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Colwyn Bay
Rugby Club
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Under 14's Mermaids Match reports Thursday 10th May '07 U14 Mermaids V Ynys MonThe U14 Mermaids played their final game of the season against an inexperienced and combined Ynys Mon/Menai Bridge team and played like the North Wales champions they are. Due to injury and illness, only 9 Mermaids were available to play on the night so the opposition generously offered one of their girls to make up a 10-a-side match. The game was fast paced from the start and ironically the first try for the Mermaids was scored by their borrowed player, Vicky! Tries followed in quick succession and it seemed that wingers Gwen Harries and Ellie Evans were in competition to score the most tries, with Ellie scoring three and Gwen going over the line for two tries. Coaches Player of the Year Amy Bird was very unlucky not to score a try, as she broke through many tacklers, but fell just short of the line. Kumari Tilakawardane, in her last appearance as captain for the U14’s, converted two of the tries, with Ellie Evans and Gwen each missing the other conversion attempts. The Bay entered the 2nd half 17-0 up, but Ynys Mon player Berta scored a well deserved try for her team, which was converted by Gemma, bringing the final score to 34 – 7. A great end to a great first season for Colwyn Bay U14 Mermaids, North Wales Champions! By Kumari Tilakawardane
Thursday 5th April '07 Mermaids U14s V Tildsley/Waterloo Thanks to a very disappointing turn-out from Mermaids’ U14s, the remaining team members were beaten by a very quick Tildsley/Waterloo side. So few were the numbers, that Colwyn Bay had to enlist the help of one of the U17 team, Abi Beards, and two of Nant Conwy U14s, Teleri Lloyd and Siân Williams. It took until the second half for these new players to gel well with the team, and in this time Tildsley established a 3-try lead. But the Bay came back fighting, and after some great tackles and winning some ball on the floor Ellie Evans ran in to score. The most dangerous player for the visitors was clearly their scrum-half, who ran great angles, and with her quick pace was hard to stop. Siân Williams scored a brace of tries, and always looked dangerous, but accompanied by a mostly inexperienced team was not able to convert many chances to score. Becca Broadway finished the Bay’s scoring with a great try after one of the few handling moves from the Mermaids, but it was clearly never going to be enough to beat a very well oiled Tildsley side, who won the match 45-20. Huge thanks have to be extended to Siân for her two great tries, Teleri for great work at the breakdown and to Abi who made some BIG tackles J. Hopefully the rest of the squad will be more committed for the next match vs Sandbach. By Kumari Tilakawardane Sunday 14th January '07 Mermaids 15 – 17 Nant Conwy A game that started out so promising soon took a nasty turn, resulting in two conversions bouncing off the posts deciding the game; one went over and the other didn’t. Nant Conwy nearly scored from the kick-off, after several missed tackles. But, once again demonstrating her fantastic rugby ability, Ellie Evans made a spectacular sliding tackle just before the try line to deny Nant. The Bay started the game well, excellent handling and contact skills being displayed, resulting in captain Kumari Tilakawardane fighting across the try line for a well deserved ‘team try’. Soon after the Bay’s injuries started flowing. Paige Davies, who was playing a key role in the game, suffered a horrific injury, a fractured ankle sustained at the bottom of a ruck. Although Nant attempted to continue play, the game was paused for some minutes, while Paige was treated – a good example of what not to do in this situation was demonstrated. After the ambulance left, Colwyn Bay played brilliantly for the next 5 minutes, resulting in Gwen Harries bursting through the defence to score a try ‘for Paige’! Kumari missed the conversion attempt though, leaving the score 10-0. Nant Conwy soon came back, scoring two unconverted tries in quick succession as Paige’s absence from the scrum proved costly. Most of the rest of the game was scrappy, plenty of knock-ons and penalties given against Colwyn Bay, until the Mermaids picked their shoulders up and spent a long time in the Nant Conwy 22, eventually forcing a well-worked try for prop Sophia Hathaway following some great tackles and stolen ball. Gwen Harries’ conversion attempt bounced off the upright. But, after neutralising permanent Nant threat Sian Williams for most of the game, Colwyn Bay let her slip past one tackle, and demonstrating what she can do, she scored a try in the dying minutes. Her conversion this time bounced over the crossbar. The Bay had a chance to score again from a line-out in the opposition’s half, but a mix-up in the team saw this chance missed. Popular opinion after the game was that the score definitely did not reflect the match. By Kumari Tilakawardane Sunday 26th November '06 Nant Conwy 17 – 20 Colwyn Bay The Mermaids and many valued supporters travelled into the country to play a team with a big reputation – Nant Conwy. Only able to field 11 players, Nant Conwy generously volunteered one of their players for the pink winger’s shirt. While the Mermaids may have lacked players, they didn’t lack support; countless parents and