Saracens Women 24-15 Lichfield Ladies
Lichfield Ladies travelled to Allianz Park to play against last season’s champions Saracens in Round 4 of this season’s fixtures.
Lichfield started the game very strongly and spent most of the first 30 minutes camped in Saracens half, dominating all aspects of the game – particularly the scrum and lineout. But to their credit, Saracens were outstanding in defence and managed to keep Lichfield out.
It was Saracens who scored first after 28 minutes with a try in the corner after some outstanding play through their forwards. They added another converted try after 37 minutes to give them a 14-0 half time lead. An early yellow card in the second half for Lichfield was very well exploited by Saracens, who added two further unconverted tries on 47 and 49 minutes give them a 24-0 lead.
As the game wore on, Lichfield upped their intensity and found their rhythm again. Following two yellow cards for Saracens, who were becoming increasingly stretched, Lichfield were finally able to score. Katie Trevarthen scored her first try for the club after 74 mins followed by a well taken try from debutant Holly Aitcheson in the 79th minute. Nancy Stone added one conversion and a penalty to make the final score a far more respectable 24-15 to Saracens.
Lichfield players of the match were second row Molly Morrissey and scrum half Lucy Nye
Head Coach Richard Bennett said – ‘I was really pleased with the way we started and finished today against the reigning champions. For the first 25 minutes we more than matched them and only their outstanding defence kept us out’
‘Saracens took full advantage of their opportunities and were deserved winners, but this game showed real promise for us. We have several new players this season and another debutant today. It takes time to adjust to the game at this level, but despite the result we are very optimistic’
‘We kept going for the entire 80 minutes and with a bit more accuracy and intensity, we will get the scores and the results as we saw late in this game’
Lichfield Scorers:
Tries – Katie Trevarthen (74 mins), Holly Aitcheson (79 mins)
Conversion and Penalty – Nancy Stone
Meanwhile in the RFU Championship Midlands 2 Lichfield Green Ladies beat Deeping Devils by 100-0. The Lichfield Green team scored 18 tries and 100 points to maintain place at the top of the table after dominating both possession and territory against the Deeping Devils. Tries were scored across the team, with 6 backs and 4 forwards crossing the whitewash, as the less experienced Deeping struggled to contain the Lichfield attack.
Despite securing the five-try bonus point in the first quarter of the game, the Green team did not have it all their own way. Deeping used their size superiority in the pack to gain ground when they had the ball, by attacking the fringes of the ruck. The Lichfield defence though were resolute throughout, maintaining their discipline and eventually forcing the mistake from the opposition.
There were notable performances in the backs from scrum-half Alice Hodgkinson and centre Jess Feeley, who scored 4 tries apiece. Feeley in particular was a powerful and elusive runner, who Deeping found very difficult to bring down. In the forwards, the whole pack worked hard around the park all game to secure the Green team a solid platform from which to attack. Maddy Lockwood, playing at number eight, was a constant threat and featured in several of the team’s tries before scoring one of her own.
Lichfield next face the tough challenge of a trip away to Gloucester, who sit second in the league.
Tries Nikki Hymes, Jess Feeley (4), Alice Hodgkinson (4), Jenny Maxwell (2), Maddy Lockwood, Siobhan Ashton-Cleary (2), Roz Jermine, Gemma Richards, Hannah Phillip, Carys Hall
Conversions Hannah Phillip (3), Sarah Tooze (2)
