the rain setting in, the Dragons stayed dominant, with Cady continuing to carry hard and the forwards applying pressure deep in Leith territory.

The set piece saw strong involvement from Donna Wilson, Sandra Davey, and Alanna Smith, while Lucy Flett added to the forward dominance around the park. A lineout battle led to Aleisha Womack (Leish) crossing for a try.

Leith’s discipline slipped, resulting in a yellow card after repeated high tackles. The Dragons capitalised immediately—Angela Shearer (Angie) powered over for her first try despite carrying an injury, with Cailynn converting.

There were injury disruptions, with Fay Morrice coming on, but Orkney’s intensity didn’t drop. Hannah Polson was outstanding defensively and got her reward with a try after a great offload from Cailynn, who added the extras. Ealasaid soon added another try to her tally, again converted by Cailynn.

The forwards continued to dominate, with big carries from Cady and strong support from Leish. Angie crossed for her second try—an incredible effort given her injury—though the conversion was missed.

Leith managed to respond with a converted try, but Orkney’s defence held strong. Charis Scott led with outstanding tackles, consistently chopping down attackers, while Sandra shut downplay quickly when needed.

A standout individual moment saw Cailynn break from halfway to score and convert her own try. The first scrum of the game saw the pack—featuring Donna Wilson, Sandra Davey, Alanna Smith, Lucy Flett, Hannah Polson, and Tyla Whitehead —provide a solid platform, with Tyla Whitehead not originally on the team sheet but coming on to put in big hits and contribute to the scrum. Quick hands out the back involving Sara Higgins helped move play wide, eventually leading to another try for Leish.

Leith grabbed a second try late on as fatigue crept in, but the Dragons finished strongly. A flowing move through Angie, Leish, Charis, and Freya ended with Freya scoring under the posts, with Cailynn converting.

From the bench, Antonia Ridell (Shetland) came on to make some big tackles, while Nikita Scollie supported the team throughout, beaming with pride.

Player Highlights: