Virginia victorious in Magherafelt

Playing 13 a side with a swirling wind behind them Virginia opted to receive the kick off.

Emma at 12 only started rugby this season received the ball & drove straight the Enniskillen defensive line. Often this year other teams would have parted the waters and she would have been clean through. Not this time, time after time she and Shauna drove hard only to be hammered back by the colossal Skins midfield. Ably assisted by their towering back row skins made Virginia work for every breakdown and for every carry.

Isla at 9 was heard to say no scrum half multiple times as the skins jackallers were so quick. Thankfully she's built like a back row, as are half of the team so there was always someone to pick and pass when cover was given to the tackled player.

The game was played between the 22s and inside the 15s so on a compact pitch space was at a premium as Virginia's big ball carriers of Izzy, Tilly and Ella were repeatedly repelled.

It's often said that pressure is for tyres but with too much pressure the tyre will burst, that held true today as after repeated penalties Virginia breached the line with Emma getting through.

Receiving the ball again Virginia drove hard down the middle and having found their hands started to throw it about with Ella and Izzy making ground & Tilly and Rebecca covering. Quick ball to Jess, who marched the team around the paddock with aplomb meant the ubiquitous Casey along with the midfield could make space for the greyhounds Lily and Layla to pin the ears and spin up the outside channels.

More tries quickly followed with Emma crossing again and full back Abbie Mae shooting into the line for a third.

17-0 at half time heart rate at 150 and blood pressure through the roof.

Second half playing into the wind we needed to get our hands on the ball and get an early score to prevent a Skins comeback.

Emma duly obliged and having tackled everything in maroon that even the Skins coaches stood danger she turned over a skins carrier just outside their 22 and picked and drove. Resembling a train in India with people hanging off her everywhere she dived over to complete her hat trick.

Meanwhile our powerful number 8 Dearbhla, also in her maiden year at Rugby, made serious ground, causing chaos in the Enniskillen rearguard often taking two or three players to halt her progress.

The rest of the game was all Virginia as they repeatedly carried hard, forwards and backs combining. Ella relishing the open ground was eating up the yards, Izzy made her customary big carries while Rebecca danced around players like Zebedee from the magic roundabout and our number 6 leaving Casey shaped dents in the opposition.

Tilly quietly was going about her business keeping the Skins jackallers honest and doing the unseen dirty work that needs to be done but that most people don't appreciate. Her tireless effort allowed Dearbhla to cross for a score.

The strength in depth that this team has was proven by the fact that the pack was replaced with Danielle,Keefa, Hannah, Bella, Chloe B and Ava without making any difference in the team performance. If anything the girls got better.

With Chloe Mac also coming in for Lily who played a blinder on the wing there was plenty of time for more scores.

At one stage infinity ball was called and after a seemingly infinite number of picks and goes Jess breached the line and dotted down. This score was no more than she deserved as her leadership along with Casey was key to keeping the opposition at bay for the whole game while masterminding an outstanding attacking effort.

Whereas in the first half Isla was at the bottom of every ruck, in the second half she was at the back of them and her ability to get quick ball was key to unlocking the defence. one such time the ball went from one touchline to the other with silky skills, backs eating up the turf and when the ball came to Layla she turned on the afterburners and scorched into the corner.

Final score today was 39-0 and but for some serious work across the park it would have been a different result altogether.

The Virginia girls had success today winning the shield, however , success is not only measured in winning.

At the start of the season we thought we were in for a torrid year with expected numbers of less than 15. That we had 22 there today is testament to a bigger club effort.

We would like to acknowledge the work of our antipodean Ccro Jon for all of his work in the schools and this combined with the excellent give it a try programme run by our youth comvenor Schalk (to name but two) resulted in us having the numbers

Of today's 22 - Layla, Emma, dearbhla, Ella, Rebecca, Danielle only started playing rugby this year and made significant contributions to a fantastic season. Several others having joined the year before.

On top of that Keefa, Izzy, dearbhla and Ella all made ulster development squads.

All in all a successful year with a nice piece of silverware to finish it off.

Thank you to the parents for ensuring the girls got to training, to matches and also for their work in the club on match days.

Thank you finally to Kerri, Ciaran and Colin for their work with the girls as they played an entertaining brand of rugby throughout the season.