York Women’s Rugby 7s 1sts claimed a convincing 22-12 win over Lancaster on Friday afternoon. After seeing the 2nds overcome the Red Rose in the morning the 1sts followed suit and claimed 2 important points for York.
It was a strong first half performance that won the game for the team in Black and Gold, with Juliet Carter putting in a Player of the Match performance with an early hat trick. She continued where she left off in the second half, scoring immediately after the break to take York’s lead to 22-0. Lancaster rallied and managed to cross the line twice after that but it was too late and York took the win.
From the off it was York that looked the stronger team with some good ball retention, an essential part of 7s rugby, allowing them to open the scoring through Carter. York’s strong offloading shone through with Carter played in down the wing to score. Giles failed to slot the conversion, York leading 5-0.
It didn’t take long for Carter to get in on the act again, some great York pressure paying dividends with Carter bundling over for her second. Giles again missed the tough conversion chance but York were well on top.
Carter showed her class once more just minutes later. Receiving the ball down the right wing she managed to evade a tackle and raced to the line, and despite being unceremoniously tackled around the neck she managed to ground the ball and York went into the break 15-0 up.
It wasn’t long after the break that Carter managed to bag her 4th, this one the pick of the lot. After some nice passing play around half way, the ball came to Carter and she showed her electric pace to outstrip the defence and race in under the posts. Giles converted this time and York led 22-0.
The Red Rose were looking down and out but managed to score twice in the last five minutes to reduce the arrears to 22-12. A fantastic performance from York secured another 2 points in the push for Roses victory.