On a sunny but cold Sunday (10 November), Beckenham U15 Girls welcomed Dagenham U15 Girls to Balmoral Avenue for a National Cup qualifying game - Beckenham's second in the tournament partnering with Old Alleynians, having already beaten Dartfordians in their pool.

Beckenham started with the sun on their backs and made a confident and lively start, quickly showing their linespeed and intensity to the opposition, pinning them in their own half. Despite Beckenham's intensity the Dagenham defence held solid, until a turnover in midfield saw Beckenham work the ball quickly out wide to Bo on the wing, making strong ground before presenting the ball perfectly for Abby B who went over for the first of her brace of tries. This settled the Beckenham nerves, following which they took more control over the game, playing predominantly in the Dagenham half, and a second try swiftly followed from Rafiat.

After 20 minutes play was suspended due to an injury, with Ami suffering a broken leg from a tackle - we all wish her a very speedy recovery. Relocating to the first team pitch, and with both teams taking the opportunity to make a few substitutions, play resumed with Beckenham continuing their pressure on the Dagenham defence. Winger Rafiat left her opposite number standing, showing a burst of pace as she raced down the wing untouched to score her second of the day under the posts. Soon after, captain Abby K had her chance to score under the posts, converting her own try to make it four conversions from four.

In the second half, following several changes to the team to bring on the bench, Beckenham continued to show some good running rugby, playing a lively offload game, notably from centre Elsie who also took her turn to cross the whitewash and score. Dagenham, to their credit, continued to work hard in defence and never gave up in attack, and halfway through the second half managed to find a gap in the Beckenham defence to go over for their first try, which remained unconverted. With a couple more Beckenham scores putting the result beyond doubt, Dagenham nevertheless fought hard and scored a second well-deserved try as the final whistle went.

Another strong game for Beckenham, with stand-out performances from the backline including Mia at centre and Funto at fullback both putting in some immense tackles, scrum half Morgan continuing to improve and showing her versatility with some strong rucking, and Abby K leading the team with confidence as captain. The forwards also performed well, with Viv and Ruby making some strong carries, and Katherine running some good support lines. We're very grateful for all the supporters who came down to cheer on the girls in an exciting game, with a great result but plenty for us to still work on. We look forward to the next challenge!