THE Malvern Angels youth trekked north to Broadstreet rugby club last Sunday to compete in the final of the West Midland girls' tag league.

Having already won six of the eight games, it was crucial to win this festival, as the winning team on the day were to win the tournament for the season 2003-04.

Hence all teams turned out in force, including local rivals Worcester. Malvern put out a strong first team and joined forces with Old Coventrians to form a Barbarians side.

The Barbars played well despite their relative inexperience in the game, with some excellent tries from Pipa and Danni Smith and good ball handling from Emily and Kim Jones and great support from Zoe Timney.

The Angels side got of to a shaky start only managing a draw against Yardley and District, who later received the fair play award for the most sporting team, but soon found their winning form beating Bradstreet, Worcester and Old Coventrians convincingly.

Malvern made it through to the semis to face Yardley in a tense and close match, winning 7-6 and then on to line up against Worcester in the finals.

Having faced defeat earlier in the day Worcester had a point to prove and it made for a very exciting and anxious 10-minutes made more intense by the heat. By the final whistle Malvern Angels were in front and had won the title.

There was some inspired performances from Kerris Levin, Charlotte and Sophie George and Olivia Basten. Also involved in the winning squad was Laura-Jayne Bartlett, Laura Coffin, Emma Baker and Amy Williams.

All teams were presented with medals by the England scrum half Jo Yapp, who also signed autographs and posed for photographs with the Angels holding the trophy high.

Finally, many thanks to Mike Frey, who is retiring as head coach after three years of dedication to the Angels youth section.