The Stewartry Sirens faced Hillhead Jordanhill for the fifth time this season on Sunday 19/03/2017 at Greenlaw in the final of the Premiership Development Cup. It was a great day for rugby, and a brilliant turnout along the sidelines showed good support for Castle Douglas’s premiership women’s team.
The first 20 minutes saw a slow start from the Sirens, which allowed Hills three tries taking them to 0-17. Not to be put off, the home team managed to come into the game in the latter stages of the second half, putting a lot of pressure on the opposition’s line and camping out in their 22.
A strong penalty move within the Hills 22 presented a good opportunity for the Sirens, but unfortunately Hills managed to turn the ball over and scored a breakaway try down the pitch.
The Sirens responded with a try of their own, as prop Shannon Nicholson crashed over the line from close range to put the first points on the board for the Castle Douglas side.
This led to a surge in momentum from the Sirens and not long after, a quick penalty from scrum half Claire Manson inside the Hills 22 saw her dance around three defenders to score the Sirens’ second try of the game, taking the score to 14-24 at half time.
The early part of the second half belonged to the home team, who made strong progress forward with winger Claire Steele close to scoring on two occasions as a result of well-worked team moves. The pressure paid off eventually, as fly half Lisa Ritchie put a chip kick through into space for full back Jenny Yates to chase and score in the corner.
Hills replied with another breakaway try against the run of play, taking the score to 19-36, but another short range charge from Nicholson following a good build up of play earned the Sirens their fourth try of the game.
The Sirens were winning the second half comfortably, but unfortunately they were unable to keep the momentum up throughout and in the final 10 minutes Hills proved why they are one of the best teams in the country, scoring three times in quick succession to finish the game off, final score 24-53.
An unfortunate result for the Sirens, but a score line that reflects continued improvement from the side after their first season in the BT Women’s Premiership.
The Sirens’ final home game of the season is against Broughton in the plate semi-final of the Sarah Beaney Cup on 2nd April.
Player of the Match (chosen by Stewartry): Sammy Durnan
Player of the Match (chosen by Hills): Jenny Yates
