Harwich and Dovercourt Owls faced the daunting task of playing the newly crowned and unbeaten league champions at Low Road in wet and windy conditions.

From the kick off it was clear that this was going to be a close match with both teams competing ferociously at breakdowns and no quarter given in tackles. The weather conditions was making it difficult for Harwich to get their free-flowing running game going and they spent most of the first half of the game defending in their own half of the pitch. However, Wymondham were struggling to break through the Owls’ solid defence and could not threaten their try line. Superb clearance kicks by Harwich full back Yas Amber helped clear the pressure on more than one occasion and the front row of Di Woods, Emma Simons and Tasha Bray was giving the Wasps’ front row a torrid time in the scrums and Sophia Tricker was a constant disruption to Wymondham’s lineouts. Without this set piece advantage the visitors struggled to get gains and with both defences offering little quarter the halftime score of 0 - 0 reflected the closeness of the two teams.

The second half saw the home side putting the visitors under more pressure and started to find some gaps in the their defence but some excellent cover tackling limited the breaks until centre Kimberley Hutchins wriggled through a gap and after breaking through a couple of tackles sprinted forty metres to touch down for the game’s first score. Unluckily, Amber’s conversion attempt hit the post and rebounded the wrong way.

The Wasps upped their game after this and from the restart had the Owls pinned in their own 22. Despite some heroic defending the Owls eventually ran out of defenders and the visitors crossed the line for a converted try. It was now the home side’s turn to exert some pressure and spent the next few minutes camped in the Wasps’ 22 before the Owls’ scrum half Lucie Gibson dived over for a try in corner after an outrageous dummy pass sent the covering defence the wrong way.

The see-saw nature of the game continued with the Wasps applying pressure again and it paid off when one of their forwards bulldozed her way over the tryline to score. Harwich responded strongly but failed to convert any of their pressure into points and their indiscipline was helping the visitors escape their own half. More pressure by the the Wasps in the Owls’ 22 saw the home side commit a handful of offences and the referee contentiously awarded a penalty try and yellow carded Owls captain Tricker.

This galvanized the home side who immediately were back on the attack. A last gasp tackle prevented centre Kristin Kvalvk from scoring but eventually the pressure paid off when Hutchins forced her way over to score. Harwich kept up the pressure from the restart needing to keep possession of the ball. They worked the ball into the visitors half but unfortunately spilled it and the Wasps kicked the ball into touch to finish the match as victors.

This was a very close game and although the Owls should be proud of their efforts against a team that has dominated the league this season, they will be disappointed to lose narrowly once again in a game they could have won.