Owls come out on top in tough encounter.

Harwich kicked off and immediately had Ashford under pressure deep inside their half, Ashford were unable to clear their line after some storming tackles and great defensive work from the Harwich pack a 5m Ashford scrum was turned over and number 8 Samantha Wilmott picked up from the back of the scrum and charged over to score in the corner, the conversion missed but a deserved start 5-0 following the front foot play from the home side.

If Ashford thought the initial onslaught was over they could not have been more wrong, again defending inside their 22m line Ashford could not clear the ball, The Owls constant attacks saw them held up over the try line twice, once from Beth Lemessurier and once by Rebecca Hare, from one of the resultant 5m scrums fly half Rebecca Hare put the ball through her backs hands for winger Hannah Dobner to score her first try for the club, again the conversion missed but the 10-0 lead at the end of the half reflected the way the game was going.

Ashford started the second half just as they needed to with intensity levels up on all fronts, the restart was allowed to bounce deep inside the Owls 22m line and no one got a hand on it, Ashford pressed home the territorial advantage forced multiple penalties but despite some heroic last gasp tackles from the defence Harwich could not get the ball clear. Eventually the ball was moved wide of the Harwich defence and Ashford scored through Lauren Dixon, the conversion missed for a 10-5 scoreline.

The Owls finally regained their composure and scored the try of the game, from an attacking scrum on the Ashford 22 fly half Rebecca Hare used quick ball through the backs to Kimberley Hutchins who straightened up and ran a stunning line to break the defence of Ashford, the conversion missed but Harwich enjoyed a 10 point advantage for the remainder of the game and a 15-5 win.

Report by Tim Flatt