Youth Rugby Match Report | U14 Girls Tournament in Aberdeen 27-9-25

On Saturday 27th, the U14s girls travelled alongside the U16s for a tournament at Aberdeen Wanderers.

The Orkney U16s were due to play Garrioch U16s, and Garrioch youth coaches very kindly arranged for all Aberdeen area clubs to join with their U14s so that the two age groups could play alongside.

Aberdeen Wanderers, whose U16s play for the Garrioch team, offered to host. Thank you all for a great day and great hospitality

The U14s had great numbers with 5 teams from 6 clubs. The draw put Orkney girls against Aberdeen Wanderers, Fraserburgh and Ellon/Garrioch.

After a timid start from both teams, captain Aoife Spence was the first to shake off the travel weariness and really put to test the Wandies defence with her speed and great footwork. Following her lead, the rest of the Orkney girls were soon finding gaps through the defense keeping the ball alive with offloads.
Quickly, the girls also identified that the narrow Wandies defense was leaving wide open the wings and started scoring going around the defense, leaving a younger Wanderers team no chance.

After their first win, the Orkney girls were straight into a second game against a mixed Ellon/Garrioch team. The level of rugby immediately went one step up with the two teams having very physical ball carriers.
The Garrioch girls took the upper hand by being able to more consistently take the girls to the ground and being extremely fast to jackal, stealing balls from Orkney hands.
Despite the girls fighting hard and improving their rucking game to balance the teams again, there was not enough time left to recover on the scoreboard and Orkney had to accept defeat.

After a well deserved break the girls were back on the pitch for a final game against Fraserburgh, looking to finish on a high. Learning from their previous game they were the ones this time going for fast jackals and ball steals, which tipped the balance to their side.
With defending becoming more difficult with the tiredness, Fraserburgh's strong ball carriers started to find more frequent gaps in the defense, but with a final effort the Orkney girls managed to keep their advantage, and close the day on a win.

Final results : 2 wins vs Wanderers and Fraserburgh, and 1 loss against Ellon/Garrioch.
Players player: Keira Sinclair Coaches player: Vaila McIntosh

Thank you to Northlink Ferries for their continued travel sponsorship

Photo: Meryl Smith, Aoife Spence, Annie Kenyon, Vaila McIntosh, Morven Dick, Kiera Sinclair, Lucy Reid


T.C.