The rains moved away from Colwyn Bay for the start of the mini tournament of girls rugby.

The kick off had to be delayed and modified to accommodate the many organisational confusions and frustrations of the day.  However this did not affect the sprits of the girls who gathered on the field to kick off the new season. The turnout for the Mermaids was poor.  From a possible contingent for the day of 19 only 14 showed up. However those that were there bravely played in positions that were not quite familiar to them and faced up to the teams from across the border.  Amongst these were some new additions to the U18 squad. This was to be their baptism of fire.

The Manchester team quite sportingly offered to either drop a player or lend one to match up the squads.  However the Mermaids decided to play together as a team of 14, possibly good preparation for the eventuality of such in the future.

U18 Mermaids v Manchester

Mermaid’s captain: Cara Hope

The game was evenly contested.  Cara Hope, Becca Broadway and Eloise Dorey carried the ball well, driving way past the gain line and setting up phases of play for the backs to work on.  From the base of the scrum Kaya Harding again delivered good ball to Gwen Harries. The backs interacted well with centres Iona Evans and Alaw Hughes, combining well with Rachael Edwards and Emily McMullen in the wings.  The first try came when Gwen Harries sidestepped, leaving the defence flat, and ran past clutching hands to open the scoring for the afternoon. Manchester fought back hard and made forays into Mermaids territory time and again but the defence held with Cara Hope leading the team to make the many tackles necessary to stop them.  Eurgain Llwyd, quiet today in attack, however played a good positional game at full back and did well to thwart the attacks.  However Manchester were rewarded for their enterprise and scored before the second half.  At half time the scores were even.

The second half carried on much the same way as the first with both sets of forwards striving to dominate the other. The Mermaids forwards, led well by Cara Hope and lifted by the strong constant presence of Eloise Dorey, held the advantage. The Mermaids backs began to play more adventurously with this domination. Kaya Harding looped around to collect the scrum to break through Manchester backs and released the backs who passed back and forth for Iona Evans to open her scoring for this season.  Cara Hope converted to give the Mermaids a 7 point cushion. Despite the valiant attempts of Manchester the Mermaid defence held and the one try was enough to see them through to victory.

The second U18 match of the tournament was a derby away from English soil for Manchester and Tyldesley.  The game again was evenly contested hard fought.  Tyldesley however were victorious.

U18 Mermaids v Tyldesley

Mermaid’s captain: Gwen Harries

This set the teams up for a finale of victors to end the day with the Mermaids facing Tyldesley.  This game too was a hard fought forwards dominated game.  Both teams tried to release the backs out wide but were thwarted by some determined tackling and defence. It was Tyldesley who had the majority of possession and territory throughout the game.  Time and again they were right up to the Mermaids try line, staying there for most of the first half. The Mermaids defence was awesome - regrouping again and again and at least on three occasions forced Tyldesley to make mistakes at the try line and kicked the ball into neutral territory and safety.  The half time whistle was blown with no score for either side but the Mermaids defence, led by Cara Hope, had bragging rights.

The second half saw a little bit more adventure from the Mermaids.  They were attempting to turnover the mistakes of the first half of playing too long in their own half and relinquishing too much possession to Tyldesley’s aggressive play.  Again, Cara Hope, Eloise Dorey and Becca Broadway led from the front taking on the physical Tyldesley forwards.  They succeeded a few times and the ball was swung wide.  One or two good moves brought them up to the Tyldesley try line.  One particularly successful foray saw good interplay between backs and forwards with second rower Megan Parry at the end of the move close to the try line. However tired hands and a good defence prevented a score.  Iona Evans and Gwen Harries had good games but found the defence too close at hand to clear the ball away. Unable to make headway, Tyldesley were thwarted as well and tried to kick deep into Mermaids territory to break the deadlock.  However, Eurgain Llwyd at full back was equal to the task; effectively collecting and clearing the lines to push them back time and again up to the half way line.

The Mermaids were unlucky to have the rub of the green and the decisions not going their way.  Tyldesley rode their luck playing the game close to the law at the breakdown and frustrated the Mermaids.  The Mermaids briefly let their frustrations rule them and Tyldesley made capital of this and the loss of Elose Dorey through injury for a while reducing their numbers, to score a converted try.  The Mermaids regrouped and tried hard to make headway but this was not to be their match.  The decisions went against them and Tyldesley held strong to come home the victors of a hard fought encounter. Well done Tyldesley.

For the Mermaids the 14 who put their hands up did the team and the region proud. Newcomers Catrin Roberts, Megan Parry, Sara Williams, Non Evans, Emily McMullen, Becca Broadway and Eurgain Llwyd played well. Sara Williams and Non Evans played with great maturity.  Seniors Kaya Harding, Gwen Harries, Alaw Hughes and Iona Evans played well amongst the backs and Emily McMullen and Rachael Edwards playing with maturity and skill for their first outing at this level.  However the forwards Eloise Dorrey and Cara Hope were the cream of the team. The Mermaid’s most experienced player, Kumari Tilakawardane, was unable to play through injury but used her experience to coach from the sidelines.

