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Crawley RFC Girls Team 
U14 Team at Sunshine 7's. Scroll down for match report
End of season Awards
End of season players awards..
Sunday 13th May 2007
After a wet and windy day at the Surrey 7s, the girls regrouped at Crawely ready for the end of season BBQ and the playing awards in glorious sunshine.
A fitting end to a busy season.
The U17s started the season with three players and that’s how they finished. The girls have worked hard all season at training and have been justly rewarded with County and Regional honours. They have also played for Burgess Hill in their league matches to gain valuable match time and to help out with their numbers.
Thanks to Burgess Hill for making the girls so welcome.
The honours gained this year are:
Amy Grantham – Sussex Development XV
Fern Millican – Sussex XV and London & South East Region
Katie ‘Spesh’ Short – Sussex XV
The awards were well earned and presented by Club President Dave ‘Wiz’ Wilson.
The U17 Player of the year award was a difficult one to decide. All the girls had trained hard and achieved well throughout the season. In the end, the close decision saw Fern Millican receive the award in recognition of her selection in the regional side. Well done Fern.
The U14s started with three players and throughout the season has grown to eleven. Well done to everyone who has managed to get someone else along too.
With most of the girls starting from scratch it has been easy to see the marked improvement in their skills. It has also been easy to see the progress in the two longer serving players Sian Lewis and Kerry Weston.
The high point of the season was seeing the girls play their first matches at the 7s tournaments at the end of the season and the improvement they made over those matches.
The U14 Player of the year award was also a difficult one to decide. All the girls had trained hard and achieved well throughout the season. In the end, the close decision saw Kerry Weston receive the award in recognition of her selection in the regional side. Well done Kerry.
The final award up for grabs was Most Improved Player. This was available to any player from either age group. As mentioned before, the progress this season had been good so it was again going to be another close decision. In the end it was the lack of skills exhibited at the start of the season that gave the winner the edge. She arrived in September very raw, but extremely keen. She worked hard all season and was soon learning all the skills needed to play rugby. The skill she took to best was definitely tackling and she ended being a thorn in every opponent’s side. The award was won by Laura Webb. Well done Laura.
With all the awards done and dusted it was time to say thank you to the people who had been there all season.
Firstly, thanks to RP International who sponsored the after match polo shirts for the girls. This was key to portraying the right image off the field and helped the girls to come together as a tight knit group. Many thanks.
Secondly, thanks to all the parents who had lent their support all season. Without their transport, vocal support and willingness to stand out in the rain, the girls would not have achieved so much.
Finally, the parents and players thanked their coach, Granny, with a signed ball and some refreshments for the summer!
With the formal part of the evening done, it was time to enjoy the BBQ and look forward to next season…………
Well done to everyone……..
U14s
Danielle Murray, Charlotte Grimshaw, Sian Lewis, Joanna Bloxham, Laura Webb, Hanna Frankum, Natalie Langford, Erin Irwin, Holly Crayston, Kerry Weston, Natalie Talbot.
U17s
Amy Grantham, Fern Millican, Katie ‘Spesh’ Short.
Match reports
Crawley Junior Girls at the East Grinstead Sunshine 7s
Saturday 27th April 2007
Team Sponsored by
Crawley U17s joined forces with East Grinstead and Horsham as Central Weald and played 9-a-side in a couple of matches against Burgess Hill. Well done to the three of you. Some great rugby being enjoyed by all who played. A good sign ahead of next year when all the girls will play as Central Weald!.
Crawley U14s took seven players and were joined by Cerri Clarke of Burgess Hill to form their eight man squad for the tournament and first up was 3H (Heathfield, Hellingly and Hastings). With a lot of these girls at County during the season it was going to be tough and so it proved. However, Crawley never gave up and their defence improved as the game went on. They even managed to score a try of their own as they worked hard to get into the game. Jo Bloxham running clear to touch down. Anyway, final score 5-1 to 3H. The coach was happy with that at the time as the team played well against a very strong team. This was proved to be a good result as 3H later put 8 tries over Central Weald!
Next up was Central Weald (East Grinstead + guests) and again some experienced players. So how would Crawley fare? Well, they contained them to just three tries and again, were rewarded for their efforts with a try of their own scored by the diminutive, but pacey Hannah Frankum who picked up the loose ball and with the words of her coach ringing in her ears 'pick it up and run for the line, go on!' scored.
So to game 3 and Lewes. A slow start in the hot sun saw Lewes score early in the game with some strong running and good support play. But, Crawley’s belief in their ability was growing and with the continual improvement it wasn’t long before they levelled the scores with a try, Natalie Langford power her way a number of would be tacklers with a strong run. Crawley were so close to getting a draw but Lewes did manage to win the battle of the mauls and ended up winning 2-1. Oh so close.
