On a crisp winters morning the U12s were playing away at Ashford, in a similar vein to the senior men’s second team squad that played yesterday there was optimism of change we had 2 subs! Like the men however when it came to kick off the U12s were down to a bare 12 with no subs. It seems to be the Valley way to make it that little bit harder. That being said in a coach’s discussion later, was this making our girls fitter, stronger and more cohesive? There is much to be said for playing a consistent team and players learning to work as a unit, we must recruit though as we are only ever an injury away from struggling to put out a full team.
Ashford is one of the places that we visit that’s a little further afield, resulting in a few late comers including coaches, no names mentioned cough cough!!! So the warm up was more rushed than we would have liked, its important to understand for all of us to appreciate that a good warm up is one of the most effective ways of preventing injuries so we must ALL (myself included) in working harder to get to games on time.
The last time we met Ashford was in a Friday night lights game at home, where we came away as winners, but Ashford had given us a tough game. They have a few stand out individuals and play a great standard of rugby. With their 23-girl squad to choose from, our scratch team of 12 couldn’t take this one lightly, bearing in mind that this included Maddie’s first game back after breaking her arm, talk about a baptism of fire!

The game starts with strong Ashford runs at a solid defence, soaking up tackle after tackle they are eventually turned over by Grace who has not only raised her game in the last few weeks but is on fire today. Grace breaks away before being tackled to the floor, secured by Darcey Ella has time to weigh up her options before passing to Sophia in the centre though the ball vital metres she is quickly shut down by a hungry Ashford Defence, Valley however have developed a strong offload game of late and whilst still on her feet gets the ball away to Tilly who having found her voice practically demanded the ball. With Tillys fast feet she breaks the first line of Ashford’s defence dancing through 3 players before getting tagged from behind, again staying on her feet she offloads to Darcey who runs a perfect line cutting in from the wing through the centre, breaking away Darcey seems to be getting faster as well as stronger week on week. A perfect captains try to settle the nerves of the team and the faithful on the touchline. 0-1
Barely a minute goes by before Valley punish Ashford again with a scintillating solo effort by Tilly, from just in front of the half way she arcs her run to the left wing before powering through one strong tackle then swooping through gaps that don’t seem to exist, breaking fast its do or die as her team mates are left in the same wake as the opposition. She powers through though to score in the corner. 0-2.
Ashford have 2 stand out strong runners, there problem is that Valley has a litany of strong tacklers. First up Darcey takes on Georgia (the only Ashford player with a name on her back!) but she gets a pass away to her inside centre who slips between Tilly and Ella, The gap she went through however leads her straight to Dara who with a thumping tackle knocks the ball clean out of her hands. Grace pounces on the loose ball 5 metres from our try line and gets it away to Arianna who gives us some much-needed breathing space. What happens next is pretty much what the coaches have been striving for with passes and offloads galore, From Arianna to Tilly, couple of steps and minimal metres made before Ashford are upon her she passes to Sophia who makes great ground before being swarmed by the Ashford 12. A slightly wayward offload is scooped up by Darcey who immediately releases Arianna who makes a great Crossfield run before stretching her legs down the left wing, just when you think she is home clear a scrambled Ashford defence gets hold of her but who did she have powering down the outside of her but Fran in her “lucky shirt”, Arianna cooly offloads and Fran rides tackles in the closing metres to score her 1st of the day. A new addition to the team Fran has been finding her feet and in the early part of the season struggled to score, since getting her own Valley shirt however she has now scored in three consecutive games. 0-3.
