The home side put the visitors under pressure from the kick off, pinning them in their own half. The Harwich number 8, Mimi Montgomery turned over a breakdown and the ball was quickly moved to fullback Yas Amber who ghosted into the attacking line and switched the play away from the Amazons’ defence to run in under the posts for the first try. Converted by Annalise Allan, Harwich held a 7 - 0 lead after only three minutes.

It quickly became clear that the wet and cold conditions were going to have an impact on the way the game was going to play out. Both sides struggled with handling the ball with the home side guilty of not looking after the ball well. This allowed Woodbridge back into the game and they had the Owls defending in their own 22. The visiting No.8 forced her way through the home defence to cross the try line but a great piece of work by Montgomery helped by Hannah Martin held her up to prevent the try.

Harwich cleared their lines and Allan and centres Sarah Nash and Becki Hare kept the visiting defence under pressure. In one attack Nash chipped the ball over the advancing defence and despite the close attention of two defenders, Harwich flanker Sian Fahie collected the ball and crashed through for a try. Allan hit the post with the conversion but the home side led now 12 - 0.

The Amazons again began to put the home side under pressure but some good clearance kicks by Amber relieved the pressure. The visiting fly half and inside centre were now forcing the visitors forwards and Woodbridge again crossed the try line only for their prop’s crashing run to be held up with a strong tackle from Allan helped by Tasha Bray. The pressure stayed and the visiting no.8 picked up at the back of the scrum but touched down over dead ball line rather than the in-goal area.

The second half was almost a repeat of the previous quarter. The visitors worked hard to break down the home defence and the Harwich side counterpunching with hard running and good clearance kicks. The home side’s indiscipline allowed the Amazons to set up camp in the Owls’ 22 and eventually the defence failed to cover the spaces allowing the Amazons’ centre to score out wide.
Good runs from winger Emily Swain and Amber put the Owls back on the offensive and what now seems a trademark rollicking run by prop Di Woods kept up the pressure. As conditions worsened, t the match was now suffering from too many handling errors and scrums seemed to dominate the game.

There were no further scoring opportunities for either side and the game seemed to reach a stalemate. Although this was not one of the Owls’ better performances, there remains a lot that can be taken from it. The scrums showed a marked improvement and the tackling was fierce throughout. The back line remains dangerous when they run straight lines and the lineout was once again dominant.

Harwich now have a week off league duties but do have a home friendly against Norwich Medics with a 2pm. Kick off.