Anyway, final game of the day saw Crawley up against Shoreham, another good little side. They had watched Crawley and reckoned they would be good for a win. So, with an early Shoreham try it looked like being a long game. But as so often happens, sport was about to prove everyone wrong. First, Crawley score to draw level after some great work chasing the kick off resulting in Sian Lewis scoring after a mix up in the Shoreham defence. Then from the restart Crawley pressured the catcher into a knock on from the restart and using quick scrum ball managed to take the lead with Cerri Clarke scoring out wide. Hoorah, in front at last. After much quality mauling from both sides, Crawley eventually scored again as Kerry Weston drove her way over the line to touch down....final score, Crawley 3, Shoreham 1...a big fat W....Top work girls and thanks to all the supporters for their encouragement!
So, some great attitude and spirit. Monster hits from Laura Webb, Cerri Clarke and Joanna Bloxham. Sian Lewis off on plenty of zig-zag runs looking for space. Danielle Murray, Natalie Langford and Kerry Weston working tirelessly in the heat to provide possession and Hannah Frankum biding her time out on the wing to pounce when her chance came. And Coach Granny hollering advice from the touchline.
Great stuff.
Crawley Junior Girls Floodlit 7s
Tuesday 23rd April 2007
Sponsored by
Crawley Junior Girls were a very small group at the start of the season with just 3 U17 players and 2 U14 players. But the Club provided a venue and coaching resources and steadily the section has grown. Although the U17s still only boasts 3 members, the U14s now has 11 members. So with the end of the season looming, it was time for the girls to play their first matches of the season. The Club invited local clubs East Grinstead, Horsham and Burgess Hill to come to Crawley for an evening of floodlit 7-a-side rugby. The offer was duly accepted and representatives from all clubs took part in the rugby at Willoughby Fields.
In the first match of the evening, Crawley U14s played against East Grinstead U14s,. For many of the girls this was their first competitive rugby match of any kind.
After the opening exchanges, it was Crawley who opened the scoring with a well worked try scored by Danielle Murray. This was soon followed by a score from North Weald as East Grinstead winger Kelly managed to round the defence and score after some good back play. With both sides playing together for the first time, mistakes were inevitable and resulted in a slower game. Once such error saw Crawley fail to ground the ball when over the try line for a try to take the lead again. However, as the teams gelled, the mistakes lessened and the game began to flow. This resulted in some great handling moves and Crawley were rewarded as they regained the lead just before half time with a well worked try scored by Danielle Murray.
After the break the game was again fiercely competitive with many try saving tackles being made. On the Crawley side, the biggest tackles were coming consistently from Laura Webb despite the jetlag from her recent trip to New Zealand. Eventually though, East Grinstead again found a way through and the scores were now level. The standard of play was still improving and the slightly more experienced girls took the lead after moving the ball wide and stretching the Crawley defence. With only a couple of minutes remaining the match looked to have slipped away from Crawley but then new girl Natalie Langford ran onto a short pass from deep and burst through the first tackle to have a clear run to the line. Despite a valiant chase back from the defence, she managed to get to the line and ground the ball to tie the scores. Natalie Langford then managed to convert her own try to earn a narrow two point lead for the home side. A handling error shortly after the restart brought the end of the game and Crawley had held on to win a very entertaining match.
The second match saw a Crawley Lionesses U17s side including players from East Grinstead, Burgess Hill & Horsham play against Burgess Hill U17s.
The match was very hotly contested and it took ex Crawley and now Burgess Hill player Kirsty Seymour to open the scoring with a fine run from deep in her own half round the outside of the Crawley defence. Crawley kept battling away with some good attacking rugby but the well organised Burgess Hill side capitalised on a couple of mistakes from the composite side and took full advantage of the turnover ball to score another couple of tries. But Crawley Lionesses never gave up and were rewarded after recycling the ball a number of times, Scrum half Amy Grantham touched down in the corner for the teams first points. Although Crawley continued to play some good rugby as did their opponents, the Burgess Hill team used their experience of playing together to defend well and deny their opponents of scoring opportunities. The final result was a win to Burgess Hill despite Crawley Lionesses best efforts.
