A chilly January day greeted the opening day of the 2025 U14 Girls Surrey Quins Cup. Thanks to the hosts all-weather pitch we were the only game to go ahead. The previous meeting between these sides ended with a 48-5 victory for the Quins/Teddington cluster, so expectations were high. Since that first match we have welcomed Guildfordians into the cluster to provide more cover and a bigger squad (Tinfordians are born!). So this was new ground for all with only one joint training session under our belts. We fielded a strong team to start the match and were met with an even stronger Whoppers (Wasps/Twickenham/Grasshoppers) team conceding the first try after only 2 minutes. Our defensive effort was much better after conceding early, with the scrum holding up well and securing the ball well at the breakdown producing timely turnovers allowing swift transition into attack. Tinfordians started to get into the match and went from cold to warm to hot in the space of the next 20 minutes, producing some sublime handling in the cold and putting away 3 fast moving team tries from Daisy, Isobel and Eirynn in the final minutes of the first half to make it 5 - 15 at halftime.

With a change around at half-time we switched the whole front row and most of the pack and brought on a much changed three quarters line up. We started fast in the second half with a cracking team effort which saw Brishelle go over for the fourth try to take us into a 15 point lead. Unfortunately, we then took our foot off the gas and allowed the Whoppers back into the game conceding 2 tries in a ten minute period where we lost our discipline and gave away some needless penalties that lead to missed tackles and some soft scores. Going into the last 3 minutes of standard time there was only a single score between the sides and the opposition were on the charge.

With the clock running down and the pressure on, the Whoppers came at us with everything they had, but we stood firm. Finding the conviction to close the game out we forced them into their own 22 and they had no option but to try and clear their lines by kicking out. This fell nicely into our hands and we continued to pressure their try line, recycling the ball and maintaining possession, driving hard and pushing for the final blow in the match. The girls did magnificently and got their just rewards with Zia going over under the posts for the fifth try, completed with a conversion from Millie to round out the match 15-27.

After a strong all round team effort and some excellent support play it was a fantastic game of rugby to watch with so many stand out performances by individuals. Player of the match as voted for by the coaches went to Bella from Guildfordians who kept the right hand side of the pitch well defended, not allowing anyone through and making several try saving tackles. Bella turned defence into attack on many occasions and was unselfish in setting up tries for the team.

With a little break now before our second cup match in February we have some time to focus on upskilling certain areas of our game. For now let’s enjoy our win and try not to get too comfortable at the top of the table. COYQs