THE Fartown ground was a hive of activity as 160 girls arrived for the a rugby league festival organised by St Joseph’s Sharks.
Teams from as far as Cumbria took part in what proved the most successful girls event ever held at the historic venue, with Joe’s fielding sides at Under 12s, 14s and 16s level.
The Under 12s only had one match and put in some hard work before going down to a very good Birstall side.
The Under 14s played some good rugby and competed well in their games, while the Under 16s teamed up with Stanningley to play three matches.
The combined team won their opening two games, the first against a team made up of Farnley, West Cumbria Wildcats and Queensbury and the second against a full Illingworth side.
The third game ended in a three-try defeat to Castleford.
The girls will now travel to Halifax tomorrow to play a festival at Illingworth.
At the same time, the boys Under 17s were beating Castleford Panthers 20-4.
Throughout the game the Panthers were trying to ‘wind up’ Tom Beaumont, who fortunately responded in the best way possible – by scoring four second-half tries!
The team stepped up a gear as Cas started to tire and, with some great kicks from Parmvir Singh and strong running from Frazer Morris, Matty Armitage and Liam Doughty, the platform was laid for Beaumont to break the visitors’ line on regular occasions.
And this victory will put the Sharks in excellent mood for this weekend’s tough trip to Leeds club Stanningley.
Meanwhile, work is on-going for the club to move their junior teams to the Yorkshire Junior League for the 2013 season after the West Riding League decided to call it a day.
Joe’s will be running teams at Under 8, Under 9 and Under 11 and will also start a new team at Under 12 age group.
Training will commence in the new year with sessions taking place at the Zone gym.
For more information, please contact Club Development Officer Steve Eastwood on 07723 721882.
Players, old and new, are welcome, particularly for the Under 9s and the new Under 12 team.
