Edinburgh success continues with Cup win for Murrayfield
The action moved in from the back pitches to the International pitch to round off the afternoon with the two Cup Final matches. The first of these was the Sarah Beaney Women’s Cup Final and this was contested by Murrayfield Wanderers and Hillhead-Jordanhill, both sides exhibiting a raft of Scots International players in their respective squads, so a high class match was on the cards for the crowd.
And so it proved, with Murrayfield running out eventual winners after a hard fought Final on the big pitch.
The ‘home’ side were under a bit of pressure early on and wing, Megan Gaffney, took full advantage and crossed the line for an early try wide on the left, and a 5-0 lead with 14 minutes on the clock.
The ‘visitors’ continued to press and despite some attacking from Murrayfield, a penalty award just inside the opposition 10-metre line gave hooker – yes ‘hooker’ – Lana Skeldon a chance to stretch the lead. Her kick fell short, but Murrayfield used the clearance to build the attack which lead to their first try.
Full back, Chloe Rollie, made a break up the centre from about 30 metres out and got the ball away to centre, Helen Nelson, just before she was upended. Nelson then made the final 15, or so, metres to the line, closely attended by Gaffney, to crash over for the equaliser. In what was to be a fairly poor afternoon for women’s kicking, the conversion fell short, but the score was 5-5 with 29 minutes played.
Straight from the restart, Murrayfield went on the offensive and, quickly securing possession, moved the ball up via the forwards, before Rollie received the pass which put her down the left touchline – after a bit of sideways avoidance – to go over in the corner and, once again, Gaffney just failing to stop the score and a 10-5 lead.
The half ended following another penalty miss, this time from Murrayfield’s, Lisa Martin with that 10-5 lead to Wanderers.
The first five minutes of the second half were mostly spent in Murrayfield’s 22, with Hillhead hammering away at the line and forcing a couple of desperate clearing kicks, However, after a minor bout of fisticuffs in a ruck, Murrayfield were the first to ‘recover and, with just under seven minutes played, the galloped upfield and sent Rollie over for her second near the posts. Martin managed a successful kick and the score was 17-5.
Once again, Hillhead launched straight up into the opposition 22 and proceeded to pressurise the try line. Murrayfield cleared a couple of times, but Gaffney brought the ball back and proved hard to handle as she carried across the front of the posts. With a decent field position, Hillhead got Heather Lockhart across the line, but referee, Alex Pratt, deemed the ball ‘held up’. However, it only took a couple of plays for Hillhead to get close again and, this time, Jemma Forsyth powered over for the touchdown and a 17-10 score line.
Murrayfield now came under more pressure from the opposition, but managed to weather the next 15 minutes of continued attacking. Following a short word to the captains from the referee regarding the ‘state of play’, Wanderers shook off their opponents and returned to the other end. Pulling the opposition in, Martin sent a neat chip over the defensive line for Rhona Lloyd to run onto and continue over the line for another try and 22-10.
With Hillhead’s Jade Konkel off the pitch for a dangerous tackle, Murrayfield took full advantage and, with the match entering the final minute, Lloyd sprinted in to score near the posts. Martin converted and the referee blew up for full time, Murrayfield somehow having coped with the Hillhead storm and running out the winners by 30 points to 10.
Images from the match will appear here over the next few days.
