Thursday, November 29, 2007

Basford Post Op Nutritional Advice



Nothing is left to chance at "Basford", and every effort is made to ensure that any player out through injury is continually monitored and is given the support and assistance to ensure that they make a quick recovery and fighting to get back into the team.

Finally on the road to recovery after two major operations to repair her leg, McB has been visited by the Basford Nutritionist(Dr Sarah Carmen MD, MBE, Big Mac ) who has put together a specially prepared programme to ensure that when the she has the cast removed,and resumes training, she will be in perfect shape to move up to the forwards.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Basford v Letchworth / Paviors

This was the Basford girls second trip to Letchworth this season (they played the season opener there), and the girls were all looking forward to another competitive game, along with a much anticipated game against Paviors – whom the girls met in last seasons National 7’s.

Due to injuries, Letchworth were down to 10 players, so many thanks to the Paviors girls who volunteered to play for Letchworth to make it an even numbered game.
Letchworth kicked off and, as usual Basford immediately went on the offensive, with their first attack nearly leading to a try, with only a fumble whilst grounding the ball keeping the score at nil all.
Letchworth defended well, with some big tackles and some runs from deep from Sasha, but the Basford girls weren’t in the mood for letting anyone across their line. The deadlock was broken when Scotty showed a turn of pace and ran in from 25m out to score. 0 - 5
Three minutes later, Natalie seemed to burst through the Letchworth defence from nowhere, and a run down the touchline saw her score in the corner 0 – 10.
Letchworth rallied from the restart and started to press Basford back into their own 20m but, again, Basford showed that they can defend with the best and managed to weather the storm. Before half time, Natalie again crossed the Letchworth line for her second try, born out of a forwards move 0 – 15.
Basford kicked off the second half, and Letchworth again pressed forward with Basford touching down behind their own line to give away a 5m scrum – and things looked good for Letchworth. Unfortunately, there must have been some sort of infringement within the scrum as the referee awarded a penalty to Basford – the ball was duly kicked in to touch and Basford were out on the attack again.
In a wonderful piece of individual skill Scotty made a tackle on a Letchworth girl, forced her to spill the ball, got to her feet, picked the ball up, and went over to score – all in about 3 nano-seconds!! 0 – 20
The final score of the match was provided by Sarah ‘wing prop’ Carmen, who made her usual 10m run with three opponents hanging on to her – great strength and determination! 0 - 25

Final result: Letchford RFC 0 Basford 25.

Following a match between Letchworth and Paviors - thanks to the Basford girls who played for Letchworth – and under the ‘quiet glow’ of the Letchworth floodlights, the Basford girls took on Paviors in the first 15-a-side meeting between the two clubs.
Basford kicked off and immediately went hunting for the ball, pinning the Paviors back in there own half for a while – but some very resolute defending from the girls from Nottingham, and Sasha ( she gets about a bit!!) kept the Basford girls at bay. But it was too good to last and Natalie, (playing at No. 8), picked the ball up from the back of the scrum and powered 10m to cross the line 0 – 5.
Basford kept pressing forward, but couldn’t break the defence of Paviors again in the first half.
The second half started as the first finished with Basford again camping for periods of time in the Paviors half, and then Sarah ‘wing prop’ Carmen scored a bizarre try. I think one of the Paviors girls tried to kick the ball clear, only for it to hit Sasha (her team mate) and rebound back over the try line, whereby Sarah was the first to react and dived on the ball for a score – if I have that wrong I’m sure someone will correct me! 0 – 10
Basford scored one more try – Sophie went in from 5m out following a string of passes 0 – 15 – before the game was brought to a slightly premature end by a bad, but accidental, injury to Sarah McB – our thanks go to everyone involved at Letchworth, Paviors, Basford and the Ambulance Service for their prompt attention and actions.

Final result: Paviors RFC 0 Basford 15.

Our thanks to Letchworth and Paviors for what, until the injury, was a great day of hard competitive rugby, played in the best of rugby spirits – perhaps we can all do it again later in the season.

And finally, our thoughts must go out to Sarah McB, and Paula and Darren (her parents) – I know all the girls from all the clubs wish to pass on their heartfelt best wishes to Sarah for a speedy recovery and the earliest possible return to the very best of health.

Frank's sniper got MCB!!!

As the U15's were having a weekend off, Franks sniper was on the prowl

After playing an excellent game with some superb tackles MCB broke her leg on Sunday. Sarah has broken both her Tibia and Fibia as well as dislocating her ankle.

She had an operation late on Sunday night to insert a steel plate and countless screws into her leg and will undergo a further operation on Wed morning to sort out the tendons and ligaments.
She will hopefully be home by the weekend.

