Thurrock Ladies 14 -36 H&D Owls

From the kick off the home team put the Owls under pressure and a combination of poor defence and panic passing saw the home team score within 5 minutes through a kick and chase which the Thurrock fly half reached first. Another kick 5 minutes later saw a lucky bounce of the ball land in the hands of the same player who went over for another try.

At 14 - 0 down the re-organised Owls team began to gain the ascendancy and put Thurrock under a lot of pressure, resulting in them giving away a series of penalties, from one of these Yas Amber took a quick tap, catching the home defence off guard and scored a try. Good rucking from the re-start moved the Owls upfield and Naomi Dobner took a pass on the home side’s 22 and burst through the covering defence for a try in the corner. The makeshift centre pairing of Sophia Tricker and Deanne Poole were now really showing with some fierce tackles and powerful runs. Good counter rucking and runs from Abi Cutts and Tasha Bray kept the Thurrock team under pressure for the rest of the first half.

Beginning the second half 14-10 down, the Owls continued the way they ended the first half, keeping Thurrock pinned in their own half. A well worked move at a scrum saw Amber put in the clear for a try under the posts that was converted by Annalise Allan. From the re-start scrum half Maisie Green made a great break down the blind side of a ruck before releasing Lauren Richardson who brushed off two tackles to sprint in from the half-way line to score on her rugby debut. Allan caught the re-start kick on her own 22, sidestepped a couple of defenders before running clear of the covering defence to score a great solo try that she then converted.

Harwich’s well organised defence resisted some strong pressure from Thurrock and from a good piece of counter rucking fed the ball out to Richardson who again brushed of a couple of defenders before sprinting 60 metres for her second try. The Owls continued to pressure the home team for the last five minutes but failed to add to the score by the final whistle.

Once again the Owls achieved a good victory through excellent team work and belief.