Championship South 1
Bristol Ladies 2nd XV 7 – 12 Henley Ladies
Bristol Ladies 2nd XV fell to a narrow defeat in their league fixture against Henley Hawks.
Bristol failed to get the start they’d hoped for, as the first five minutes saw Henley score their only points of the afternoon, as they caught Bristol off guard from the kick off. The first try came as Henley turned over the ball from kick off, passing out to their fullback who sped through a gap in the Bristol defence to cross the line. The second came from a similar break, and left the visitors 12 points ahead.
A team try finished by Abbie Parsons brought Bristol back into the game on 14 minutes, magnificently converted by Stacey Jones to take the score to 7 – 12, where it remained until half time.
An injury at the start of the second half meant moving the game to a different pitch – all at Bristol Ladies wish the Henley player a speedy recovery.
The second half remained scoreless, with both teams showing passion and determination, with big tackles, quick ball and equal amounts of possession.
Bristol came close to equalling the score several times, with small individual errors thwarting the attacks. Both teams looked dangerous with the ball in hand, with Bristol stepping up the pressure in the final 20 minutes. Courtney Bishop and Becky Hughes were both threatening out wide, whilst Samantha Herrick and Trish Brown showed strength and grit ploughing through Henley defenders.
During the final five minutes the result could have gone either way, with end to end rugby and each team fighting to the end, leaving everything on the field.
Assistant Coach Pete Reakes spoke about the game afterwards ‘It’s frustrating to not pick up the win this afternoon. There was a lot of good rugby, good phases and working really well together, but unfortunately the final pass just kept letting us down. We’ll take a lot from today, including a losing bonus point, and look to move onwards and upwards for the remaining games this season’.
Other results from 25 January 2015 are:
Richmond Ladies II 38 – 5 Trojans
and in the Championship North 1
Birkenhead Park Ladies 0 – 60 Firwood Waterloo Ladies
Waterloo ladies finished their season unbeaten with a 60 – 0 whitewash of Birkenhead. They will now go on to contest a play off against the Thurrock T-Birds on 22nd February at Broadstreet RFC in Coventry. The winner pf that match will go on to play against relegation candidate Aylesbury on 29 March (time and venue yet to be announced). Both Waterloo Ladies and the T-Birds have finished convincing winners of their respective leagues so the forthcoming match will be a battle royal for the right to meet Aylesbury. Good luck to you all!
