Newbury Ladies impress with nine try haul
January 28, 2010
After several weeks of postponed games and with only 1 full training session since Christmas, Newbury Ladies traveled to Farnborough for their first league clash of 2010.
On a dry, bright day the stage was set for an open and competitive game. Newbury made several changes to the starting lineup with Leanne Carrod making her first start in the Front Row and Emma “Bubblewrap” Button was captain for the day.
The hosts looked more organised from the kick off and Newbury who had not played since 13th December looked rusty and out of sorts. Putting that aside the Newbury pack managed to contain the forward effort of a committed and enthusiastic Farnborough pack.
After 10 minutes the Newbury pack found their feet and started to feed the sharp looking back line with some ball. This resulted in the 1st try being scored with the conversion by Fly Half Laura Smith. This gave the Newbury pack a boost of confidence and from a solid scrum a 2nd try was scored and converted again by Smith. Score 14 - 0.
Farnborough then had the bit between their teeth and started applying pressure on normally granite like Newbury Scrum. This resulted in several scrums being lost and a wake up call to the pack. Never the less it was Newbury’s back row that kept the Farnborough team on the back foot, they were immense and deserve a mention in dispatches.
Newbury managed to bag a brace of try’s before half time which Smith missed her only conversion of the day. An immense kicking display with 8 out of 9 conversions made. Half time score 26 - 0.
Newbury made some positional changes during the break to shore up the scrummage, but it was Farnborough who started the 2nd half as they did the first and from some sustained pressure they scored a well deserved try after 5 mins. At this point Newbury needed to regain their shape and composure, but Boro’ continued to press the Newbury line. But it was the back line who wanted the ball. The pack gave a platform for the ball to be given to the backs to run riot. It was Captain Button who bagged a hat-trick of try’s in 15 mins and the reliable boot of Smith kept the scoreboard ticking.
The Boro heads went down and forwards raised the tempo of the game especially at the breakdown. Helen Mitford was sweeping up the loose ball and prop Kim Myers put in a solid performance. A special mention must go to Lou Goodall for the support from a scrum to set up the try of the game, she beat the back row from a scrum to support Button with some perfect passing and interplay, all this from the front row.
Newbury continued to score with ease and the game ended with Newbury’s best result of the season 61 - 5.
Although a few names were mentioned everyone played extremely well and everyone can be proud of the result. Newbury Ladies are now looking forward to the next league fixture against Tabard at Monks Lane on the 14th February.
Newbury Ladies are always on the lookout for new players and we train on Wednesday’s 7pm - 9pm. Just turn up and you will be made welcome. Newbury entertain Rosslyn Park II on Sunday in a friendly match. Kick Off 2pm.
31/10 Women 1st XV 25 - Rosslyn Park II 10
October 31, 2008
Rosslyn Park II 10 – Newbury 25 26th October 2008
Newbury Womens First XV out sized a smaller Rosslyn Park. Newbury’s forwards tested Rosslyn early on, with plenty of fringe play, punching holes through their stripy red defence, carrying well and making good ground in phases before spinning it out to the backs.
It was still a no score stale mate about 20 minutes in with Park absorbing the pressure well. Newbury were quilty of silly mistakes at breakdowns and gave away possession as the wet weather caused several knock-ons.
A penalty, pretty much on the centre spot started a move for Newbury that would get their first points on the board. With the kick to touch skipper Bryony Clow facing right noticed Winger Jo Hampton far left, a perfectly placed cross kick to the left hand corner was met by the winger on the move, great support play followed as tackles from Rosslyn went in, Newbury popped off time and time again until a ruck was formed on the 5 metre. Clow had followed the kick and was there to pick and barrel her way over the line for the first of Newbury’s five unconverted tries.
From the restart Newbury now rose in confidence, although Rosslyn almost equalised immediately. A scrum was awarded to Rosslyn, and with some quick hands they ran wide avoiding contact. From 22 to 22 their winger looked set to score, however, centre Emma Button closed down the break away opposition and was smartly supported by ‘fit as a butcher’s dog’ hooker Steph Clark. Together they slowed the game down enough for Newbury to reorganise. From then on Newbury spent the rest of the half camped in Rosslyn Park’s half. Everybody wanted a piece of the action, punching holes through the Rosslyn defence, securing quick ball from the ruck, the back line demonstrating good hands out wide. The second try came to Bonnie Hubbard on her debut, another pick and go on the line capitalised on ten minutes of solid attacking work from Newbury.
The second half started well for Rosslyn with an experienced fly half super-sub and they started to make ground rapidly. Under pressure some of Newbury’s novice players began to make forgivable mistakes. Newbury were repeatedly penalised for high tackles, not using the back door and dragging down mauls. After being warned new recruit and awesome tackler Kelly Sue Leitch’ took one for the team’ and sat out for 10 minutes. Rosslyn Park kept coming, one try attempt was held up but eventually Rosslyn barrelled over an unconverted try.
