Sandal Warriors rose to the occasion in magnificent style to complete an impressive victory over Doncaster in the Brooke Firth Memorial Match.

A year after the tragic loss of one of Sandal Girls’ most popular players, many of Brooke’s former team-mates stepped up from the under-18s to pay their ultimate respects to a friend who is sorely missed.

As well as an acknowledgement of a sad event from the recent past, the match signalled a bright future for the Warriors who looked a genuine force to be reckoned with as the established players gelled brilliantly with the Senior Beasts.

Six tries to nil was a fair reflection of Sandal’s dominance against sturdy opponents who had no answer to the danger posed by the home side each time the ball was moved to the flanks.

And one player who Doncaster found impossible to handle was Courtney Evans, whose explosive running and blistering pace brought her a fantastic first-half hat-trick of tries.

Evans broke clear from just inside the Doncaster half to score her first, converted by Jess Matthews, and left a trail of defenders clutching at her shadow from much closer range as she raced through for a quickfire second.

A splendid try from Courtney Nettleton extended the lead with the under-18s forward breaking two tackles and spinning out of a third to crash over in the left corner.

Evans added her third after good work by Abbie Dickinson and Deborah Harrison to open up a 22-0 interval lead.

With their pack continuing to work hard after the break, Sandal controlled both territory and possession, allowing tough-running Maz Zafar, Matthews, Nettleton and Holly Evans to dominate proceedings.

A burst of pace by Holly Evans took her clear on a rousing run down the right touchline and only a brave tackle by the Doncaster full-back – one of a handful of try-saving interventions by the visitors’ busiest player – denied Holly what would have been a memorable score.

There was no stopping Imy Coxon, however, when the scrum-half stepped neatly past two tacklers to go over between the posts for a try converted by Matthews.

Sandal were still not finished and when Megan Slater ran the ball in hard on the left, a weary defence parted all too easily allowing the under-18s utility player to go clear and cut through to the posts to wrap up a memorable win.

Sandal Warriors 34 (Tries: Courtney Evans 3, Courtney Nettleton, Imy Coxon, Megan Slater; Cons: Jess Matthews 2), Doncaster 0

Sandal Warriors: Jo Grier, Jess Matthews, Jenny-Mae Garside, Tamsin Lim, Holly Evans, Deborah Harrison, Leah Chambers, Maz Zafar, Courtney Evans, Vicky Megretton, Abbie Dickinson, Angel Gunn, Hannah Dickinson, Maddie Thompson, Imy Coxon, Courtney Nettleton, Ellie Greenaway, Megan Slater, Claire Riley.