Darts U13's girls hit East London with our 20 strong army of maroon and gold

The first game kicked off with the vast majority of our new girls taking to the field. Manor came out strong and it was not long before they broke the defence to score but Darts dug deep; rallied and after a good passage of attacking play by Damita, Rosie and Katie, Ruby went over to level the score.

A physical game ensued with some good tackles by Darts, but with the continual pressure from Manor is was not long before gaps appeared our wide and the home team took their chances, notching up a series of well-engineered tries.

Some strong teamwork from Izzy & Lyla at the ruck gave Ayo the chance to exploit the space and she darted over for her first try. A good restart gathered well by Darts saw them stride down the pitch, Manor tackled hard and spilled ball allowed them to counter-attack, but thanks to the hard defence work from, Nicole, Jojo, and Jess Darts regained control for the ball and after a few phases of strong play and great spacial awareness from Amelia, Ayo broke free for her second try, (Bosh Ball in the bag!) bringing the first match final score to 9-4.

Quick changeover of players and the second match was underway. Immediate pressure was placed on Manor at the scrum where Janae, Anika, and Lzzy worked hard to secure clean ball. Some great passages of play were then seen from both sides with the ball moving from end to end in a good display of rugby. After several phases of open play it Manor who came away with a try. Undeterred our Darts girls came back with some strong passages of play and with good passing from both Shannon and Maisie it was Layla who hit the line at speed, her strength and determination saw her break through several tackles before going over to score.

Eton Manor had to work harder to gain ground and it was not long before they breached the Darts defence to score a few more tries. Quick ball from Lacie at the base do the scrum allowed Annabelle to play the ball out to her teammates, Shannon hit hard up the centre and Ayo speed carrying the ball further down the field, Layla then took full advance of the space opening up in front and went over the line for her second try. When the final whistle blew the score was 5-2 to Manor.

On the day the home side found more space on the wings but Darts left East London with their heads held high; there was plenty of great play to take away and some gutsy performances especially from those who suffered a few knocks on the way. Special mention goes to Maisie “toothless” Peters, for her ever-improving tackling display today.

Thanks for all your support parents/carers for making the journey and well done Darts U13’s girls

Author - Tina Barnes