Stars of the future dazzle at the College and Year 11 inspiresport Champion School Finals

There was plenty of quality Rugby League on show from some the game’s promising young players in Wakefield this week, when the DIY Kitchens Stadium hosted the College and Year 11 inspiresport Champion Schools Finals.  

You can get the run down from the day below…

Girls College Play-Off Final: Halifax Academy (4) v Leeds Rhinos Development Academy (58)

A professional performance from Leeds Rhinos Development Academy saw them crowned 2024 Girls’ College Champions following their defeat of Halifax Panthers Academy.

There was a familiar face in the dugout with former England international and current Leeds Rhinos Women’s head coach, Lois Forsell, leading the young and promising side to victory.

The Rhinos got the game off to a blistering start with S.Sharp making a break from the halfway line and weaving her way through the Halifax defence to open the scoring just a few minutes after kick off. The Rhinos continued to show their attacking prowess with H.Oxtoby, R.Walker and E.Stead also making it onto the scoresheet to make the score 30-0 going into the break.

It was Leeds again who opened the second half scoring through another well executed piece of attacking play which saw Oxtoby cross for her second of the game. Halifax got themselves on the scoresheet just a few minutes later after a good period of pressure led to C.Walker crashing over the line.

It was Leeds’ day in the end with further tries from Sharp, K.Brook and F.Blakey ending the score at 58-4 with R.Walker named Player of the Match.

Boys College Cup Final: Sigma College (22) v Carmel College (28)

Former St Helens and Salford fullback, Clive Griffiths, was on the touchline for Carmel College in what was his final game as he brought his 30-year-long coaching career across both codes to a glittering end.

The former Wales international ended his tenure with a well fought 22-28 victory to secure back-to-back Boys’ College Cup titles for the St Helens side.

It was a strong start with both defences looking sharp but Carmel got the early advantage through J.O’Keeffe with J.Shum successfully converting to make it 6-0 with a quarter of an hour gone.

At this point Sigma began to pile on the pressure and their patience was soon rewarded when K.Lesniewski played a dummy in the left hand corner to give the Essex side their first points of the game with C.Bannister also crossing just a short while later.

The momentum soon swinged back to Carmel though who eventually finished the half 16-10 ahead thanks to tries from M.Roberts and O’Keeffe – who was named Player of the Match after bagging a hat-trick on the day.

Sigma’s K.Lilo scored twice towards the end of the second half to make it a nervy ending but the Lancashire side clung on to eventually be crowned champions.

Year 11 Girls’ Final: Castleford Academy (Yorkshire, 22) v St Peter’s Catholic High School (NW, 16)

The future stars of the Women’s game showed plenty of promise in the Year 11 Girls’ Final with Castleford Academy eventually coming away champions after a hard-fought victory against St Peter’s Catholic High School. 

It was a close encounter for much of the game with St Peter’s A.McCarthy breaking the deadlock early on before a wonderful run from F.Chalkley drew in their defence to leave K.Cox in space in the right hand corner and level the scores for Castleford.

As the half drew to a close the Yorkshire side began to give away needless penalties which McCarthy eventually capitalized on to nudge her team ahead and just as it looked like the Wigan team would go into halftime with a 10-6 lead T.Sant came out of nowhere to draw Castleford level.

Neither side wanted to give anything up in the second half with both Chalkley and H.Leyland scoring to keep the scores level with 15 minutes left on the clock – but at this point Castleford began to take control.

Player of the Match Chalkley secured her hattrick with ten minutes to go, and although St Peter’s remained a threat, they gave away a last-minute penalty right in front of the sticks which Sant converted to kill the game at 22-18 in Castleford’s favour.

Year 11 Boys’ Final: Castleford Academy (Yorkshire, 24) v St Peter’s Catholic High School (NW, 08)

The final fixture of the day was a repeat of last year’s Year 10 Boys’ Final but this time round it was Castleford Academy who earned bragging rights after they defeated St Peter’s Catholic High School.

It took them just three minutes to open the scoring with T.Sharpe bulldozing his way through the St Peter’s defence to kick things off and from this point St Peter’s struggled to match up to their opponent’s physicality. 

The Yorkshire side continued to attack throughout the first half with Sharpe making a promising break 20 minutes in but was caught by the St Peters defence but not before he could offload to B.Bellwood who went on to add another four points to the score board. A further brace from F.Jeffels and two J.Hardy conversions ended the first half at 20-0 to Castleford.

N.Hassan and B.Platt scored St Peter’s only points of the game in the second half, but any hope of a comeback was spoiled when Sharpe scored his second of the game with twelve minutes to go and the fixture eventually finished 24-08.