With a break from league and cup duties Harwich and Dovercourt Owls played a friendly against the Medics. Looking to continue their recent run of good form, the Owls were quickly on the attack and it did not take long before they scored their first try. Quick handling from the backs put scrum half Kimberley Hutchins through a gap in the visitors’ defence and she ran in from just inside the Medics’ 22 metre line to touch down.

The Owls continued to dominate play and it only took a few minutes for another good handling move by the Harwich backs to set winger Poppy Flatt free and she skated past two defenders on a 30 metre run to score her first ever try. The home side’s forwards were dominating the breakdowns and from some good, quick rucking Beth Lemessurier crashed through the visitors from 5 metres out to also score her first ever try for the Owls.

The Medics began to come back into the game and it required some good defending from the home side to halt their progress. The Owls were able to disrupt the visitors’ set piece and counter-rucked well, starving the Medics of any continuity. Powerful runs by Bron Skipworth, Abi Cutts and Tasha Bray had the Medics’ defence scrambling to keep the Owls at bay but the home team’s forwards and backs were combining really well and before the half time whistle was blown Sybil Taunton, Mimi Montgomery, Yas Amber and Hutchins had all scored to give the Owls a half time lead of 41 – 0.

Harwich made six changes for the second half and the visitors played with a new found determination. This made the half seem more competitive and it took some good defending from Lauren Richardson, Deanne Poole and Dena Gibbons to halt the visitors’ progress. The Owls also had some good attacking spells but failed to capitalise on them. Skipworth broke off from the back of a powerful driving maul only to somehow drop the ball once she had crossed the try line; three times an Owl suffered ‘white line fever’ instead of using the good handling skills that had advanced the home side to such good positions.

It wasn’t long however before these skills were utilised again. Taunton and Amber both scored following good handling moves and Hutchins pounced on a charge down on the medics try line by Debbie Lammond to score her hat-trick try.

With 2 conversions apiece for Skipworth and Taunton, the Owls maintained their unbeaten run and just as importantly, did so without conceding any points for the fourth successive game. They will face a much sterner test on Sunday when they travel to Brockleians for the second round of the Junior Cup.