Bracknell 5 – 12 Newbury
Newbury WRFC overcame ominous weather conditions and a highly experienced Bracknell squad to chalk up a well-deserved and bravely fought away win on Sunday.
Newbury were missing a couple of experienced players, and for the first 15 minutes their nervousness and inexperience allowed Bracknell to gain lots of possession. The home side’s early dominance paid off after 10 minutes when their outside centre broke on the blind side of the scrum and scored a run-away try, but a lung-busting chase by fly-half Helen Mitford ensured that the ball went down in the corner so, with a missed conversion, the early damage was limited to 5-0.
Despite the early set back, Newbury had taken a great deal of belief from the previous week’s game against Sutton and they did not allow themselves to be panicked: gradually they began to get hold of the ball and put pressure on Bracknell’s strong pack, dealing with scrum after scrum and getting to grips with Bracknell’s persistent habit of going down the blind side.
The Bluebirds suffered a blow after 30 minutes when lock Sarah MacDonald was forced to retire, but not before she’d secured good territory for Newbury. Even now with the numerical advantage Bracknell were finding it hard to get the ball out to their back line and after 35 minutes Newbury played some great rugby to get themselves back in the game. Bryony Clow started the move with a barnstorming run through the Bracknell pack before shipping the ball out to the backs who, with some great passing, found Jeannie Ivanov some space on the wing. Ivanov grounded the try but missed the conversion, levelling the scores before half time.
Clearly rattled, Bracknell began to make some basic errors and Newbury, notably Prop Kim Myers, Centre Laura Smith and Hook Steph Clark, continued to pile on the pressure. Scrum half Andrina Douglas also proved to be a continual thorn in the side of her opposite number, preventing the Bracknell scrum half from giving her back line any decent ball.
As Newbury began to feel the fatigue of playing with one less player, captain Clow took the pressure off with a series of clearance kicks which allowed Newbury to camp in Bracknell’s half. After 45 minutes, the home side wobbled again. Failing to deal with her chipped kick, Ivanov was then scragged off the ball, close to the try line, leaving referee has no choice but to award a penalty try, which was duly converted by Ivanov.
Newbury showed great discipline under significant pressure to hold their lead for an endless last 15 minutes and will be delighted with the never-say-die attitude and improved awareness which led to their first win of the season.
Scorers:
Jeannie Ivanov 12 (2 tries, 1 conversions)
