Dale Beattie was a “very happy coach” on Saturday afternoon, and with good reason.
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He had just witnessed his Inverell side etch their names in the history books as the first-ever Central North women’s 7s champions in emphatic fashion.
The Highlanders proved too strong for Gunnedah, running out 37-5 victors to be the first name inscribed on the Viaduct Carpet Court Shield.
“We had a game plan and it worked out to perfection,” Beattie said.
It was as well as they’ve played this season.
“We’ve been building all throughout the season. We’ve been working hard on our fitness, and our ball movement and skills,” he said.
“We felt the last three or four weeks we were starting to peak at the right time.”
Their labours came to fruition on Saturday, their ability to move the ball from one edge to the other stretching the Red Devils defence and creating space for the likes of Rhiannon Byers.
The Central North rep was outstanding and duly adjudged the player of the grand final.
She opened the scoring for the Highlanders a couple of minutes in and from there they took control of the contest, Byers’ second effort for the half, in which she stepped around three defenders on a 50m burst gave them a 15-nil lead at half-time.
The Red Devils finally got on the board through Bec Smyth early in the second half but the Highlanders responded almost immediately, Leah Wilson running almost the length of the field.
While “very proud” of his side, Beattie was also proud of the Red Devils and how far they have come – from winless after their first 12 games to grand finalists.
He has been one of the driving forces in growing the women’s game in the region and was delighted to see a competition get off the ground this season.
It has been a busy one for several of the Highlanders players juggling club and representative commitments either with Central North or the UNE Lions.
Five of Saturday’s side had played for the Lions in Canberra between the major semi-final and grand final, and had to back up at training in Armidale on Sunday morning ahead of the third tournament in the Uni 7s Series in Brisbane this coming weekend.
