WORCESTER Valkyries were pipped to the final of the Women’s Premiership Sevens at Broadstreet Rugby Club in Coventry after falling to a 31-12 defeat to Bristol Ladies.
Valkyries topped their group with a 29-12 win over Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, a 26-0 victory against Aylesford Bulls and a 41-5 win against Richmond Ladies.
But the loss to Bristol on Sunday denied the Worcester outfit a trip to the Ricoh Arena for the series final.
Valkyries got their campaign underway with a resounding win over Sharks as Lydia Thompson, Sam Bree and Zoe Bennion crossed the whitewash, with Ceri Large kicking two conversions, to give them a 19-0 lead at the break.
Darlington produced an impressive second-half fightback, but further tries from Thompson and Bree kept the Sharks at bay.
Valkyries continued their dominant display as they swept aside Aylesford Bulls.
A quick-thinking Large put Bianca Blackburn in for a breakaway try which the former then converted, before Bree intercepted a loose pass and touched down, with Large again adding the extras to make it 14-0 at the interval.
Entering the second-half, a surging run and offload from Rhi Parker was knocked on, but smart work from the Valkyries player saw her hunt down the Aylesford scrum-half and collect the ball, before putting Alexia Mavroudis through for her debut Valkyries try.
Parker added her own try shortly after and Large scored the conversion to secure the emphatic win.
Valkyries then confirmed their place in the semi-finals after a crushing victory over Richmond Ladies, where Bree came out of the blocks firing to score two tries in quick succession.
Richmond hit back with a try of their own but it would be their last, as Bennion scooped up a loose ball to put Josie Symonds through to score and Blackburn added Valkyries’ fourth.
Symonds soon added her second try and Sarah Davey also got on the scoresheet with a try, before Symonds completed her hat-trick to help Valkyries top their group.
The Worcester outfit couldn’t continue their impressive momentum against Bristol in the semi-final though, as they conceded two early tries and failed to get on the scoreboard in the first-half.
Entering the second period 24-0 down, Valkyries put in a spirited display to reduce the deficit with tries from Symonds and Sian Williams, but Bristol’s first-half dominance proved too much as they secured the win and a place in the final.