Bolton Amazons girls Under-14’s rugby team made the short journey to Rochdale last Sunday for friendly warm-up games in preparation for round two of cup games in the next few weeks.

The Bolton team were joined by seven girls from Glossop to make a full 15 side and the first game was against Littleborough, who put out a strong line-up in both attack and defence.

In the first 10 minutes, Littleborough was quick to break through the away team’s defensive line and head for the try line.

A short while later Littleborough attempted to score again, but brave defensive work from Maddie Iredale saved a certain try. She tackled the Littleborough player close to the line and with the help of Bolton’s forwards, they made sure the ball was held up. With Maddie putting her body on the line, she came off injured but was soon back later for the second half.

The game continued, and Bridget Stone displayed great passing and accuracy to the backs. Bolton took time to get their heads into the game before finally putting their show on in the second half. Hard tackles and strong running took the attack closer and closer to the try line, but the ball was turned over five metres out.

The Amazons showed determination with Holly Turner and Iona Barnes winning the ball in the rucks. Erin Shaw made multiple strong runs, offloading to Phillipa Irving, and when the ball was passed along the line to winger Sophie Stone, she made good metres.

As the game continued, the girls worked harder than ever defensively with some standout tackling from Betty Weall. They started to look like a team and their passing along the back line opened up opportunities in the Littleborough defence, giving them hope they might get on the scoreboard.

However, it was not to be and the Littleborough side was just too strong, however there were many close attempts. The end score was 17-0 to Littleborough, with three tries and one converted.

A short gap between games gave the girls time to regroup and see what could be done to better themselves against Chester.

A first try came from Chester who ran through a gap in the middle of the defence before the Bolton girls decided to ‘sort their defensive line and leave no gaps.

It was Bolton’s turn to attack next and great supportive play from Weall and Eilidh Burns to get into Chester’s 22, earning the Amazons a penalty. Felicity Redford picked the ball up and decided to go quickly - she ran for the line and Holly Turner latched on to drive over together.

Chester reacted almost straight away with a try down the wing, with great supportive play between the winger and the centre. Ellie Winn, Felicity Redford and Maddie Iredale showed their immense strength in the scrum and Eloise Ryder, who took over the role of scrum-half in the absence of Eve Barrow, was a great communicator throughout, which meant she was able to distribute the ball appropriately.

Amazons fought back again for territory, gaining a penalty just outside the 22. Iona Barnes kicked it into touch gave Bolton a lineout. From the lineout, Holly Turner took the ball down the blindside and scored from a set move.

More fierce rugby from both sides resulted in two more tries for each team, Aisha Abdi running down the wing and using her fancy footwork before offloading to Daisy from Glossop, who supported her and drove her legs to get over the try line.

A final try for Bolton came from Eilidh Burns when she picked up from the back of the ruck to go over from a short distance. The final score was 22-20 to Bolton. The Glossop girls, many of whom have only just moved up to U14s from the U12s demonstrated great supporting play throughout.

The coaches’ award went to Betty Weall and Iona Barnes for their hard work. Betty also got Players’ Player, while Maddie Iredale was awarded Captain’s Player and Holly Turner was chosen by the Glossop coach as his player of the match.