Moon Area will play Doylestown in the final of Rugby Pennsylvania’s Girls HS division after seeing off a tenacious Downingtown Saturday in the semis.

It was a game of varied profiles, with the opening minutes seeming to promise an all-forward slog, and then the game changing dramatically in style and momentum.

Moon was content to just pick and go, or work one pass and then take it up, and Downingtown was not quick enough to get back on defense. The only thing saving Downingtown early was mistakes by Moon Area, but it was enough for Downingtown to clear their lines and try to play in the Moon end of the field.

Eventually, though,, Moon worked its way down close and scored. Flyhalf Alaysha Bable slammed over the difficult conversion and it was 7-0 Moon.

After that Moon started to open it up, and Bable was right in the middle of all of that. A skilled and exciting flyhalf who has a good boot out of hand as well as off the tee, Bable had the attack clicking and Moon scored in the backs to extend their lead. 

Moon Area scores in the Girls SF in @rugby_pa What I love about this is how surprised the try-scorer appears to be that she scored. @MAGirlsRugby pic.twitter.com/PiMRV3zTvM

— Alex Goff (@goffrugbyreport) May 15, 2021

But midway through the game Bable had to leave the game injured. 

“Alaysha’s a huge asset to our team,” said inside center and captain Cassie Depner. “Especially as the one who organizes our backline as our flyhalf … obviously we’d rather have her but we adjust on the fly; we plan for these kind of things.”

Moon Area still took a little time to adjust. Downington came back, exploiting penalties by tapping quickly and capping Moon napping. With sisters Bex and Jess Pascoe (flyhalf and No. 8 respectively) always in the action, Downingtown found some space and clawed back.

But as the game wore on Moon found the confidence to use their backs more, and defended well enough to regain possession and score a couple late to put the game away.

“I think … we got a little bit too comfortable a little too early and we started to make some fundamental errors,” said Depner.

But there is a tomorrow.

“We’ve just got to go out there and play to our best,” said scrumhalf Bree Hathaway.