Report by Ross Tucknott
Newquay & Perranporth U15s will be nervously looking over their shoulders going into the XGirl Cup knock-out finale in April, after momentum proved to be firmly with the chasing pack at Truro RFC on Sunday as the league stages reached completion.
Having led the table all season, the gap between themselves and their rivals all but disappeared as Bude won all four of their matches, with the leaders failing to gain a losing bonus point against both Bude and Camborne, who themselves are finishing the season in fine form.
Also peaking at the right time are St Austell, who have found a strong understanding on the pitch with recent partners Penzance and who put five tries past Bude before defeating Camborne themselves. Truro caused problems for both Bude and St Austell/Penzance, demonstrating their increasing competitiveness, whilst it was a first appearance at the XGirl Cup for Wadebridge’s newly set up girls section who joined in with Launceston to book their involvement in the knock-out finals at the end of the season.
Seedings for the knock-out stage are based on the league table positions, so nothing is decided yet and on current form every team will fancy their chances of causing some upsets on the final day!
Meanwhile on the bottom pitches the standard of play in the U13s was skyrocketing, with the highest quality of team play seen at this level for years providing some exceptional matches. Whereas attacking play was the dominating force at the opening stage, now teams were showing robust defences and good continuity going through the phases with one team conceding only 7 tries across their 4 games.
Redruth Water and Camborne/Penzance drew in the opening fixture of the day, and these pair of teams then remained undefeated throughout. Both overcame an equally impressive Redruth Fire, whose 7-0 win over Bude was one of the most best matches of the event, given that Bude put 16 tries past their other opponents.
Liskeard were a single try versus Launceston from finishing unbeaten themselves; Launceston were the only team to score 4 tries past Camborne; Truro restricted everyone but the free-scoring Bude to just 2 tries; and the new Wadebridge U13s joined the Perranporth girls and held Liskeard to a very creditable draw as well as pushing Camborne all the way as well.
Thanks to Truro RFC for being such excellent hosts, and to all the volunteers both on and off the pitch.
Results
U15s
Camborne 22 – 14 Newquay&Perranporth
Bude 50 – 33 St Austell/Penzance
Launceston/Wadebridge 10 – 29 Truro
Camborne 14 – 19 St Austell/Penzance
Newquay&Perranporth 54 – 0 Launceston/Wadebridge
Bude 33 – 21 Truro
Camborne 42 – 7 Launceston/Wadebridge
Newquay&Perranporth 14 – 26 Bude
St Austell/Penzance 61 – 24 Truro
Camborne 10 – 12 Bude
Newquay&Perranporth 35 – 10 Truro
St Austell/Penzance 47 – 15 Launceston/Wadebridge
U13s
Redruth Fire 34 – 0 Perranporth/Wadebridge
Redruth Water 14 – 14 Camborne/Penzance
Truro/St Austell 12 – 12 Launceston
Bude 28 – 42 Liskeard
Redruth Fire 22 – 26 Redruth Water
Camborne/Penzance 26 – 17 Perranporth/Wadebridge
Bude 40 – 26 Truro/St Austell
Launceston 40 – 33 Liskeard
Redruth Fire 7 – 0 Bude
Camborne/Penzance 26 – 20 Launceston
Redruth Water 12 – 7 Truro/St Austell
Perranporth/Wadebridge 7 – 7 Liskeard
Redruth Fire 10 – 28 Camborne/Penzance
Redruth Water 33 – 0 Launceston
Bude 42 – 0 Perranporth/Wadebridge
Truro/St Austell 12 – 14 Liskeard
