Minxes U13 awesome at Amber Valley's PUP

Despite a very foggy morning, the Minxes were greeted with a wealth of sunshine at Amber Valley's PUP, and with nearly a full contingent of Minxes (13 girls) meant they could play as one team without clustering with another side.

With teams from Long Eaton, Kesteven, Mansfield x 2, Matlock and Amber Valley this meant the girls had a full afternoon of games ahead of them.

Game 1 against Long Eaton; some strong carries using leg drives from several players, superb body position from Delia at rucks and also from the supporting players, superb footwork from Miller to beat four players to score. When the score was running away a little, James added the condition that they had to pass the ball 3 times from the ruck before they could score.

Game 2 against Mansfield A; from our previous encounters we knew this was going to be a challenge. Initially the girls seemed to rush things and put in some panic passes, however after going 2-0 down they settled into the game with good use of the boot to clear the lines with an effective chase. Another kick chase put the pressure on Mansfield which forced the knock on. The girls were moving the ball through hands a lot better in this game to put Evie through a gap in the defence and she stretched her legs to run in a full-length try. Learnt a hard lesson in this game; final play, 4-3 up, just kick the ball out rather than let the opposition score to make it a 4-4 draw...

Game 3 against Kesteven; again another tough match but the girls were switched on having almost beaten Mansfield A. Mya showed what she is capable of with her strong leg drive in contact which carried her over the line to score. A well taken clearance kick by Abigail led to a great chase by Eleanor to score. A great win although they did switch off a little and allowed Kesteven to run in two tries in the middle of the game.

Game 4 against Matlock & Amber Valley; Some superb ball handling to move the ball away from pressure by Eleanor led to a great try. Unselfish play on more than one occasion was evident with the girls passing the ball between players allowing Amy to score in the corner. Strong tackles while ripping the ball at the same time led to another try.

Game 5 against Mansfield B; Repeated pressure at our restart kicks allowed the minxes to gather and score, however James soon conditioned the game as there was no support running when attacking.

So many positives to take from today from so many players - however "girl of the game" went to Eleanor for a superb overall effort.

Many thanks to Amber Valley for hosting a great PUP, and to Pete Haskell for organising all the U13 teams. A great showcase of girls rugby.