The prognosis is that she will make a full recovery, but wont play again this season.

Sarah wants to thank all the girls who cheered her off on sunday, and apologises for the screaming on sunday..

Please post your messages to Sarah on the blog to wish her a speedy recovery.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Brains and Brawn



Every young girls dream(so I am told) is to be a movie star or a beautiful model and marry a prince!!! To have their own pony etc etc blah blah

As the years role by and reality strikes and they stand more chance of finding shergar giving rides on Southend beach, they realise that an education might not be a bad thing. So they work hard at school, take up rugby and lo and behold they gain A*s and become the hero of their rugby team.
Now the story would go something like " the handsome hunk who is the 1st team captain sweeps them off their feet and they fall in love and live happily ever after".

Unfortunately our clever, intelligent, rugby playing girl still dreams of being that beautiful movie star adored by millions. So she forsakes her education and relatively small talent for the game of rugby and goes off to drama school.

After years of knocking on agents doors, and wearing out numerous casting couches!!!!
she finally gets her break on CHILDRENS TV as









GROTT BAGS





Basford Girls at County Festival.

Sunday 18th November 07
Last weekend saw the 2nd Annual Festival played at Harlow RFC.

A special Thanks is to go to Alan Brooking,Chris McFerren, Alan Webb and all the staff at Harlow Rugby Club for organising a terrific days rugby.
Kelly and the ladies section for a superb job as pitch marshalls despite suffering frostbite.
Linda and the girls in the Kitchens for the food and hot drinks throughout the day.
Alex Fleming the overworked Physio,
Ken & Callem Potter for getting up early to set up the pitches and marshalling points.

Last but not least Tony McClarnon, Paula Bates and Tina Turner whos tireless work in getting the thing off the ground didnt go unnoticed.
And all the coaches, girls and parents who braved the weather to ensure the day was a success.


U15's

The Essex girls started the day full of confidence following the back to back wins against Kent and Berkshire in the previous county fixtures.
The day started well with a 19-0 victory against Eastern Counties who put up a stirling display for what was a relatively new squad of players.
Scorers: Tries Alex (2) Abbie (1) Cons: Yasmin (2)

The 2nd Game against Middlesex saw the girls come up against a team with some pace out on the wings and only some resulute defending in the opening exchanges stopped Middlesex from opening up a lead.The forwards soon started to control the game and it wasnt long before the 1st try came from Yas. This spured on the girls who soon opened up a 15-0 lead.However a momentary lapse out on the wing, allowed a middlesex player to race through and touch down.
Final Score 15-5
Tries Yasmin, Lucie, Abbie.

The 3rd game was against unknown Leicestershire, however the girls quickly settled into their stride and with the forwards dominating at scrums and the breakdown, it wasnt long before Alex opened the scoring with the first of her two tries. Not to be out done, Abbie and Anna both grabbed a brace each before Lucie and Jessica added one apiece.
Final Score 44-0
Tries: Alex (2), Abbie(2), Anna(2) Lucie and JessicaCons Yasmin (2).

Going into the 4th Game, Essex and Herts both had maximum points and the winner would almost be certain to lift the trophy .Both sets of girls know each other well from club and regional rugby, and the game started at a terrific pace.
Both sets of forwards refused to give an inch and the game at half time was finely balanced.Towards the end of the 1st half, an Essex penalty on the Herts 5m line looked like it would be the opening score, but some excellent defense from the Herts girls withheld the onslaught and cleared the danger.
The game swung Herts way when a clever dummy from Claire gave her an opening to go outside the defense and go over in the corner 0-5.Again both teams were evenly matched and as the minutes ticked away, another break from Herts gave them their 2nd try of the game.
Final Score 0-10.

The last game for the girls saw them up against Oxford and having to win and hoping Herts slipped up against middlesex.
Although cold,tired and understrength due to injuries in the previous game, the girls were too strong for the Oxford girls and two well worked tries gave them a 10-0 victory.
Thanks to Herts for the loan of the 3 girls who played as our front row following the loss of 4 players in the previous game due to injury.

It was a terrific days rugby all round, and Herts were worthy champions for the 2nd year running.
The respect and friendship that has grown between Essex and Herts can only serve to make East a formidable force to be reckoned with in the coming Regional programme.

Here's to next year when we want our trophy back.Congratulations to all the girls who played some excellent rugby and did themselves, their coaches, clubs and county proud.

