The inspiresport Champion Schools Finals are taking place today at Kingston Park, home of Newcastle Thunder. Today’s event features six finals, from Years 7 to 10, with the Year 10 Girls already being decided at Super League’s Magic Weekend and the Year 7 Boys final taking place at Wembley Stadium in August.
Match reports from today’s games…
Year 7 Girls Final: Archbishop Sentamu (Hull) 18 v Malet Lambert (Hull) 40
Maria Eldon delivered one of the all-time greatest Champion Schools performances as Malet Lambert overcame a spirited Archbishop Setamu side to claim bragging rights in Hull.
Two outstanding tries from Geisy Amado-Fernandes, who displayed an astonishing sidestep and turn of speed, had helped ‘Archie’s’ to a 14-12 half-time lead, though solo efforts from Eldon and Laylah Beecher ensured Mallet remained well in contention.
And the second half belonged almost entirely to Malet and their player-of-the-match Eldon, who added a further four sensational tries to her first half effort and kicked six conversions from to give her a personal haul of 32 points.
It wasn’t completely one-way traffic, however, as the smallest player on the pitch, Nevaeh Dunn, grabbed a late consolation score for Archie’s as the clock ticked down. And captain Lilly Robinson, a hat-trick hero against St John Fisher of Wigan in the semi-final, continued to impress.
But Malet had the final say, with Mia Morfitt scoring in the dying seconds to make the final score 40-18.
Year 8 Girls Final: St Peter’s RC High School (Manchester) 6 v Trinity Academy (Leeds) 20
Trinity Academy made history earlier this year by reaching the Yorkshire Cup Final for the first time – and they went one better at Kingston Park today to claim the Year 8 Girls crown.
St Peter’s were always competitive – in attack and defence – but simply couldn’t hit the heights that won this group the Year 7 title last year.
A second-half Kelly Okeke aside, St Peter’s lacked the finesse needed to breakdown a tight Trinity defence ably marshalled by player-of-the-match Ellie Kelly. Kelly herself was a try scorer in the first half – a piece of individual brilliance bamboozling the St Peter’s defence – while wingers Milan Wilkes and Harleigh-Jayde Lewis both scored opportunists’ tries either side of Kelly’s effort.
Okeke’s try briefly hinted at a St Peter’s comeback, but Talia Koroma’s solo effort with minutes remaining sealed victory for Trinity.
Year 8 Boys: Bridgewater High School (Warrington) 0 v Castleford Academy 34
Castleford Academy have enjoyed great success in the Champion Schools competition over the years – and the production line just keeps on rolling. Or in this case, steamrollering.
Their Year 8 squad won at Year 7 in 2022 and the way they started this game left Bridgewater in no doubt of their determination to triumph again in ’23.
Classy Cas’ were out of the starting blocks in a flash, their forwards laying the platform for skilful half-back Fletcher Sheldrake to create a first minute try for centre Gabe Famurewa. Bridgewater, who made it all the way to the Year 7 final last season, were rattled and failed to find any kind of foothold in the game as forwards Tom Lloyd and Ellis Johnson added further first half tries for Cas’ Academy.
A 16-0 half-time lead was soon extended by prop Craig Tshuma, whose rampaging run through the heart of the Bridgewater defence and swerve around the full-back to score surely makes him a contender for Our League Try of the Week.
Wirth Castleford’s pack proving too hot to handle, full-back Drew Wilby was next to benefit as he strode through a back-peddling Bridgewater defence. Player-of-the-match Johnson added the extras to extend his side’s lead to 28-0, then converted his own try to make the final score a convincing 34-0.
Year 9 Girls: Castleford Academy (Wakefield) 22 v Malet Lambert (Hull) 0
Last year, a breath-taking hat-trick from Beau Owens helped Castleford Academy come from behind to claim the Year 8 title against Malet Lambert – but this time round, they were in control from the start.
Castleford began confidently and opened the scoring within three minutes after Beau Kenny initiated a quick passage of play which allowed Bethany Higgins to break and cross the whitewash.
The Wakefield side, coached by York Valkyrie’s Lacey Owen, quickly added to the scoreboard again through Evie Gee who touched down on the right-hand side of the posts to open up a 10-point lead.
The winger got her second try just moments later with Ruby Darley scoring just before half time to make it 18-0 heading into the break.
Malet made a promising start to the second half with Paz Cooper playing a vital role in pushing her team forward, but Castleford’s defence stood strong to deny the Hull side any scoring opportunities.
In the final ten minutes, player-of-the-match Higgins made a fantastic run down the left and completed a hat-trick to make the final score 22-0.
Year 9 Boys: Standish Community High (Wigan) 30 v Bridgewater High School (Warrington) 16
Standish Community High School have been dominant in local and regional competitions and the Year 9 Boys continued this legacy today.
The fixture started as a tight and cagey affair with Standish taking the lead in the seventh minute off the back of a scrum - a perfect pass from Matt Halton released Toby Calderbank-Mannix to open the scoring and the successful conversion from Halton made it 6-0.
The Wigan side capitalised off the back of a scrum once again just a few minutes later with Halton taking advantage and crossing the whitewash.
With a quarter of an hour gone Bridgewater began to grow into the game and responded through Freddy Hartill, but just five minutes later, their opposition made it a hat-trick of scores from the scrum with Halton instrumental again – this time setting up Alfie Silcock to make it 14-4 at the end of the half.
Standish were the first to score in the second half through player-of-the-match Halton who converted his own try to make it 20-4.
With 20 minutes to go, Tyreece Swinton gave Bridgewater hope when he carried the ball over the line and Hartill pulled off a brilliant conversion to bring the score to 20-10 but tries from Toby Housley and Halton put the game out of reach and the game finished 30-16.
Year 10 Boys: Castleford Academy (Wakefield) 12 v St Peter's Catholic High School (Wigan) 14
The days final fixture was dramatic from start to finish with the final five minutes one for the history books.
After a lively opening quarter, Jacob Longden made a run down the wing with Rhys Firth eventually breaking the deadlock and Jacob Hardy completing his conversion to make it 6-0.
With Castleford taking the lead, St Peter’s began to pile on the pressure and replied through Ethan Smith who slipped through the defence to earn himself four points with the successful conversion from Zak Bielecki levelling the score at 6 apiece.
St Peter’s got the second half off to a flying start and scored their second try of the game within the opening ten minutes and just moments later it was Castleford’s turn to respond – Longden delivered a sublime pass to Hardy just past the halfway line with the stand off then racing to cross the whitewash with his conversion giving the side a 12-10 lead.
The final ten minutes were a scrappy affair and a run from Shea O’Connor and Smith looked like it could put St Peter’s back in the lead but a brilliant hit from Taylor Sharpe ended with a knock on and a penalty to Castleford.
With just two minutes left on the clock, Castleford looked as if they’d won it when Longden caught a loose ball and made it to the try line, only for his effort to be deemed offside. St Peters dug in deep and drove themselves forward from the penalty and created an overlap that left Lincoin Gladwin free to score the winning try to end the score at 14-12 with the crowds going wild.
