Westcliff Lionesses v BSRFC Ladies

On Sunday 10th November, 16 BSRFC ladies travelled to the home ground of Westcliff Lionesses for arguably the toughest match of the season so far.

BSRFC Ladies kicked off to start the game with the home team showing outstanding passing skills to give them the opportunity to strike through the centre of the defence, putting our Ladies on the back foot with a try and conversion in the first two minutes of the game.

An early injury to no.2, Vicki Richards pulled Eve off the sidelines and on to the pitch for her first game in Stortford colours. The home team continued to dominate the play for the next 15 minutes with a slow defensive line speed, allowing a further four tries and conversions to be scored.

In true blue spirit, Stortford dug in and played the remaining 20 minutes of the first half in the home team’s 22, with relentless tackling and fantastic defensive line speed, keeping them firmly pegged back.

Westcliff had the benefit of multiple subsititues for the second half of the match and kicked to start the second half. No.1 Charlotte Parker executed the perfect catch before offloading to Captain Georgia Read who powered through the centre of the field to score between the posts. No. 5 Jemma Goddard converted giving the ladies a well-deserved seven points.

The home team again kicked to restart, Parker again caught the ball before passing to Carleigh LaLonge, allowing her to burst through the opposition and steam down the pitch to score between the posts. Goddard converted for a further seven points.

A kick from Westcliff resulting in a loose ball tested a different section of the BSRFC Ladies’ defence, giving the home team the advantage and opportunity to stretch their legs, scoring a try under the posts and another conversion.

A fantastic kick by Goddard and a strong chase gave the impetus to BSRFC Ladies, and a great carry by no.15 Ella Walledge brought the Ladies to the line before a crunching tackle from Westcliff gave them control of the ball. A well-worked move out wide gave them the edge to push through the defensive line and score, which they again converted.

The Stortford Ladies continued to push forward into a strong defence, digging in and attacking strongly, but fierce tackling and rucking over from the opposition gave Westcliff control of the ball leading them to another try and conversion.

The restart gave possession of the ball to Westcliff forcing Stortford Ladies to continue a strong defence, but fancy footwork and the benefit of fresh legs allowed the opposition to score another try despite a great chase by no.10 Kate Hawkins.

The Ladies kept their heads up and pushed strongly through the final seven minutes of the game, with phase-after-phase bringing them closer to the try line. A ruck metres away gave no.12 Millie Davis the opportunity to stretch it over the line for her first try in Stortford colours.

True Stortford spirit was shown, with the Ladies emptying the tank and fighting until the final whistle. The Ladies look forward to the return match on home turf on 2nd February 2020.

By Cat Gleed