Enniskillen Royal 10 Royal School Armagh 2

Enniskillen Royal produced an emphatic display as they secured the Girls’ 7s School Cup with a 10-2 victory over Royal School Armagh at Kingspan Stadium yesterday (Wednesday, March 22).

ERGS took an early control on proceedings to lead 3-0 after the first quarter and they built on that throughout the game to run out convincing victors in the end.

There were excellent performances throughout for ERGS with Captain Scarlett Keys named as Player of The Match, with the winger scoring five of her side’s tries on the day.

Coaches Ian Ross, Alastair Keys, Dee Colville and Lucy Thompson were delighted with the overall display.

Ross said: “We are delighted for the girls – every one of them put in the hard work and they got their rewards for it today.

“It was brilliant to see them play to their capabilities and they were able to turn on the style on the big pitch, which really suited them,” he said.

A good start

ERGS enjoyed a good start to the game and by the end of the first quarter they had opened up a 3-0 lead.

Niamh Johnston turned the ball over early on, which led to Keys opening the scoring and the Captain added a second with Chloe Moore also chipping in with a score.

Armagh Captain Kaitlyn Graham registered the first try of the second half, but with Aimee Ross distributing the ball excellently, ERGS answered with another Keys try, while Anna Wilson – who was in her first game back after medial knee ligament damage – also touched down to make it 5-1 at the halfway stage.

Wilson and Freya Brennan added to the ERGS score in the third quarter as they further extended their lead to 7-1.

Graham went over for Armagh’s second try at the start of the final quarter, but Keys was to score another two tries while Irish U-18 squad member Leah Irwin also grabbed a try as ERGS ran out 10-2 victors.

This was an all-round great team display with everybody playing their part in taking ERGS to the victory.

There was the hard running of Chloe Moore and Abi Brook, the ball-winning ability of Olivia Black and Amanda Farrell, and the strong carrying of the likes of Gemma Elliott and Victoria Benson.

The likes of Victoria Murray and Olivia Beavis also played their part in a wonderful win..

A lot of the ERGS Girls had suffered disappointment when they lost last year’s final to local rivals Erne Integrated following a tight contest, but Ross felt that the lessons from that day helped to take them to the win this year.

‘A learning curve’

“It was a narrow defeat last year but it was a learning curve for them, and they came back stronger this year.

“This was two years in the making; the girls served their apprenticeship last year and went on to win it this year with a great display against a very good Armagh side,” he added.

And with nine of the squad back again next year, there is no reason that ERGS won’t be back competing at the business end of next year’s competition too.

 

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