Peterborough Royals reign again and will now try to conquer Chester

The city stars followed their success in the National Womens Football League Conference Division last season with top spot in Division One Central.

The only minor disappointment for the Royals was a first defeat of the league season after a tough scrap at Leicester Falcons last weekend.

Royals finished the season with seven wins and that one loss and now head for play-off football against the other top clubs in the country in Chester on September 10.

Royals travelled to their East Midlands rivals Leicester for their final divisional games of the campaign.

They tackled the hosts, and their toughest opponent in the division, first and the Falcons were out for revenge after a 26-13 defeat earlier in the season.

The Falcons started with the ball, but with the sun blazing, they failed to get any points on the board from their first possession as the Royals defence held firm.

The Royals also came unstuck on their first set of downs with ‘4 plays and out’ and this pattern continued until half-time which, unsually for this sport, finished 0-0 as offences struggled to get any momentum going in tough conditions.

Royals’ first-half highlights were a terrific interception from Jade Heales and a fumble recovery by Georgie Bowen, but they couldn’t find the points to take the lead.

It was a similar story in the second-half as defences continued to dominate until the home side ran a ‘jet sweep’ leading to a runaway touchdown for the only score of the game.

Royals tried hard to get back on terms, but Falcons’ game management was decisive.

Royals recovered to complete a hat-trick of wins this term against the struggling Sandwell Steelers who hadn’t won a game all season.

The city side claimed a safety in the first possession of the game before Heales completed a strong run to deliver her side’s first offensive points of the day.

After a fine defensive stop from Lynzi Holding, teamate Jessica Liddiard then claimed a touchdown with a speedy run down the sideline which made it 14-0.

The match was ended 30 minutes early after Sandwell suffered a couple of drop outs in the sweltering conditions with Royals awarded the win.

It’s been a dominant campaign for Royals who scored 290 points and conceded just 75 in regular season play.

Final Division One Central standings: 1 Peterborough Royals P8 W7 L1 Pts14, 2 Leicester Falcons P8 W6 D2 Pts12, 3 Norwich Devils P8 W2 L6 Pts 4, Sandwell Steelers P8 W0 L8 Pts0

Edinburgh Wolves (North) and Portsmouth Dreadnoughts (South) will be expected to provide tough opposition in the play-offs.

*For more information about how to get involved with the Peterborough Royals as a player, coach or supporter drop them a message on their social sites or via their website at www.peterboroughroyals.co.uk.

The club play home matches at Peterborough Lions Rugby Union Club at Bretton Park.