For her efforts both as Captain and as possibly the hardest working and visionary back rower, Cara Hope is the Mermaids Player of the Tournament.  

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Sunday 12th September 2010

U18 Mermaids at  National 10s - Llandovery

A rusty start by the Mermaids, playing against a well organised team. The absence of match practice and fitness showed.  The Mermaids competed for the first 5 minutes but the Quins pulled away with a display of well organised rugby. The Mermaids missed tackles and were frequently caught out of position. However despite the gloomy dawn, rays of light were showing through in Rhian Pritchard, Cara Hope, Hayley Ellis and newcomers Emily McMullen and Becca Broadway.  Rhian & Cara in particular excelled in throwing tackle after tackle at the Quins. Swyn Lewis and Sara Williams played very well showing that there was much to hope for in the days to come.

If the Mermaids were trounced by the well organised game of the Quins, individual performances by Cynon Valley players caused havoc amongst the rusty Mermaids.  The second break away try by Cynon Valley was a masterpiece of controlled football with the ball kicked all the way past the grabbing hands of the Mermaids. Tackles were missed; the organisation still not good enough to stop Cynon Valley.  However, the Mermaids began to assert some control. They had learned the lesson of playing too often in their territory and attempting a run and pass game which caused the problems of the first fixture.  Good tactical kicking by Alaw Hughes and Iona Evans allowed Mermaids to venture closer to the opposition try line.  Good leadership by Hayley Ellis showing the way ball in hand made forays into the opposition half but the Mermaids were unable to breach the Cynon Valley defence. Again, Rhian Pritchard, Emily McMullen and Cara Hope put in a sterling performance.  Rachael Edwards too started showing promise by making forays, side stepping past the gain line.  Eloise Dorey began to punch holes in the opposition defence by a fabulous display of power driving to get past the gain line time and again.  Eurgain Llwyd had an excellent game playing at 9.  She showed skill and imagination in getting the ball out from the set pieces and when necessary running with purpose.  However the rustiness of the Mermaids still showed but the passion and the organisation was beginning to appear.

A lunch break and focussed discussion amongst the team members created a desire to show results for this venture into the south. The team they were up against included some big names of Welsh junior rugby and some whose skill and talent had led them to Welsh national sides.

The Mermaids were led for this last match by Rhian Pritchard.  She was given this honour for the indomitable manner in which she played, the way she was fearless in defence and tireless in trying to carve out a platform for attack in the previous two matches.  As the game began the team showed some wonderful interactions between players. The leading roles were taken by Cara Hope and Hayley Ellis.  Kaya Harding playing at 9 seemed to have woken from a slumber and began to do the things around the scrum that she had done last season.  Eurgain Llwyd playing now on the wing showed dazzling speed and linked up with the others. The Mermaids made purposeful moves for the first time that day. The forwards combined well, with Cara, Hayley Eloise, Becca, Swyn, Sara, Megan Parry all picking the ball and driving at the opposition.  Iona Evans kicked, Alaw Hughes carried the ball. Emily McMullen controlled and passed the ball with assuredness. 

Rachael Edwards however was the first to score for the day, collecting the ball and sidestepping three or four of the Newport backs to break through at the end and score a wonderful try.  The second try was a good move with forwards and backs combining well, Kaya Harding looping to link with Eurgain Llwyd who danced through the defence to score under the post.  Eurgain converted the try.

This was the signal for the Mermaids to come alive.  All 16 players were rotated adroitly by Kumari managing the forwards and Cameron mixing the backs.  All played with equal courage and tenacity carving out waves of phased play when attacking and tackling fiercely and effectively in defence.  They contained a heavier faster Newport team with determined tackles.  Cara Hope was all over the park in defence.  However, the moment of the match was yet to come.  Finally it seemed Newport had finally broken through and would deprive the Mermaids of a clean sheet.  Rhian Pritchard, playing on the left wing, streaked all the way down the pitch to perform a perfect tackle yards from the right corner flag, bringing down the player and knocking the ball forward.  The Mermaids won the scrum and again danced back into Newport territory and safety. 

The afternoon ended on this happy note.  The cobwebs have been partly cleared. The only regret is that had there been greater numbers and commitment to training in the pre season a better display at the tournament would have been possible.  As it is we have shown what the Girls from the North are capable of.  Let’s hope we live the promise through the remainder of the season.

Player of the tournament: Rhian Pritchard

The U18 Mermaids would like to thank Cameron McMullen for his invaluable help on the day.

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