It was a measure of the success of girls’ rugby in ERGS that the coaches were able to send a Red and a Blue team off to the Schools Cup Qualifying day, hastily arranged at the superb Rainey OB RFC venue due to Friday’s poor weather. The 24 girls set off in great spirits but the heavy snow on large parts of the journey there made them a little anxious and both teams started nervously.
The Blue team lost a very tight first game to an older and more experienced Foyle College side 2-1, but they knew they’d played a below par game that they still could have won. This was to be their low point as for the rest of the day they showed their vast array of skills and beat Down HS 5-2, followed by a snow spoiled game against Carndonagh drawing 0-0 and a superb performance against Fivemiletown HS drawing 1-1, only losing out on the win by a last second try. This was enough to get them through to the quarter finals where they faced Carndonagh again, but this time the older players from Donegal were just that bit better winning 2-0. A fantastic effort with lots of tries scored!
The Red team also seemed to be still on the bus when they started slowly against Down HS going behind 2-1 early on, but a later swift response saw them run out 6-2 winners. These were the only two times they conceded a try, as for the remainder of day they beat Foyle College 5-0 and Carndonagh 3-0, and then their last group game against Fivemiletown HS 3-0. This meant the Red team topped the group and went straight into the semi-final where they faced Carndonagh, the vanquishers of the ERGS Blue team.
The ERGS girls meant business again in this game as they knew that this was the last hurdle before a place in the Ulster Girls Schools Cup Final. They took the plucky Carndonagh apart in the first half running in 6 tries and then added a final try in the second half going through 7-0 to face Royal School Armagh next Wednesday 22nd March at the Kingspan Stadium.
All support hugely welcomed.
*Video footage attached below*