There is a clear difference in the tackles of Ashford and Valley, whilst Ashford make plenty of tackles often the Valley girls stay on their feet and make an offload whereas Valley tackles end with an Ashford player on the floor or the ball being ripped away from them. Despite some great phase play from Ashford, Valley are adept at soaking up the pressure and pouncing at the right time after multiple tackles play is now on Ashford’s left wing, in steps Maddie to make a tackle whilst Darcey is immediately on the ball ripping it out of the hands of the Ashford player and immediately releasing it to Freya. Whilst largely sidewards running she breaks from the contact zone just about evading a last ditch tap tackle and heads towards the left wing before straightening up to draw the defender and pass to Tilly who beats the first two defenders with an outrageous goose step, almost outrunning another 2 on the wing she is brought down with a thump. These girls however are made of sterner stuff spinning on the floor to pop to the oncoming Fran who rides tackle after tackle and is destined to score, a double tackle less than a metre out puts paid to that, but Valley are all about the supporting runners today and Sophia is there for what could be her easiest ever try dotting down for her first of the day. I jest that scoring it was easy, being in the right place at the right time to score the easy try is where the hard work and rugby nouse is at! Got to say these girls know how to move themselves and the ball around the pitch and this try is from all the hard work on the training ground 0-4.
Frans second of the day comes from a mixture of quick hands, brutal runs, and quick passing off the ball from a tackle. Agonisingly close Ashford were three metres from the Valley tryline when a great tackle by Arianna and a rip by Darcey is passed to Tilly who thwarts the Ashford girls who are expecting a mazey run by immediately passing to Dara. Daras run must have crushed the spirit as she breaks straight through the middle, route 1! She gets tackled just after the halfway line but Valley are streaming forward and Ashford are rushing back, a pass to Darcey sees another strong run out towards the left wing. Ashford are no slouches in the tackle department this time as a strong tackle takes Darcey to the floor. Guess who’s there to pick and go, Fran runs past the last two defenders for her second of the day. 0-5.
Watch out there’s a thief about! After a strong run cross field and down the left Freya gets tackled but gets the ball away to Fran who despite a strong run is held about a metre out, she passes the ball to Dara who is waiting to just crash over the line. Tilly has other ideas though and hits the gap at pace, stealing the ball from under Daras unsuspecting noes. 0-6.
In the build up to try number 6 Cara is involved a number of times, bumping players, recycling, back to her feet for another crash ball, her fourth time with the ball in a succession of phases sees her in the perfect place. A strong run from Dara who offloads to Sophia who passes to Cara sees her crash over for our seventh try of the half! 0-7.
It would be easy to assume that at 7 zero, we were having it all our own way, which is far from the case. In Gameplay Ashford are in it, slick hands and getting forward is not alien to them and there is phase after phase. The Valley tackles are just mighty today. But mighty is not foolproof and Ashford finally break their deadlock and get a try as the whistle blows for half time. 1-7.
Half time.
There are many names that have not been mentioned thus far but believe me this does not mean they are not working hard.
The tackle count from Grace is off the charts and in the last few weeks her game has came on massively, this was a girl that a month before declared to me that she did not like rugby, not today! Her work rate is up, her tackles are up, her time on the ball is up, dropped balls are down, her spilling is contact is down. What a difference a bit of confidence and teamwork makes.
Ella is another stalwart at the breakdown; there is a plenty of strong carries and a lot of tackles being made. Though Ella is our first choice 9, at the breakdown her work rate means she is there first and is getting stuck in to secure the ball, leaving Emily and others to lead the attack. Something tells me she is missing Violets hard work at the breakdown that would leave Ella playing 9 all day. Not many beats Violet to a ruck!
The scoreline doesn’t tell the story, it was brutal out there at one point Tilly was off after taking an accidental boot to the face on the floor, how does a coach get her back on the field. An opposition supporter gave me a pat on the back after that pep talk! It went along the lines off, you wanted to do MMA, right? Do you know how many punches or kicks to the face a kickboxer gets in a round? Loads! Its up to you what you want to do, you taking a boot to the face and staying off to watch the end of the game, or you taking a boot to the face and carrying on? I knew what the reply would be, “well I’m going back on!’’
Second half kicks off; will it be more of the same or was Ashford’s try on the stroke of halftime the beginning of a fight back? Ashford certainly come out of the blocks with a bang with some great strong carries through the heart of our defence. Strong runs or tackles alone wont win today though, as the Ashford centre runs into traffic, Grace gets another great steal of the day breaks away before passing to Cara who ships it out to Maddie on her outside. Maddie runs forward but is tackled by 2 Ashford girls, staying strong and on her feet, she gets the pass away to Fran before falling to the floor. Fran receives the ball deep in her own half, but the passes have been so quick she has broken the Ashford line inside her own half and breaks away down the wing with Ashford in hot pursuit. There is no stopping her today though as she scores her third and Valley’s 8th! 1-8.
