Bristol Ladies remain unbeaten at the half way point of the season, after a hard fought victory over Saracens Women today at Cleve RFC.
The first half saw both sides score a try a piece. Saracens scored after Bristol failed to clear a wayward penalty attempt, which former Bristol Ladies player Bryony Cleall dotted down to the dismay of the Bristol crowd.
The remaining play of the half was scrappy, with neither team settling or controlling play, and Chantelle Miell equalled the score as she darted over in the corner. The score at half time was 5 – 5.
Bristol broke the deadlock in the second half around 60 minutes, when a strong driving maul saw Captain Amelia Buckland Hurry score her first ever Premiership try.
Jasmine Joyce showed her pace and skill on the wing, outrunning the Saracens defence on two occasions – adding to her try tally this season, and the sight of Sarah Bern running from the half way line is becoming a formidable one for any opposition, as she once again scored a brilliant try showcasing her strength and speed.
Saracens looked well coached, and came with a clear and expansive game plan, however, Bristol’s passion and commitment prevailed as the home side came away with a bonus point win – retaining their place at the top of the table.
Captain Amelia Buckland Hurry spoke to us afterwards: “I’m really happy with the way we played today and our accuracy at our set piece was fantastic. It was amazing to score my first premiership try. We have a really happy camp, and it’s exciting to have now beaten every team in the league – however we’re not complacent. We’ll go into the second leg confident, but knowing that we need to work on our discipline, but also that we need to keep improving and keep the focus on ourselves.”
Forward of the game: Clara Nielson “It was great today and really showcases us as a squad. Having a functioning 2nd XV has really helped, and allowed us to bring up players and develop players is great. We had a tough 1st half today, but we really stuck together and kept going. Once we play to our patterns and got the backs involved the game opened up and we were able to play like Bristol.”
Back of the game: Jasmine Joyce
Final Score: Bristol Ladies 27 – 5 Saracens Women
Bristol Ladies 2nd XV vs Plymouth Albion
With several players called up into the 1st XV this was always going to be a tough fixture for Bristol Ladies 2nd XV against the current league leaders Plymouth. After twenty minutes, Plymouth had managed to gain a 22-0 lead and looked in charge, however the home team started to get into the game playing some good phases and managing to get over the game line.
Unfortunately handling errors and trying to force the play counted against them and undid much of the good work. It was only after 35 minutes that they managed to get on the score sheet with Ellie Mulhearn powering her way over the try line. Kathryn Buggy converted to leave Bristol 25-7 down at half-time.
Plymouth hit back soon into the second half with another try, but Bristol heads didn’t drop. The home team started to get back into their stride, putting together some exciting passages of play which resulted in a try for Jeanine Stephenson. After some good handling and inter-play, Stephenson managed to break through a gap just beyond half-way and won the footrace to the try line.
Kathyrn Buggy slotted the conversion. Plymouth managed to complete the scoring with a try 13 minutes from time. A significant change in personnel and a slow start really hampered Bristol’s performance today, but there were some pleasing signs and considerable scope for improvement.
Back of the game was Philippa Proud for her superb play at scrum-half as well as fly-half, regularly finding gaps in the Plymouth defence. Forward of the match was Emily Underwood for her work-rate and support.
Final Score: Bristol Ladies 14 – 35 Plymouth Albion
Report courtesy of Bristol Ladies Media Manager – Emma Bacon
