Upper Eden Eagles 0 Workington Zebra Finches 34
Workington Zebra Finches rounded off their league season with an excellent 34 - 0
victory at Upper Eden Eagles & register their first victory in Division 2 North since
January - ironically against the Eagles, 25 - 0 at The Ellis.
It was also the perfect preparation ahead of their date with destiny at Twickenham in the
RFU Junior Plate Final against Avonmouth Claires on 1st May.
The Finches made a dream start from kick off, when their opening punt was fumbled by
an Eagles player & from the resulting scrum, saw Juliet Porter offload to Nicole Stewart,
who wasted no time in going under the posts to score & set up an easy conversion.
Workington increased their lead barely two minutes later, when Stewart's exquisite long
range punt was chased down by Megan Donald, who trapped the ball in time to touch
down in the corner for another try, which narrowly went unconverted.
By this time, the Finches were in control of the game & but for the Eagles' desperate but
efficient defending against the onslaught, they could have been further ahead.
However, Upper Eden rode the storm to their advantage & from about 20 minutes began
to make inroads of their own into Workington territory with excellent play from Lucy Hogg, Ella Fahy & Lucy Branthwaite which put the visitors on the back foot but they just
fell within touching distance of the tryline on two occasions, thwarted by the visitors'
ever-alert defensive rearguard.
For all the Eagles' dominance, it was the Finches who almost had the last word on the
stroke of half time when Megan Donald went over, only for the try to be wiped off due to
the referee spotting a forward pass in the build up.
But Workington were not to be denied & just as they did at the start of the first half, so
they scored early once the second half kicked off - two minutes in fact as their first scrum
saw Nicole Stewart sprint away unchallenged before offloading the ball to captain
Charlotte Cammack, who fiercely shrugged off a last-ditch challenge go down for her
signature "Lottie's Slamdown" try. Once again, the conversion attempt fell just short.
Upper Eden were not going to surrender & again took the game to the visitors with more
well drilled passing & running that tested the Finches to stretching point & it was Lucy
Hogg who very nearly delivered what would have been a "Champagne Moment" as she
picked the ball deep in her own half and proceeded to go on a dazzling solo run that left
her opponents flailing, only to be brought down with the tryline at her mercy.
Amazingly, this was the Eagles' first game in two months but based on their long periods
of dominance in both halves, it was like they'd been playing every Sunday.
Then, just after the hour mark, after soaking up that pressure, Workington delivered the
perfect sucker punch with a brilliant attacking surge which saw the Stewart - Cammack
double act produce the punchline of a 2nd try for the captain & this time Stewart
smoothly adding the conversion.
Frustration & tiredness were both starting to creep into the Eagles as Workington
tightened their group & ten minutes from time an out-of-character infringement by the
hosts led to them conceding a penalty which Stewart effortlessly converted (after
pausing to put on her spectacles prior to the kick).
Upper Eden were now running on empty, praying for the referee to blow for time & they
got their wish - but only after another Finches try on the stroke of full time as they won
yet another scrum with the ball finding Juliet Porter, who galloped home unopposed to
go down between the posts and cue up another easy conversion for Stewart.
This convincing victory for Workington sees them finish 5th in their maiden season in
Division 2 North & although there were moments where they came dangerous close to
conceding at least one try, they can take pride on keeping a clean sheet & most importantly, they can now concentrate on resting & making final preparations for
Twickenham.
It was heartwarming to see captain Charlotte Cammack return with 2 tries after a spell
out injured & Nicole Stewart combed just about every blade of grass from start to finish -
she thoroughly deserved being named Opposition Player Of The Match by Upper Eden.
But above all, every Finches player is on good form and the team is in a fabulous place,
fully confident of writing another historical & memorable chapter in their history at
Twickenham on 1st May - the whole town of Workington is proudly behind these
magnificent Ladies
By John Hastings @ Pennine Park