Basford v Letchworth

Last Sundays match report courtesy of Phil French.

Thanks to Letchworth for stepping in at the last moment to give both teams a vital run out before the season starts in earnest.

Sunday 16th September 2007


On a sun drenched Sunday morning, the Basford girls made the journey to Letchworh, keen to get the new season underway.

Due to injuries and the tail end of the holiday season, the game was played 11 vs 11, meaning there was space on the pitch for both sides to show what they could do.
Scotty kicked off for Basford with a wonderful kick that meant Letchworth had to touch the ball down behind their posts, giving Basford a 5m scrum, and putting the home side under immediate pressure. From the scrum the ball went wide and Letchworth managed to put the player in touch for a lineout. Basford again applied pressure and from another 5m scrum, the ball was passed to Chivvy who ran for the line only to spill the ball as she crossed it – slight case of cobwebs having to be blown away from the summer break. Still it was a sign of things to come, and within 2 minutes Charlie, playing as stand-in scrum half, forced her way over the line to score the first try of the season 5 – 0. From the kick off, Basford again went on the attack, with the forwards winning good ball and working their way up the field. From 35m out, Cherelle ‘I don’t do running’, broke free and ran in to score under the posts. Scotty duly slotted the conversion over 12 – 0. From the kick off, the Basford forwards again worked the ball up the pitch for Charlie to run in from 10m to score her second of the match. Scotty did the business with the kick again 19 – 0.
The Letchworth girls were looking a bit shell shocked at this point – they had a number of key players missing – but credit to them, they rallied round and put up some sterling defence to keep the Basford girls out of their 22.
Unfortunately, it was about this time that the Basford backs decided that they wanted a bit of ball, and following a series of good passing moves, Sarah McB ran in for a try 24 – 0.
Basford were still applying pressure whenever Letchworth had the ball, and after wining a scrum against the head, the Basford forwards and backs worked in perfect harmony to allow Frenchie to run in to score under the posts. Scotty kicked the extras 31 – 0 at half time.
After half time, there came a period of play that, we hope, shows the shape of things to come. The Basford forwards took the ball into contact, it was re-cycled, and shipped out along the line, with the backs looping around each other for support, and resulting in Sarah McB scoring her second try. A fantastic move from their own 22 in which all 11 players were involved! 36 – 0.
It must have felt good to the players, because 2 minutes later, they did it again, with Frenchie benefiting from receiving the final pass to score 41 – 0.
There was just enough time left for the forwards to show a bit more of their power and dominance with Sarah C going over to make the final score 46 – 0.

The Basford coaches wanted to point out that they were extremely impressed with the way that the whole team were involved in the game, and the fact that the forwards and backs functioned as a unit, with effective communication and support being made available when it was needed. If this is how the girls can play in the first match of the season, how good could they be with a few more matches under their belts! It looks like it may be a good season ahead!

Team:
Sarah C (fastest ‘wingprop’ in the world),
Robyn (good supporting role),
Cherelle( I don’t do running but I can if I must!),
Gemma (great scrumaging),
Alice (pops up everywhere),
Natalie (excellent distribution),
Charlie (is there a position she can’t play?),
Scotty (she’s here, she’s there, she’s every bloody where)
Sarah McB (great running!),
Chivvy (I think that’s boosted your confidence! Excellent!)
Frenchie (just loving it!!)

Final result: Letchford RFC 0 Rochford / Basildon 46.