REDDITCH Queenfishers continued their winning streak as they claimed first place at their home tournament.
This was the Queenfishers’ second win since joining the North East region Midlands Ladies’ Touch League, however the tale of their victory panned out slightly differently from their first ever win at the previous tournament at Camp Hill.
Unlike the team’s preceding success, the group stages proved to be an unexpected difficulty.
With the pressure on and nerves about as they looked to repeat their achievements in front of a home crowd, the Queenfishers made some minor errors which left both them and their coach Garry Mills frustrated.
However, the team still reigned victorious over both Old Coventrians and Newbold as they won 5-1 and 2-0 respectively.
The Queenfishers were then entered into the highest tier pool to determine the top three positions of the competition.
The ladies were apprehensive as they knew their current performance levels would not serve them well against current league leaders Stratford and tough rivals Wellesbourne.
Fortunately for them though, the ladies were determined and stepped up their performance when it was needed the most.
The game against Stratford was hard fought and finished 0-0 draw as captain Olivia Jones and Mandy Ellicott superbly chased down a Stratford player in the last few minutes of the game to prevent the opposition claiming victory.
The top league positions were decided by the last game as the Queenfishers played Wellesbourne who they had beaten in their last final to win the previous tournament.
Yet again Redditch showed great stamina and fitness and scored four tries to secure top spot on the day.
Unlike in the Camp Hill event when Jones dominated the scoring stakes with ten tries, this event saw the scores shared around as seven of the ten-strong squad got on the scoresheet, including Ellicott who scored three tries and Chloe Payne and Christine Walker who scored two tries apiece.
After a brilliant set of performances on a scorching hot day, Ellicott was named player of the tournament for Redditch Queenfishers.
The ladies would like to thank family members and club volunteers for their help with organisation on the day and members of the Redditch men’s senior teams who gave vocal support from the sidelines.
