MURRAYFIELD Wanderers’ full-back Chloe Rollie paid tribute to her side’s forwards after they won the Sarah Beaney Cup yesterday.
In the end, Wandies came out on top 30-10 at BT Murrayfield, but early on they had been under pressure from Hills and the pack had to step up to the challenge.
They did just that and Rollie, the Scotland international who scored two tries, said: “We knew that it would be a tough match and when they went ahead we had to get switched on and really play our own game.
“We could see that the forwards were under a bit of pressure, but they stood up and battled on and when we got the ball out to the backs we tried to use our pace to cause the opposition problems.
“For me personally it was great to finally play a senior match out on the big pitch at the national stadium as I only moved to the club last summer from Melrose.”
The victory is the 12th time since the tournament began in 2001 that Wandies have lifted the trophy.
In the early exchanges Hills had the upper hand and it was no great surprise when they took the lead through a try by Megan Gaffney.
However, Wandies are made of strong stuff and they hit back with two tries in three minutes around the half hour mark.
They came from Helen Nelson and then Rollie, the second one seeing the latter racing up the left wing and diving over.
It remained 10-5 until the break and the game was in the balance, but then Wandies stretched their advantage further in the 47th minute.
Once again it was Rollie going over and skipper Lisa Martin converted to make it 17-5. Hills got a lifeline through a Jemma Forsyth try and as the last 20 minutes began they were seven points behind.
Wandies killed off the match though with a Rhona Lloyd double, the second try coming after a 70-metre burst up the wing by the Scotland player.
Martin then kicked a penalty in the closing stages to keep the trophy in Edinburgh.
Meanwhile, on the back pitches Watsonians and Glasgow University picked up trophies.
Isla Millar scored two tries for Watsonians as they defeated Stirling County 25-22 to win the BT Women’s Plate and earlier in the day Glasgow University had defeated Howe Harlequins 15-0 to claim the BT Women’s Bowl.
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