A SAVANNAH Andrade hat-trick, alongside doubles from wingers Emma Kershaw and Eboni Partington, helped York Valkyrie to a 62-0 demolition of newly-promoted Featherstone Rovers. Lindsay Anfield’s side have now beaten their West Yorkshire opponents three times this season, all on home soil, though the Rovers produced a far better showing on Sunday lunchtime than they had in either of their Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup matches earlier in the campaign. An inventive scrum play that forced the game’s only goal-line drop-out though was as close as the visitors came to breaking the deadlock as the Valkyrie recorded their second consecutive clean sheet, and largest margin of victory of the Betfred Women’s Super League campaign.
Having seen Tara Jane Stanley break the deadlock with just three minutes played, further efforts from Liv Wood, Andrade and Eva Izumi saw the Valkyrie hold a commanding 28-0 half-time lead. And they showed no signs of stopping after the break, with Andrade completing her hat-trick, Kershaw and Partington both bagging doubles, and the impressive Megan Pakulis also scoring her first for the club. Izumi replaced Georgia Taylor in the centres, whilst young prop Izzy Brennan was recalled after scoring a handful of tries for dual registration partners Sheffield Eagles last weekend.
French star Mahault Pommier was handed her debut at half-back in the second half, whilst former Valkyrie youngster Chloe Smith was named on the bench for Featherstone. The Valkyri.