Stratford Ladies settle for third in home tournament

STRATFORD Ladies’ touch team had to settle for a third-place finish at their home tournament on Sunday after dominating the previous Super Sunday event, writes Amy Flynn.

The two sides of the Midlands Ladies’ Touch League came together again at Stratford RFC for the second combined tournament of the year, with 12 sides battling the heat for another competitive and fun day.

Stratford faced rivals Camp Hill first claiming a 2-0 win with tries from Steph Huber and Maddie Massey.

In the second game, new opposition Bredon Star were no match for the Stratford cohort as Huber ran in a hat-trick down the wing, securing a 3-0 victory.

These results put Stratford into the cup competition once again, playing against the same three teams from last month’s contest to determine the top four finishing places.

With great defence by both teams, the game against Ross-on-Wye finished in a 0-0 draw.

Local rivals Redditch were next. After an early try by the opposition, the Black and Whites came straight back to make the game level.

Redditch took the lead again, only for captain, Jane McGovern, to score in the corner to make it 2-2 with a minute to go.

Due to a split second lack of concentration from the defence, Redditch were able to claim the victory, concluding in Stratford’s first defeat of the tournament.

The final game was against Pershore, with the team showing stamina and determination to finish the exhausting day with a 1-1 draw.

Rosi Bassi was congratulated for playing superbly in her first tournament and gratitude was shown to the Canadian birthday girl, Catherine Labreche, and French speedster, Steph Huber, as this was their final tournament before they return home.

Massey, impressed with her work rate throughout the day, earning her Stratford’s Player of the Tournament award.

Training is on every Tuesday evening at 6.30pm at the Loxley Road club and the team are welcoming new players.