York Valkyrie were unable to retain their Women’s Nines title after suffering a 12-4 defeat to Wigan Warriors in the Semi-Finals at the AJ Bell Stadium.
York topped Group ‘B’ after a narrow 11-10 win over Betfred Challenge Cup holders St Helens before breezing past Betfred Women’s Super League South champions Cardiff Demons 23-0.
The Valkyrie however fell short to Wigan, losing by two scores to the Warriors, who went to suffer a 21-8 defeat to Leeds Rhinos in the Final.
York Valkyrie 11-10 St Helens
York kickstarted their Finals Day with a thrilling 11-10 victory against St Helens, with a strong first-half display earning the win.
York made the perfect start when Savannah Andrade offloaded for Liv Gale to waltz in from close range for a bonus five-point try.
Liv Whitehead furthered the Valkyrie’s lead when racing in at the right corner from Tamzin Renouf’s pass.
Tara Jane Stanley converted the former but not the latter score for an 11-0 lead at the break.
Eboni Partington hit back shortly after half-time from an overlap down the left edge.
Phoebe Hook’s try, converted by Faye Gaskin, left York leading by just a solitary point, but the Valkyrie held on to win their Finals Day opener.
York: Stanley, Whitehead, Renouf, Gale, Wood, Peach, Owen, Andrade, Hyde
Interchanges: Kershaw, Rihari, Marshall, Lambert, Hetherington, Hendry
Tries: Gale (7’), Whitehead (9’)
Goals: Stanley (1/2)
York Valkyrie 23-0 Cardiff Demons
York booked their place in the Semi-Finals after a convincing 23-0 win over Cardiff Demons, inspired by four tries from Tara Jane Stanley.
The reigning Woman of Steel opened the scoring after four minutes when side-stepping over the whitewash before Georgie Hetherington doubled the lead out of dummy-half.
Hetherington injured herself in the process of scoring, having to be removed from the field by a stretcher.
Stanley grabbed a second before half-time, again the Valkyrie scoring out of dummy-half.
The full-back completed her hat-trick shortly after the restart, diving in at the left corner and claimed a fourth try after breaking clear from 30m out.
York: Stanley, Whitehead, Renouf, Gale, Wood, Peach, Owen, Andrade, Hyde
Interchanges: Kershaw, Taylor, Rihari, Marshall, Hetherington, Smith
Tries: Hetherington (8’), Stanley (4’, 10’, 11’, 14’)
Goals: Stanley (1/5)
York Valkyrie 12-4 Wigan Warriors
York’s run in the Women’s Nines was ended by Wigan, who prevailed 12-4 in the pair’s Semi-Final clash.
Mary Coleman fended off Stanley down the right edge to open the scoring inside the opening couple of minutes before Molly Jones crossed down the opposite flank moments later.
Wigan extended their 8-0 half-time lead to 12-0 when Kerrie Evans finished a right-flank overlap, meaning that Bettie Lambert’s late score was a mere consolation.
York: Stanley, Whitehead, Renouf, Gale, Wood, Peach, Owen, Andrade, Hyde
Interchanges: Kershaw, Taylor, Rihari, Marshall, Lambert, Hendry
Tries: Lambert (16’)
Goals: Gale (0/1)
