MALVERN Angels flew the flag for Worcestershire in the Midlands Inter-County Girls' Tag Festival on Sunday.

Twenty Angels made the journey to Five Ways OE RFC and faced teams representing Greater Birmingham, Shropshire, Stafford-shire and Warwickshire.

Two pools were organised, with each county having a team in each. For the Angels, Team A was captained by Lauren Davis and Team B by Emily Jones.

Team B were unfortunately out-classed and lost all their games.

However, their improvement throughout the day was tremendous, especially as they were playing the best squads in the Midlands.

Team work was a key element, with outstanding runs from newcomer Natalie Fairweather and strong defence from Charlotte Cooper.

Having won the West Midlands Tag Festival last year, fingers were crossed for the A team.

The opposition was a lot stronger than the side had experienced before and they had an unsettling start, losing by one point to Greater Birmingham.

Matches were longer and more physical than expected. Thank-fully, after a team-talk from the captain and loud support from the Malvern audience at Five Ways, performance picked up.

The side went on to beat Warwickshire 9-3, Staffordshire 7-4 and Shropshire 6-3.

Having won three out of four games, the Angels fully anticipated a place the final.

However, in a testament to the standard of players, another three counties had also won three games.

There was then a nailbiting delay as the number of tries scored and conceded were worked out.

Finally, the officials called for Worcestershire and Warwickshire.

The B team had played Warwickshire and lost by six points so it was going to be a tough ride.

However, with the strongest players identified, cover could be provided by more experienced squad members, namely Lauren Davies, Sophie George and Olivia Basten.

At the end of the first half the Angels were two points up and were adamant they would not lose the game. With that determination, they went on the win by five.

Player-of-the-match for the A-team went to Olivia Basten, with 15 tries in five matches. For the B-team, it was Emily Jones, the top try-scorer and a good captain.

The Malvern/Worcestershire A squad received trophies for their efforts and had a great day out. They look forward to defending the title for the county next year.

On Sunday, Malvern Angels are playing Hucclecote from Gloucester at Spring Lane. Kick-off is at 2.30pm and support is welcome. It is the team's last game before entering the leagues next season.