Broughton Women blew away Oban Ladies 56-22 at a blustery Wardie Playing Fields on Sunday to earn a place in the hat for the Round 2 draw of this season’s Sarah Beaney Cup.
The North Edinburgh side took the first steps towards emulating last season’s Bowl Final success v Ayr at Dalziel RFC with a win in the wind against a stubborn Oban who continued to battle until the end.
It took just 100 seconds for Broughton, playing down the infamous Wardie slope to open the scoring, Nicky Gaskell racing in after fine mauling by the home forwards.
The pack continued to cause problems for an Oban side camped inside their own 22. Prop Rebecca Long doubling the try count after just seven minutes showing great upper body strength to bundle over the line despite the efforts of the Oban defence.
A sensational hat-trick of near carbon copy tries by Canadian Julie David within a nine minute spell saw the former American Football pull her new team further ahead, with Gaskell converting the last score.
On the half hour mark, it was to be a fourth try for David who continues to impress since arriving at the Club in September.
Half Time Broughton 32-0
There was an air of inevitability about the shape of the second half and it was to take just six minutes for the visitors to exploit the conditions to score from a quickly taken penalty from deep inside the Broughton danger zone.
It didn’t take long before the pendulum swung back the way of a rejuvenated Broughton side out for their third win in as many matches.
Nicky Gaskell’s two tries within 60 seconds all but secured the National 1 side’s entry into Round 2 of the competition.
Oban’s never say die attitude will earn them many plaudits this season and when they retaliated with two tries of their own following some fine forwards play, the scoreline moved on to 42-17 for the home side.
Julie David made it a five star showing with another lung-bursting run up the touchline, dancing her way in behind the posts, making her own conversion all the easier to kick.
A final Oban score with five minutes left on the clock was nothing more than a consolation effort for the ladies in Green.
The last of the tries came on the stroke of full time, as Megan Greer pushed the ball out to Kate Walker and the rookie from Wellington, who hadn’t played rugby until arriving in the Capital last month, pinned back her ears to run half the length of the field for her first try in Broughton colours, much to the delight of the support on the touchline.
Final Score: Broughton 56-22 Oban
Broughton Coach Louise Forsyth said, “Today’s performance was one that the whole club can take heart from. We set out our stall – and that was to defeat Oban concisely – and I felt we did so from the onset, scoring in what was the first full play of the game. “The players used the conditions to their benefit whilst being clinical in their finishing and showing strength in defence. The momentum is certainly with us. From today’s 9 tries to having scored 19 tries in 5 matches in the league, the girls are raising the bar themselves, setting higher targets and surpassing them much to the delight of myself and fellow coach Tack McConnell.”
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