Match three was a repeat of match one as East Grinstead looked to avenge their earlier narrow defeat. The game was played in the same manner but with fewer mistakes as both teams continued to improve. East Grinstead continued to move the ball wide and once again the speed of Kelly on the wing allowed her to score the first try of the game for East Grinstead. This lead was extended just before half time when Megan Rees gathered her own chip over the defence before offloading to her team mate who sprinted towards the line before passing back to Rees who scored the games second try. Which she then converted. Stout defending from Crawley stopped the scoring and eventually they broke out of defence for Charlotte Grimshaw to score a try and narrow the gap. As the game progressed and the players began to tire the gaps began to appear in both sides. Eventually, with time running out, Crawleys Sian Lewis chipped out of defence and although the ball went backwards over her head, she managed to gather the ball and then ran from her own half to score. This was to be the final score of the game and East Grinstead had won with their earlier conversion separating the two teams.
The final match of the evening this time gave Crawley Lionesses the chance to get a win after their earlier defeat. However, the story was very similar to their earlier encounter as Crawley threw the ball around but being unfamiliar team mates, would turn possession over at the crucial moment. Burgess Hill continued to work well as a team and this proved to be the difference in the two sides. Crawley’s battling spirit was epitomised by the way they repeatedly fought to hold up the player attempting to ground the ball for the try right up to the final whistle. Well done to both sides for some very entertaining and hard fought rugby.
The matches were well supported from the balcony by representatives from all clubs and those who had made the effort to attend were treated to some great rugby in a fun and friendly atmosphere. All the players showed great skills and plenty of determination. Well done
Next season will be interesting as tonights opponents will come together to form the Central Weald team. Plenty of talented players available to their coaches on tonights showing.
Crawley players were:
U14s
Danielle Murray, Kerry Weston, Charlotte Grimshaw, Sian Lewis, Joanna Bloxham, Laura Webb, Hanna Frankum, Natalie Langford
U17s
Amy Grantham, Fern Millican, Katie Short.
Crawley now look forward to their participation in the 50th East Grinstead Sunshine 7s on Saturday 28th April.
Surrey 7's at Dorking
Sunday 13th May 2007
On a wet and windy Sunday, Crawley took to the field in the Surrey 7s. Traditionally a strong competition and a chance for the team to measure their recent progress.
In the first match, Crawley were up against a very strong Sutton and Epsom (S&E) side. The difference in experience was soon apparent as S&E recycled possession well and were soon on the score sheet with some well worked trys. Crawley were giving their all butl but tries continued to come as S&E stretched the brave tacklers time and again. Half time arrived with Crawley 3 tries down. However, a short break and the chance to take stock saw a more fiercely contested second half. Once again S&E were able to add to their scores as Crawley just seemed to run out of players as the ball was continually recycled. But with a slightly stronger defence, Crawley were applying more pressure and the result was only two tries conceded in the second half. Final result was well deserved 5-0 win to a very good S&E team.
So, one game down , and plenty to work on for the rest of the day! A short break and a few pointers of where progress could be made and it was into game 2. This was against Reading and would be a chance for Crawley to try and improve on their first match. Reading were also a well organised side and despite a marked Crawley improvement, victory was not in their sights. They competed for every ball, epitomised by some unforgiving tackling from Laura Webb, but alas the final sore was 3-0 in Readings favour.
So with game three against local friends and rivals Central Weald (East Grinstead, Horsham and Burgess Hill combined) the team were looking for some kind of reward.
The match was a close one with some good handling in atrocious conditions. Inexperienc in the Crawley ranks led to some confusion and Megan Rees opened the scoring for Central Weald. This only served to rouse the Crawley side who were unlucky not to score when Natalie Langford was caught out by the very short in goal area and had her try attempt disallowed as it was on the dead ball line. Unperterbed the girls forged on and were rewarded with their first try when Joanna Bloxham used her long legs to outpace the cover defence. Half time and all level. The second half saw Crawley take the lead when Hannah Frankum received the ball in space and used all of her pace to round the defence and score in the corner. Crawley were in front, but not for long. As the team tire, Central Weald scored two more well worked tries of their own to end up victorious.
These results meant Crawley would play hosts Dorking in the shield semi-final. This was also a closely fought contest and saw Charlotte Grimshaw and Sian Lewis score two well earned tries for Crawley. However, the small squad size was begin to show as the girls tired and eventually Dorking finished up winning 4-2.
The players and supporters had given their all in less than ideal weather and had continued to improve with every match, well done.
So, a quick shower and back to Crawley for the end of season BBQ and player awards.
Crawley players were:
U14s
Danielle Murray, Charlotte Grimshaw, Sian Lewis, Joanna Bloxham, Laura Webb, Hanna Frankum, Natalie Langford, Erin Irwin and Holly Crayston
Kerry Weston was unavailable due to injury but lent her support from the touchline.
U17s Amy Grantham and Katie Short joined Burgess Hill for the day after winning half their games, eventually made their way to the end of season award BBQ with nothing left to give. Well done ladies and thanks to Coaches Steve and Moo for looking after them.
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