coaches turned out to watch. The game got off to a great start for the Bay, a stolen ball from a ruck set up a try for centre Amy Bird – not that it was easy, she ran through at least 5 would-be tacklers on her way! But then a lack of discipline at the breakdown allowed Nant to score. Very good handling skills and some ferocious tackling saw Colwyn Bay score twice in a short period of time; Amy in for the second in her brace of tries and Gwen Harries ran in between the posts. Nant Conwy came out with a brand new starting 12, although the Mermaids had no substitutes so played on. Just after half-time, a lull in the defensive work from the tired Mermaids allowed the opposition to score. With much of the possession, Colwyn Bay didn’t really do much with it for the next 10 minutes, and then following several warnings from referee Ray Howells (in his last refereeing game in this hemisphere!) a penalty try was awarded after a high tackle on Nant Conwy’s scrum-half Sian Williams. This was converted, leaving Nant leading 17-15 with 2 minutes remaining. Loud cheers from the Nant Conwy supporters made the Mermaids more determined to win! Following a dropped kick-off, the Bay had a scrum in the Nant Conwy 22. The ball travelled from one side of the pitch to the other, resulting in an effective rolling maul, which surprised all the coaches, as most of the girls have never been taught this! Captain Kumari Tilakawardane broke away from this, and a good 1-2 with Paige Davies sent Kumari in for a score, though it took a while for the ref to see as they were buried under a pile of Nant players! The final whistle then blew, marking a very well-earned victory for the girls. Colwyn Bay decided to give Sian Williams the Nant Conwy player of the match award, Coaches’ award went to Amy Bird for some outstanding tackles and breaks (and 2 tries!) and Nant Conwy’s player of the match went to Ellie Evans for excellent angles of running and support play. After a meal in the Red Lion, the girls went home happy, with the supporters’ cheers ringing in their ears! By Kumari Tilakawardane
Sunday 12th November '06 Oswestry 14 - Colwyn Bay Mermaids 42 Colwyn Bay U`14s travelled to Oswestry for their 2nd game of the season. Some of the mermaids had to join forces with the home side to make up the numbers which was very sporting of them, in the first half this saw Emily McMullen and Bethan Sams swapping sides. The mermaids opened the scoring from Gwyn Harris following some good early possession and ball retention. The mermaids then kicked off to the home team which resulted in fantastic awareness from Kaya Harding to intercept a loose pass and score a well taken try. Further tries from Gwyn Harris, Rebecca Broadway and Amy Bird gave the mermaids a well deserved 0-25 lead at half time. After the break Page Davies and Ellie Roberts both went to play in the Oswestry side which gave them some added size in their pack, but they still found it difficult to cope with the mermaids pace, another try after the restart went to Amy Bird converted by Emily McMullen, then some fine passing along the line and back saw Gwen Harris score the try of the day in the corner. The home side scored next in a good move involving 4 players, which was converted before the mermaids captain for the day Sophie Hathaway scored a try from some good strong running to make up for an earlier effort that was cancelled out for incorrect grounding. The final act of the game went to the home side going over, but it was mermaid Page Davies who scored the try for the home team after a strong run beat 3 defenders, which was also converted. It was a difficult job for the coaches to name a Mermaid of the match but after some head scratching it was given to Gwen Harris not just for a hat trick but some good defensive work. The whole team played very well and are relishing their next
game. 24th September '06 - WWRU North Wales Tournament Colwyn Bay U14 Mermaids had their first matches today, and they were definitely not like fish out of water! Even the torrential rain didn’t put a dampener on them, it just whet their appetite for rugby! Our first match was against Nant Conwy U14s. Everyone was pleasantly surprised by the girls’ performance. Some of the girls had only been to one Mermaids’ training session before today, but, watching the match, you wouldn’t have known. Some amazing tackling from Amy Bird and Ellie Evans led to a great team try scored by winger Gwen Harries. A fairly evenly matched game, even though obviously Nant had some experienced players, unfortunately resulted in a 20-5 loss for the Bay. ‘Maid of the Match’ went to Amy Bird, thanks to some fantastic lines and crunching tackles. The second match, again against Nant, really showed off the Bay’s talent. Still only their 2nd match, team work was excellent, with each and every member of the team playing her part. Flying winger Gwen Harries got her second try of the day, this time a great individual try. Scrum-half Kaya Harding got the award for ‘Maid of the Match’ because of her quick breaks and accurate passing, which added to an overall excellent team debut. Watch this space, there’s more to come from these girls!!!
A great day and start of an interesting season for the girls of
North Wales now playing in a North Wales league run by the WWRU.
Colwyn Bay Mermaids next match is Oct 8th at Oswestry.
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