St Neots Ladies 19-10 Rugby Lionesses

After 5 weeks without a game from the combined efforts of Christmas and bad weather St Neots Ladies finally got back onto the pitch this weekend. The disappointment of the Goldington Road match being postponed was starting to heal with new dates being discussed but the desire to kit up and represent was as strong as ever. The squad were out warming up on the chilly common before Rugby Lionesses even started arriving.

Saints kicked off against Lionesses who came down from NC1 this season and the teams had a full on tussle for 20 minutes of scoreless but engaging rugby. Saints scored first blood with a turnover in the first tackle, but the rush defence from Lionesses quickly stopped the counter attack. A dominant scrum and back play off set piece created the momentum Saints had set out to inject in the game but Lionesses were quick to reset the defence and got their own turnover at the breakdown and cleared the ball down field. This pattern of play continued for much of the first half with neither side managing more than a fleeting visit to the opposition 22. Rugby had the first sniff of a try with a quickly taken penalty but some great counter-rucking by the Saints pack stole possession back. Holding their own in a wall of opposition the backs protected the ball to win a penalty allowing Sophie Lanham to clear the lines. The wind playing a part, both kicks and passes were struggling to make it to their intended mark and very quickly Saints were on the defence again. A feature from training before Christmas, centre Kirsty Wilson got a strong choke tackle on the opposition flanker and the forwards piled in with a counter-maul, much to the delight of coach Sion James. Lionesses were able to capitalise on some mis-communication off the scrum to keep nudging into Saints 22 but the recent focus on defence was paying out for the home team. The visiting team came up and were pushed back like the tide until a second break on a wayward ball from Lanham gave Saints a chance to put coach John Morris’s attacking game into play. Quick ball, strong runs around the ruck and getting the ball wide rapidly turned the tide with a rush of blue towards the opposite end of the pitch. Looking after the ball, forwards and backs linked together and Lucy Bull powered over the line on the point of half time.

It was Lionesses that capitalised on the break most, also punishing Saints for their rising penalty count with a score of their own 3 minutes after the restart. From the next kick however Saints were far more solid with some cracking tackles from Harriet Styman and the press off the line pushing Rugby back into their own half until Tash Sice was able to scoop up a loose ball and set the platform for more attacking play from the home side. Intent was clear and although stalled by a few scrums, the partnership of Beth Carr at full back and Chloe Flynn-Brown on the wing gave Lionesses no escape through the boot. After trading tackles and possession around the half-way line another break from Carr gave Saints the position on the field and this time Saints were the ones capitalising on a penalty with a couple of passes to Lanham to burst through and score, also adding the conversion.

It was a tightly-fought second half with the key being fastest on the ball when it popped out unexpectedly. Saints almost got a second turnover from a choke-maul but in committing to the drive, left a large gap for Lionesses to exploit when they managed to release the ball into friendly hands, using the width of the pitch to get the next score. Into the final stages of the game, and quick reactions from Claire Simpson on the flank made the most of turnover ball at the scrum sent the backs to within a couple of meters of the try line. Bull made a valiant attempt to score a second but was held up over the line and Rugby had a goal-line drop-out to release the pressure. Unfortunately for them the release lasted less than a minute as Saints regained possession less than 10m from the line and in two more phases a gap opened up for Lanham to run in behind the posts for her second, again with the conversion to add the extra 2. With time for a restart, Lionesses chased hard but Saints closed out the match for a 19-10 home win.
Forward of the match went to Lucy Bull, back of the match was Beth Carr and coaches player was Chloe White.