Captain Steff Potter said it felt “amazing” and that she was “absolutely speechless” after leading Gala to women’s National Bowl success on the Murrayfield back pitches on Saturday.
The Borderers came out on top 45-5 in front of a great crowd with both teams well supported in a match played in the lead up to the Scotland-France Women’s Six Nations round four clash.
Both teams then got their medals – and Gala the trophy – at Hive Stadium at half-time during the international.
“This feels amazing, I am absolutely speechless,” said winning skipper Potter.
“I am so proud of how far this team has come and the way that we’ve built things up in recent years.
“I kept saying to the players on the pitch, everything we’ve done at training has literally translated into what we are doing now and we played really well when it mattered most in the final against a good Falkirk team.
“We were 14-0 up at half-time and just kept building from there and it really clicked in the second half.
“I think when we first started the women’s section at Gala four years ago there was five of us running around on the back pitches down at Netherdale.
“And we’ve just grown and grown. There’s mums on the team, there’s students on the team, there is older players on the team, there is newer players on the team and we just all love training and playing matches with each other.”
One of Gala’s more experienced players Nicola Halfpenny, the former Scotland cap, was key to this win and was named player of the match.
“I call her the puppet master,” scrum-half Potter joked about the stand-off.
“She literally just pulls strings that you didn’t even know were there and suddenly there’s a gap and somebody’s through.
“She’s an amazing mentor to have for the younger players.”
Dayna Anderson, Kara Cairns, Morgan Stewart, Gemma Stoddart, Emma Hackney and Leigh-Anne Stewart (2) were the Gala try scorers here while Halfpenny converted four of them and Cairns one.
Catherine Pollock scored the only try for a Falkirk side who lost skipper Morven Hylands through injury in the first half.
They can be very proud of how they have grown in a couple of years despite this loss and they won the Aspiring League before Christmas.
Falkirk said on social media: “Congratulations to Gala who were well deserved winners the final.
“We are all incredibly proud of Falkirk’s women for the journey they’ve been on to reach this final and also proud of the level of support shown by all sections of the club for the team.”
- Watsonians won the Sarah Beaney Cup, Broughton won the women’s National Shield and Lenzie won the women’s National Plate on April 25 on Silver Saturday.
Gala are pictured with the trophy – thanks to Gareth Falls
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