PORT Pirates found themselves walking the plank in the women's Group of Death at the Crescent Head Sevens at the weekend.
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They were unable to find a way past either Hamilton or Nelson Bay, but were arguably more competitive than a number of other teams in the competition.
While the result of their trip north was two defeats and a win in an exhibition match against Forster to wrap it all up, the most impressive performances came from two of their junior players.
Team manager Lisa Vogel said teenagers Michelle Edghill and Kassandrah Szakal-Willcockson made their debuts as senior players and looked right at home.
"Michelle scored the opening try in our game against Hamilton after putting on a fend and making a breakaway down the sideline," she said.
"It was an awesome show from our two junior players; Kass also popped a few really good passes in our games.
"It was really exciting for some of us older players to share the same field with a few of our girls who have come through the juniors."
Pirates were defeated 24-12 by Hamilton Hawks and 15-5 to Nelson Bay who finished as runners-up in the grand final.
"It gave us a good start to the year because we haven't even been at the fields yet," Vogel said.
"We played a depleted Forster side in a bit of an exhibition game at the end where we shared a few of our players."
Vogel said they had completed four weeks of pre-season and were now looking forward to locking in some trial games in the next couple of weeks.
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