Worcester Ladies 18-13 Lichfield Ladies
In round 3 of the RFU Women’s Premiership games Worcester Ladies welcomed, Lichfield Ladies to Weston’s in Worcester. In a very close derby game, Worcester took the points with Lichfield very unlucky not to snatch victory with a disallowed try in the last play of the game.
Lichfield started very strongly and opened the scoring after 18 minutes when Jas Coyne used her searing pace to beat Worcester’s defence and touch down in the corner. After 25 minutes the outstanding Harriet Mills then scored again, crashing over in the corner after bursting through a number of last ditch tackles to give Lichfield a 10-0 lead.
Lichfield continued to dominate the game, through their excellent forwards and very well organised defence and made life very difficult for Worcester. First team debutant Karyn Robertson at Hooker was outstanding and was at the heart of Lichfield’s best play throughout. Worcester were eventually able to get their first score after 33 minutes, when Bianca Blackburn picked up a loose ball to score in the corner. Just before half time a Sarah Nicholas penalty added to Lichfield’s score giving them a 13-5 half time lead.
The second half was a completely different story, with Worcester continually threatening to add to their points tally, led by the outstanding Ceri Large. They added two further tries on 49 and 66 minutes, plus a penalty to take the lead 18-13.
But Lichfield showed tremendous spirit to fight back, going close on several occasions. Amy Cokayne was very unlucky to have a last minute try ruled out by the referee, adjudged as a double movement, leaving Worcester to take the victory
Commenting on the match, Lichfield’s Head Coach Rich Bennett said “Whilst we were obviously disappointed to lose, we could have and perhaps should have won today. At the critical moments, particularly in the first half when we were dominating the game, with a bit more composure and patience we could easily have put more points on the board, which would have seen us through”
“It really was a game of two halves, we dominated the first half and Worcester dominated the second. We must give credit to Worcester for the win, but we have loads of positives that we will take into our next games, particularly the outstanding performances of some of our new players who show great promise for the season ahead”
Lichfield Scorers:
Tries – Jas Coyne (18 mins), Harriet Mills (25 mins)
Penalty – Sarah Nicholas (39 mins)
Worcester Scorers:
Tries – Bianca Blackburn, Zoe Bennion, Ceri Large
Penalty – Ceri Large
