Jersey Girls take out inaugural George Tooke Women’s Touch Football Competition
The grand-final of the inaugural George Tooke Shield Women’s Touch Football Competition was held last Saturday at Binalong between the Binalong Jersey Girls and Harden Hawkettes.
In front of a strong home crowd, the Jersey Girls got off to a flying start with Madaline Brayshaw crossing the line in the first set of the game. Minutes later Bronwyn Pollack was able to beat some tired defence to give the home side a 2-0 lead.
The Hawkettes looked to be out on their feet with the pace of the game and it wasn’t long before Jess Howard was able to record another touchdown for the Jersey Girls giving them a 3-0 lead at halftime.
The second half saw the Jersey Girls turn up the intensity, with touchdowns to Tammy Ware and Jess Howard recording her second for the day. The Hawkettes were able to gain some possession halfway through the half and were able to capitalise with touchdowns to Georgia Smith and Shauny McEvoy. However it would not be Harden’s day, as Bronwyn Pollack crossed the line to score her second touchdown and with only minutes to go Jenna Cooke was able to score to record the Binalong Jersey Girls 7-2 winners and crowned the inaugural George Tooke Women’s Touch Football Competition Premiers.
Speaking with Karen Ebsworth from the Canberra Region Rugby League after the match she mentioned she was happy with how the season had gone. “The competition has been great for the women in the region, for years we have tried to form a league-tag competition with no luck, but on the back of the Touch Football/NRL Partnership we have been able to establish this competition. I hope we are able to expand the competition into the Canberra Cup competition next year and create a strong link between the rugby league clubs and touch football clubs in the area and allowing more women to be involved in this great initiative.”
Madaline Brayshaw, captain of the Jersey Girls stated that she was happy with the girls performance over the season. “The girls have put in a lot of effort of the past 3-4 months with training and travelling to games. I have enjoyed every minute of the competition and enjoyed playing with the girls each week.”
Bronwyn Pollack was awarded the most touchdown award for the season with an astonishing 31 touchdowns through the round games and finals.
Jenna Cooke was awarded Most Valuable Player for her tireless effort in defence and working the ball out for her team in attack.
Touch Football ACT would like to thank all those involved including the Canberra Region Rugby League, the George Tooke Shield clubs, the officials and of course the players who without would not of been able to establish and run such a successful inaugural competition.
