It was Sunday 1 December, and Beckenham U13 Girls opened the first door in their advent calendar to find the treat of a jolly outing to Folkestone RFC for the (rescheduled) first part of the Kent U13 Girls Waterfall Tournament.

Again, we were partnering with Old Alleynians U13 Girls, and an early start saw us arrive in good time to fully appreciate a biting easterly wind that was just one of the many highlights of the day, buffeting the girls, spectators and their pop-up tents.

Our first game was against Old Colfeians, who we've trained with before and know to be a very well-drilled side. Unfortunately we were well beaten there by a better team, but always plenty to learn. Our second game against a Baabaas side initially seemed to be going the same way, seeing us four tries down at half time and looking a little desperate. The second half however was a lot closer, as the girls stepped up the competition at the rucks, make some strong tackles and focused on supporting the ball carrier - all leading to a much improved performance and we drew the second half 2-2.

The third game of the day saw the girls continue with this step up in form, beating Medway 4-2! We then moved on to the final game of the day, where our very tired girls faced a fearsome-looking Sevenoaks side. The coaches exhorted the girls to give one last effort and they did just that, losing the game but producing the best performance of the day. Special mention to Mali who at one point was bulldozing her way up the touchline with what looked like the entire Sevenoaks side desperately trying to bring her to ground.

As coaches we were incredibly proud of the commitment the girls showed throughout and particularly at the end of a really long day. Well done everyone!

Jim Kinsella and Andy Tucker