H&D Owls 75 - 05 Old Northamptonians

The result of this Junior Cup 2nd round tie belies how hard the home side had to play to achieve it. Harwich started brightly but it was clear from the start that the visitors’ defence was going to be difficult to break down. The Owls’ pack were asserting themselves in the breakdowns and limiting any quality ball for the opposition. Naomi Dobner and Lauren Richardson made some determined runs to keep up the pressure on the visiting defence.This determination from the Harwich forwards saw two of them crossing the try line. Bronwyn Skipworth scored from close quarters with a big push from Di Woods to help her over and then Sophia Tricker crashed through from the 22 to score.

The Harwich backs were also starting to threaten with centre Kimberley Hutchins bursting through the defensive line from halfway to score. Annalise Allan then scored a good individual try before then giving a well timed pass to Mimi Montgomery who ran a superb line to break through to score. Montgomery scored another try in this half and with Allan converting all the tries Harwich went into the halftime break leading 42 -0.

The start of the second half saw a change of fortunes for the first 15 minutes. The visitors were now playing with a lot more purpose and drive whilst Harwich lost the impetus they had in the first half. Eventually Hutchins made the break necessary to get the Harwich team back on the front foot. Old Northamptonians kept pushing and finally scored a well deserved try when their flanker evaded a couple of tackles to score.

Harwich now upped their game and tries from Kvalvik, Montgomery and two more from Allan completed the scoring. Allan also converted all but one try to take her personal points total to 25.

This was a victory based on really good teamwork and inspired bits of great individualism. This weekend the Owls face the tough task of travelling to league leaders Wymondham who are so far unbeaten this season.

Report by Walter B