Old Albanian Saints 1XV have won their Championship South 1 league, with a dominant performance against Henley, triumphing 0 - 51 in a nine try romp at Dry Leas.

Longtime Championship South rivals, Henley, proved little resistance for the blistering pace of Saints winger Makeda Lewis, who ran in hattrick, as part of a complete Saints performance which saw no reply from the hosts.

It was a player of the match performance for fly-half Katie Johnson, who’s incisive attacking play, management of the backline and orchestration of her teammates resulted in innumerable line breaks and tries for her teammates.

Brave defence efforts from Henley in the second half proved no match for the dynamic threat of winger Alex Kane, who maximised on every opportunity on the ball to run in a brace of tries.

Saints Captain, Charlotte Hamlyn-Williams said "Saints really gave it our all today, as we have done throughout the season, and I'm thrilled with the result, but especially to see all the things we've worked on in training come to fruition on the pitch. We can't wait to finally have a home semi!"

Saints 1XV will now progress to the Championship play-offs, hosting Championship North runners-up, Lichfield in a home semi-final on Sunday 20th April.

Saints Head Coach, Sarah Mckenna, said "I'm enormously proud of the performance on-field today, in a fixture which we lost only last season. The outcome today, and the team's success in the league has been the result of hard work across the entire squad. We'll celebrate our success today, before our focus turns to play-off preparations which I know the squad will approach with the same relish."

The winner of the semi will progress to the Championship play-off final will be contested at Twickenham Stadium on Sunday 18th May.

Will The Saints Get Promoted?
In the women’s leagues, there is no promotion from Championship 1 into the semi-professional Premiership (PWR), with access to the Premiership determined by a biennial franchise tender process. OA Saints are proud to be a key stepping stone in the grassroots pathway, providing playing opportunities for girls and women from our U12s through to our U18s and on to our two senior women's teams, right at the pinnacle of amateur women's game.