It's a game of two halves or is teams?

It really was a game of two teams for the Minxes due to the low numbers brought from the other sides which caused a headache for the coaches. However the girls were split in to two teams and enjoyed the chance to play a few matches, even better to be playing it at home. The Ashfield and Chesterfield cluster brought 5 with them, Long Eaton brought 2 and Newark brought 7 meaning 6 a side rugby for the girls but they once again didn't moan and just got on with it.

Melbourne v Newark
The game started well with Skye Sloman grabbing us a quick try before Newark managed to find a weak spot to squeeze through to peg us back. The girls didn't drop their heads, they can't they are Minxes after all (plus the additions of Abbie and Sophie from Ashby) and within a blink of an eye Izzy Boyer powered over the Newark players to grab herself two tries. A show of strength from our girls was undone by the lack of line discipline and Newark managed to pitch another try. Sky looks a little lost since her fellow Bash Sister left to play football but it seems that she has found a new sister, slightly shorter one, in Sophie Attisha. They both seemed to find themselves punching holes in the defence on several occasions until Skye made a big enough one to grab herself her second try of the match. Newark again showed great spirit by grabbing yet another try just before half time. The second half was a poor start as coach Nick called on the next team by mistake and the lack of warm up mixed with Newark finding their groove meant that two quick tries were conceded to them. Ella Abraham though has found part of the confidence that saw her become a dominant force for the Mini Minxes (seems great typing that, Mini Minxes, it just shows the effort has paid off) and some pace to run around the edge of the Newark defence to score a try. The rest of the match was the Newark and Ella show as they we the only ones to score, four more to Newark and one more for Ella. It was such a shame as the girls were just getting in to their grove as the 10 minutes were up but what we saw from all of the players filled us with so much positivity that us coaches didn't want it to end.

Melbourne v Ashfield/Chesterfield and Long Eaton
The game started with both of our teams, seem daft typing that but we can't complain about being good on numbers, started where they left off with such confidence and positivity that it wasn't too long before we were four tried to the good thanks to Skye, Sophie, Izzy and Katie Clarke. The opposition managed to put the pressure on our girls with some great rucking which saw a gap open and one that was spotted by one of their players who enjoyed a try. Katies running and Skyes eye for any space going was able to be used on the back of some great effort and work rate from the rest of the team and as a result they both managed to nap another try each. The second half saw our girls lift the throttle slightly meaning that we conceded four tries without a reply before Skye found yet another gap and grabbed one. The opposition managed to finish the game on a high with the final try but in fairness they deserved it after 8 minutes of real pressure.

The last game saw all 12 of our girls take on the away teams as one combined unit, for those who have not yet seen the age grade rugby the U13s girls should be playing 12 a side matches. The coaches didn't know what to expect as this is the first time that we have done this and we had already seen some close games just go in our favour. However it seems that the girls had no fear what so ever with Abbie and Skye both grabbing a try each in the first half and Katie getting one in the second. No we haven't been biased and forgotten to mention the tries conceded, we just didn't concede one. within a 20 minute match our girls held of some great attacking play to keep a clean sheet.

We must thank the Newark coach who kindly reffed ALL of the games, you are a star.

Tries
Abbie - 1
Ella - 2
Katie - 3
Izzy - 3
Skye - 6
Sophie - 1