Hollingworth best in Britain

Hollingworth Business and Enterprise College Year 9 girls rugby team celebrate

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Hollingworth Business and Enterprise College have again been crowned National Champions, defeating old foes Castleford Academy 28-10 in a pulsating final in London.

The year 9 girls, victorious in the 2011 final, were outstanding and thoroughly deserved the victory.

Playing at Harlequins Twickenham Stoop, the Rochdale girls, coached by Link4Life’s Danny Pyke, were fully prepared after a training session at Feltham’s Sports College and did absent Coach Mr Shaun Brown proud.

From the off the well drilled outfit stuck to the game plan, putting in some crunching tackles in defence and using nimble footwork to put the much bigger Castleford pack on the back foot.

Player of the match Holly Coburn set the tone early in the game, when a deep kick from a scrum, chased by Chloe Webster and Shannon Laycock, forced the error and set up possession deep in Castleford territory.

The girls attacked with pace and power and, after good runs by Hannah Kenton and Rachel Warburton, the powerful Armani Khaliq, held off 4 would be scorers to power over from ten metres, Coburn adding the extras.

Castleford responded, working the ball down field and scoring in the corner, levelling the game at 6-6 through danger player Brogan Churn.

Cheered on by a large travelling contingent, the Hollingworth girls continued to graft in attack and defence, with a high shot on Patsy Lindley giving the girls a fourth consecutive set in a good position.

From the resulting play, Captain Sophie Holden took the ball to the line before popping a neat offload to Coburn, and she made no mistake with the line at her mercy.

Castleford again responded on the next set, as Hollingworth failed to move up in defence and allowed Brogan Churn to add to her earlier try and score under the posts. With the conversion successful, the scores were tied at 12-12.

Hollingworth then changed their game plan, attacking through centres Alex James and Patsy Lindley, creating space in the Castleford line and allowing Coburn to again run over her opposite number. The conversion was successful, leaving the half time score 18-12 in favour of Hollingworth.

The second half started with a much improved defence from the Rochdale Girls, with the Castleford forwards not given any room to run. With Castleford frustrated in attack, Hollingworth turned the screw.

A high kick from Coburn, touched down by Jess Hopkins, was disallowed for a marginal off side.

It was a matter of patience, as wave after wave of attack pounded the Castleford Line. In the end, it was Coburn who made the decisive score, stepping through a gap to claim an impressive hat trick. The kick was missed, and, as the rain started to come down, the score stood at 22-12, with 6 minutes left on the clock.

Hollingworth again showed their strength in depth and again changed the game plan, keeping the ball tight and adapting to the slippery conditions far better than the Castleford team.

Hollingworth, trapped deep in their half, found their way out after Chloe Webster fielded a high bomb superbly in the wet conditions and set off on a 60 metre charge down filed, resulting in back to back penalties.

With Castleford tiring, Captain Sophie Holden seized the opportunity and ran a blistering line to score a well deserved try to put the game beyond doubt. Coburn kicked the extras and the hooter sounded, meaning a delighted Hollingworth were again crowned National Champions for a second time in three years.