Lionfish sting Wahoos in dramatic touch encounter

(CTA):Thelma and Louise, Cagney and Lacey, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, Pussy Riot, George Michael and Elton John. There have been some famous female duos over the past thirty years. But here in Cayman we have a new partnership emerging that is setting the world of Women’s Touch on fire. Nicky Keogh and Emma Santiago.  Faster than a puff adder, and deadlier than a Taipan, both play for LIONFISH and have developed over the course of the Women’s Touch League into a two-headed hydra capable of felling their opposition with such speed of attack that there is rarely any antidote on hand.

In matches against SHARKS and WAHOOS, Keogh and Santiago and shared the MVP awards across both games. Keogh has the ability to score long range tries through shear speed and with a nose to sniff an opportunity she can create scores from seemingly unpromising situations. Santiago uses a combination of agility and speed to score her tries and she posted a double in both games.

In their first game against SHARKS, LIONFISH took control of the game through their use of “arrows” attack and utilized all six touches to advance up the pitch. However, SHARKS are not prone to panic and managed to claw their way back into the game with tries from Michelle Bailey, Roz Glanfield and Wiki Hitchman. Using the wrap around to great effect through the Hitchman/Bailey combo they came back to secure a well-earned 3-3 draw.

Against WAHOOS, the LIONFISH showed their defensive mettle and were able to bottle up the dangerous Lisa Kehoe, and with good control of the ball and running good arrows they released Nicky Keogh for a long run to score. Santiago managed to break out and notch up two tries again with a combination of good foot work and speed. Coach Neil Ainscow said, “What is most impressive from both games was our ability for the team to utilize all six of their touches without giving up possession. We are progressing nicely and feel we can beat anyone at the moment.”

The SHARKS returned from the day with a win and a draw but it was not their most fluid of performances. It is said that the sign of a good team is one that wins whilst not playing well and the SHARKS know they can trouble every team on their day. After their 3-3 draw against LIONFISH they defeated an understrength STINGRAYS, Michelle Bailey getting the winning score. Their defence was severely tested against LIONFISH and Tanya Potiyenko once again stood out continuously shutting down the LIONFISH strike runners.

WAHOOS stay top of the table courtesy of a forfeited game against STINGRAYS. Their only competitive run-out was against the emergent LIONFISH and they couldn’t handle the double-barreled assault of Keogh and Santiago.  Whilst LIONFISH strike from distance, WAHOOS have their own deadly duo who prefer to do their damage at close quarters. More Muay Thai than Mai Tai, the pairing of Sharlee Henshaw and Lisa Kehoe might look as fruity as a Polynesian cocktail but from 5 metres out the damage they can do is like a sharp dig in the ribs for the opposition, usually resulting in try-time. Kehoe, quicker to the “dump” than a ramped-up Scania Front-Loader, often catches the defence on its heels bursting through to offload to Henshaw for the touchdown – difficult to execute, but even harder to defend against when done well. It was good, but ultimately not enough to sink LIONFISH on the day.

STINGRAYS had to default both games due to a lack of players but played their games for experience. Shout-outs must go to Jenna Blake who improved hugely by coming off the wing and getting involved in the middle.  She grew in confidence and shut down a lot of plays on defence.  Meylys Swaby has also improved game on game by initiating the touch and therefore dictating the pace of the game.

LIONFISH 3 v. SHARKS 3

LIONFISH 3 v. WAHOOS 2

STINGRAY v. WAHOOS (WAHOOS win due to STINGRAY forfeit)

SHARKS v. STINGRAY (SHARKS win due to STINGRAY forfeit)