SPEED, skills and teamwork.
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Orange CYMS had it all in spades during their Group 10 Junior Rugby League under 13s league tag grand final win over Bathurst Panthers on Sunday as they ran out 44-4 winners at Jack Arrow Oval.
It was a game not punctuated by any poor play from Panthers but a wealth of fast play down both edges from a CYMS side filled with talent.
Centre and captain Ava Cole led by example with a hat-trick while speedster fullback Mya Symmons and the elusive Keeley Thornhill each scored a brace.
"It's a thrill. They're a great bunch of girls who play touch footy and league tag together and a very competitive group," CYMS coach Jayce Barrett said.
"I would have been happy with a win - big or small - as long as they got the job done. They knew what they had to do.
"Mya was great at the back, Lily Golding was good in the middle as well as our halves. It was a great game for everyone across the park."
Panthers coach Anthony Nicol was proud of the way his team fought in the face of quality opposition.
"I think in the first half they were a little bit disappointed because it wasn't going the way they wanted to, so they went out there still wanting to have fun," he said.
They're a great bunch of girls who play touch footy and league tag together and a very competitive group.
- CYMS coach Jayce Barrett
"They said 'Hang on, we've made the grand final, let's go out there and enjoy ourselves' and they did.
It only took CYMS three minutes to open the scoring when Cole got on the end of a nice piece of team play down the left wing.
Panthers almost responded straight away when Sam Whiting snagged an intercept but the team couldn't convert on the chance.
By the end of the first quarter it was already 12-0 thanks to Luella Maunder's big run out of her own half and Symmons' fast break down the left wing.
At the start of the second term CYMS' Thornhill threw a dummy and when several Panthers players bought it she was able to weave through to the try line.
Symmons then once again showed how dangerous she could be with even a tiny amount of space to run, going 70 metres down the field for her second try and take CYMS to a 20-0 half-time lead.
Cole found a line break and ran out of her own half to score, evading a bold chase down effort from Abbey Carter.
Panthers got on the board when Kali Thackery scooped up a poor CYMS kick and ran 40m for the try line, but Chloe Marsh and Haylee Besant's tries took Orange to a 34-4 lead at the last break.
Cole then completed her hat-trick and another great piece of footwork from Thornhill completed the rout.
Symmons was named played of the match.
- ORANGE CYMS 44 (Ava Cole 3, Mya Symmons 2, Keeley Thornhill 2, Luella Maunder, Chloe Marsh, Haylee Besant tries; Layla Barrett 2 conversions) defeated BATHURST PANTHERS 4 (Kali Thackery)
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