After beating Somerset last month, Devon’s U18s girls travelled to Cornwall for their second fixture of County games.
Last year the two sides were very evenly matched with Devon just sneaking an additional try over the line so the game was set to be quite the contest. Cornwall kicked off in Saltash and immediately took possession. Both teams contested fiercely, each wanting to gain that all important first score, early on. Cornwall applied the most pressure, but Devon held firm in defence. It was a well timed chip over the Cornish defence that saw Devon’s inside centre, Boe Minns capitalise on the territory and run the ball deep into the Cornish half. A dominant scrum and a few well executed phases later, and Devon’s outside centre, Scarlett Murgatroyd was over the line.
Cornwall came back quickly and following a series of penalties to the hosts, Devon’s discipline was proving costly. Less than 5minutes after the green and whites had opened the score, Cornwall were now building momentum in the visitors half and subsequently levelled up the score quite convincingly.
Devon’s scrum, against Somerset last month, was outstanding and yet again proved to be a force to be reckoned with. Just inside the halfway line, the Devon forwards comfortably won the contest which enabled No.8 and Co-Captain Lizzy Cameron to pick and go on the blind side which set up an effective 2 v 1 attack play and scrum half Megan Polverino touched down over the line.
Two more tries from multiple phases, inside the first half, were scored by the pair of Maddisons at second row. Maddi Spampanato touched down first and then shortly after, Maddy Cliff got in under the posts.
On came the replacements at half time but the ferocity of the Devon squad didn’t change. Cornwall were under pressure deep in their half but did well to defend and clear their lines. Eventually, the cracks were found and a breakdown on the 5m line set up fly half Susie Gale on the blindside to score the first of the second half.
Ten minutes later and Devon launch another driving attack. With momentum in their favour, the forwards just had to secure the breakdowns and get the ball into the hands of inside centre and co-captain Izzy Cocking, who charged through and secured the green and whites sixth try of the game. The game then evened out, with the play going back and forth for a good 20 minutes. Devon spent some significant time camped inside their own red zone, defending hard but inevitably folding to a relentless Cornish attack who went over for their second try.
It was too little too late for the hosts though. In the final minute of the match, the Devon girls set up fullback Lois Burry who scored out wide and with only a kick left to take, the final whistle blew and the score finished at 37-10 to Devon.
An excellent game overall on a heavy pitch. The Devon coaches had a very long discussion over the potential recipients of the coveted “players of the match” as any one of the squad could have been awarded. However, the two co-captains; Lizzy Cameron and Izzy Cocking both had superb games whilst leading from the front thus clinching this weeks Forward and Back of the match, respectively.
Devon play at Crediton RFC on Jan 14th, where they will face their final test of the County campaign this season, against Gloucestershire, at 1400.
