Harwich & Dovercourt Owls 20- 10 Lakenham Hewett Ladies, February 2nd 2020

Harwich Owls welcomed Lakenham Hewett Ladies to Low Road on Sunday for their latest league fixture, with all the heavy rain recently the Low Road pitch made the game heavy going for both sides battling the mud and with a strong wind the game was never going to be a stroll in the park.
The early going was a battle of attrition with both teams adjusting to conditions, eventually The Owls broke the deadlock, after they were awarded a penalty on halfway, fullback Yas Amber’s kick found touch inside the Lakenham 22m line, Sian Smith secured the line out throw and a powerful maul from the Harwich pack moved the ball efficiently towards the Lakenham line, as the maul turned Beth Lemessurier peeled off the back down the blindside to rumble the final 10m and score, the conversion missed for a 5-0 Owls lead.
With steady progress The Owls were moving the ball well through phases only for handling errors and penalties thwarting their chances of adding to the score.
Winger Ellie Firth was harshly given a yellow card for a high tackle and put The Owls down a player for the next 10 minutes.
Eventually a sloppy pass on a Lakenham attack gave The Owls a chance, with the ball bobbling on the ground Jodie ‘QD’ Teale picked it up, rounded the Lakenham winger and sprinted 70m to touch down under the posts, another missed conversion saw The Owls leading 10-0.
Harwich scrum half Lillie Barnett was forced to leave the game with a suspected broken wrist, so when Ellie Firth returned to the match after her 10 minute rest she filled in brilliantly for the wounded Owl running the game alongside Dani Allsopp.
Lakenham pulled a try back shortly before halftime when they were awarded a penalty and with quick recycled ball they powered through the Harwich defence to touch down, the conversion missed and the halftime score saw The Owls 10-5 up.
If Harwich thought all the hard work was over now playing with the wind Lakenham promptly reminded them that the game is 80 minutes long, Harwich gave away multiple penalties and were lucky not to receive a second yellow card on the day.
With The Owls backed up to their try line and despite repelling numerous attacks with last ditch tackling from Dani Allsopp and Tash Bray the defensive line was eventually breached by Lakenham to score, the conversion missed and it was all square at 10-10.
As the half progressed The Owls began to keep Lakenham pinned in their own half, with the pack asserting their control in the scrums, turn overs and poor ball away from the scrum kept pressure on Lakenham.
A set piece play from an Owls scrum on the Lakenham 22m line saw Carmel Leak pick up at the back and pop the ball to Fullback Yas Amber on a scything run down the blindside, she outpaced the covering defenders to score, not a day for conversions but a 15-10 Owls lead.
Harwich kept the pressure on Lakenham pinning them back inside their own half and after another 22m scrum, quick phase ball and decisive passing found winger Jodie Teale out wide to beat the covering defenders and touch down for her second try of the day.
The conversion missed and this rounded off the scoring 20-10 for an Owls win, keeping the pressure on the top two Hackney and East London who had their fixture postponed this weekend.
The only sour points of the day being long serving hooker Emma Simons suffering a season ending knee injury and Lillie Barnett confirming her fractured wrist, we wish them well and speedy recovery to both.
The Owls travel to Woodbridge for their next fixture on 16th February.