Its not all our own away after some scrappy defending at the breakdown Ashford find a rare gap in the defensive line and sprints through to score their second of the day. The Valley girls are another level as you would think by their reactions they had conceded a winning try in the dying seconds. Coaches were secretly smiling as the Valley girls muttered to themselves “they will not score another!” 2-8.
There are 2 ways things can go after the opposition score a try, we fight back or they gain momentum. That is until the Valley captain steps in! Ashford kick off and make the mistake of sending it straight into Darcey’s arms, Darcey goes route one and with Ashford having a flatline on the halfway with many rushing forward she sprints through a gap unopposed to quell any doubts of a fightback, 2-9.
Valley is blessed with an assortment of strong runners and fast runners, Freya is strong and fast! A great solo effort makes the write up easy, deep in her own half she picks up a loose ball makes her trademark run across the pitch and up the wing, with a few hand offs on route to keep the tacklers away she is practically on the line by the time she is attempted to be tackled by 3 Ashford girls. Damage is done and she puts the ball down for Valley’s 10th! 2-10.
The phases are relentless, but the short version is Fran stayed out of the way minding her own business on the wing. After about 15 phases Cara ends up inside of Fran and probably could have taken that last defender on the line, but these girls are different today and she selflessly makes the right decision to pass to her unopposed team mate to score her fourth and Valleys 11th. I do hope for Frans parents that they didn’t agree a cash for try’s bonus! 2-11
Dara has worked relentlessly all day and her teammates have reaped the rewards. As tilly takes contact Ella is first there to secure the ball backed up by Grace, Sophia effortlessly steps in at 9 to pass the ball to Cara who due to her strong runs all day draws in 2 to 3 defenders, her offload to Dara gives Dara an easy run in at pace. She worked hard all day, and the try was well deserved. 2-12.
I’m almost lost for words of describing what has been par for the course all day, these girls can run and take contact all day, can pass all day and keep possession for what feels like an age. In phases that saw Maddie, Dara and Grace nearly scoring Sophia ends up with the ball on the left wing. With only 4 Ashford players to beat she goes for it, riding tackles before ending with her trademark Chris Ashton ‘Esque Swan dive! (Am I showing my age here? I knew I should have referenced Henry Pollock!) 2-13.
In closing…. What a day! In the last game of the year, the rugby served up today was like an early Christmas present to the coaches. Any coach will tell you, you can drum in any technique, how to tackle, how to draw the defender, how to break the gain line or how to play as a team BUT until that clicks, you wont see the difference and you wont know when that will happen. I tell you what, those girls clicked today, it has been coming but today was the day. The way that the girls were selfless in defence and attack, grinding out the hard work. The passes they were stringing together was a thing of beauty. Three weeks ago, we were playing one up rugby and Tilly was almost in tears on the wing because the ball just never got there. We told her and Fran to keep the faith, stay there in the right place, in the right position. Sooner or later we as a team would make the right decisions. For Fran to score 4 try’s out on the wing simply sums up how far we have come. Our Coaches player of the match could have went to a huge number of players and it was a tough decision. Fran scored four and it did not go to her! Grace was tackling like a demon, stealing the ball, and making runs it did not go to her. Did you see Darcey’s tackles, one crunching one so devastatingly good that whilst legal the ref stopped the match to check on the Ashford Girl, it did not go to her. It did go to Maddie, first game back after a broken arm, was supposed to be eased in, we were supposed to have a couple of subs. The subs did not make it and she stood up, there were nerves for sure from Maddie, the players, the parents, and the coaches but that was all Unnecessary. Maddie made tackles, made runs, nearly scored and saw out the full game, welcome back Maddie! On the plus side Fran, you got the oppositions players player award, voted by your peers is the best right?!

Parents I hope you were as proud as we were because we felt great. Have a great Christmas break and spoil them they deserve it. I have been a good boy and have wrote to Santa, don’t tell the girls but I’ve asked for a couple of 1 nil wins next year to make the match report easier!