Shortly after the restart and a man down, good hands reached Emma Button on the left wing as she made a solo break just before the half way line to score Newbury’s third try. This was followed by some excellent team work with backs mauling and players that have just started playing rugby this season steeling ball in the lineout. In the last ten minutes, Newbury never stopped wanting, with the majority territory and possession, Jo Hampton took the score to 10-20 as a series of driving mauls sucked in the Rosslyn defence under the post and Hampton, fresh back from injury, went wide for her first of the season.
In the final five minutes, Rosslyn tired and gave away a succession of penalties in their half, quick thinking caught them not retired ten, twice, and easy ground was made towards Rosslyn’s try line with prop Kim Myers taking the third pick and go try of the afternoon just before the whistle.
The Bluebirds, with two wins from three are looking strong this season, but this doesn’t happen without the commitment from new players and the old timers. We’re still looking for women to join the fun. We train on Wednesdays and play on Sundays – there’s nothing quite like it.
Tries
Bryony Clow 1
Bonnie Hubbard 1
Emma Button 1
Kim Meyers 1
Jo Hampton 1
07/10 Newbury BlueBirds soar to first win!
October 7, 2008
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)
Bluebirds are go!
September 30, 2008
New League, New Players, Newbury BlueBirds are go!
Newbury Bluebirds 22 - 56 Sutton and Epsom
Bluebirds!
Although the scoreline of Newbury’s first match of the 2008-2009 season reads comfortably in the Sutton’s favour, it belies a spirited and extremely promising performance from Newbury, who put 22 points past a vastly more experienced opposition and played some fantastic rugby which suggests that they will be a force to contend with in the league this year.
Newbury’s starting line up included 7 players with fewer than 2 games under their belts (among them 3 full debutants), whereas their opposition had experience in all the right places, most notably at scrum half, fly half and in the front row. For the first quarter the Blues’ inexperience was heavily exploited: Sutton took advantage of some nervous tackling and lack of positional nous to run in an early 3 tries, all converted by their ice cool fly half, and Newbury were dealt a further blow to their confidence when experienced flanker Jo Hampton was forced to limp off with a knee injury after a furious first ten minutes of tackling. Despite this, the home side started to gain some good possession and their pressure paid off when they won a penalty under the posts for Sutton holding on. Fullback Jeannie Ivanov converted to post 3 points against Sutton’s 21.
Although player down, with no replacements, early nerves had been abated and The Bluebirds set about containing Sutton far more effectively. Debut scrum-half Andrina Douglas to feed the backs with better ball, which led to some brilliant passing between new centres Emma Button and Laura Smith. This paid off 20 minutes in when Smith, who had an extremely impressive debut game at outside centre, fed Ivanov a perfectly weighted pass on the wing to allow her to cut in and score under the posts. The try and resulting conversion visibly rattled the visitors and they responded strongly with a further two tries. But Newbury’s new pacey back line, fed by hard fought, freshly stolen ball by the forwards, caught them sleeping again and the experienced Button found some space down the right and ran in a lung-bursting 50 yard sprint to score Newbury’s second try, converted by Ivanov.
The second half Newbury played with increasing confidence and began to match Sutton in various areas, most notably the line out, where new hooker Stephanie Clark connected with aloft lock Emma Galbraith time and time again. Sutton’s impressive scrum half scored a very well engineered try off the blind side of the scrum, which only inspired the pack to work harder at securing ball. This increasse disruption meant Sutton dropped more ball and started to give away silly penalties. One such opportunity was taken quickly by skipper Bryony Clow on the five meter and with sheer determination and strength she shook off two tackles to go over the line. Unfortunately she had failed to follow pre-match instructions that all tries should be scored under the posts and a conversion didn’t follow.
Sutton continued to press the Newbury side and were rewarded with two late tries, but Newbury bravely defended for long periods in their own twenty-two with long serving fly-half Helen Mitford showing incredible stamina popping up, apparnetly, all over the pitch to put in some great tackles.
Newbury will take a great deal of positives from this game and will already be relishing the prospect of their next league fixture in South East West 3 against Bracknell on the 5th of October, away. The Bluebirds will look to focus on their fitness and ensuring all new players have a better understanding of the tacticle basics, but if they can ensure that these areas match their shere commitment they can look forward to a competitive debut season in the league.
Scorers:
Jeannie Ivanov 12 (1 try, 2 conversions, 1 penalty)
Bryony Clow 5 (1 try)
Emma Button 5 (1 try)