Essex County Festival U15's Champions Hertfordshire
Runners Up Essex

Basford Girls Frances Jess Alice Megan Lucie Alex Layla Yasmin Jessica Abbie Olivia Madeleine Emma (Mouse)

U18's

Before starting with the match reports, huge congratulations must be given to all the organisers and volunteers, who through their un-stinting efforts made the festival an extremely enjoyable and successful day.
Without their efforts, these events would not take place, and I know that all the girls, from all the County sides, want to say a massive thank you.

The day started cold – and remained that way(!), but at least forecast rain/sleet/snow held off until the last game of the day, leading to some excellent rugby being played.

The first game for the Essex girls was against Eastern Counties, with the girls from Suffolk/Norfolk/Cambridgeshire kicking off into a stiff breeze. From the start, the Essex girls took the initiative and pressed forward, with the impressive Essex pack leading the way. The Eastern Counties side put up some stout defence, but Essex were pressing the attack at all opportunities. The scoring was opened when Kes received the ball in her own half, gave a couple of steps and turned on the pace to sprint fully 55m to score near the corner 5 – 0.
Following the kick off, and a couple of passes, Danni also showed her pace to score virtually from the restart with another blistering run 10 - 0
Essex kept up the pressure, and the Eastern Counties girls were gradually driven back towards their line, with Essex knocking on 5m out.
From the resulting scrum, the Essex forwards again showed their strength, winning the ball against the head, and Scotty (scrum half) ran in to score the third Essex try 15 – 0.
Half time came and went with Essex still taking the game to their opponents – the forwards were now dominating the scrums, and providing a fantastic platform for the backs to work off. This allowed India to be on the receiving end of a good passing move, and she duly obliged by scoring with ease. 20 – 0.
The Eastern Counties girls rallied, but Essex were in no mood to ship any points and their defence was as good as their attacking play, with all the girls covering any move made by the opposition.Late in the game, Danni was again the beneficiary of a great passing move and went over to score her second try to bring the game to a close 25 – 0.
Final score: Essex 25 Eastern Counties 0

Next up for Essex were Leicestershire – an unknown quantity as the Counties had not met in recent history – and they proved to be a tight, well drilled, physical side.
Again Essex dominated territory from the start and applied the pressure through the whole team. The Leicestershire girls put in some excellent defensive play, but India managed to score after a period of sustained Essex pressure 5 – 0.
Play resumed with Essex attacking, and Leicestershire defending. The Essex pack were starting to have their way in the scrum, and the backs always looked dangerous. After a couple of scrums, Natalie managed to power over the line for the second Essex try 10 – 0 at half time.
The second half continued in the same vein as the first, with Leicestershire making some big defensive tackles to keep the Essex girls at bay, but following a tap penalty 10m from the Leicestershire line, Natalie again powered over the line for her second of the match 15 – 0.
The score line didn’t reflect the excellent effort that the Leicestershire girls put into the game – well done – and it would be nice for the two counties to meet each other on another opportunity. Final score: Essex 15 Leicestershire 0
The final game of the day for the Essex girls was a ‘winner takes all’ match up with their rivals from neighbouring Hertfordshire. The girls play a lot of club rugby against each other, and then form a large portion of the East Region representative side, so they know each other very well, and everyone was looking forward to a great match – and we weren’t disappointed.
From the outset, both teams played some excellent attacking rugby, combined with some excellent defensive rugby, culminating in a game mainly centred between the two 20m lines. As Essex tried to find a way through, the Hertfordshire girls shut the door firmly in their faces, and the Essex girls put in some great tackles whenever Hertfordshire looked like finding the telling pass. It was going to take something special to break the deadlock – and Essex found the move late on in the first half. Kes managed to step her marker and made a break out of her own half. Wonderful supporting play from the Essex girls resulted in Natalie offloading the ball from contact to Frenchie, who ran a great line to score from 10m out. 5 – 0 at half time.
With a game as tight as this, the Essex girls showed some maturity by playing for territory during the second half. With a great display of kicking for touch, combined with not giving an inch when Hertfordshire attacked, the Essex girls ran down the clock to successfully defend their title.Congratulations and commiserations must be given to the Hertfordshire girls who gave Essex a run throughout the whole game – lets hope the Essex and Hertfordshire girls, combined with the Eastern Counties girls combine after Christmas into an awesome East Region side.Final score: Essex 5 Hertfordshire 0

Essex County Festival U18 Champions Essex
Runners-up Hertfordshire
And finally, a message of thanks for all the players, from all the Counties, who made the day worthwhile with excellent displays of rugby – the future looks very bright indeed!!

Phil French Ace Reporter Daily Bugle

Friday, November 16, 2007

Basford Tour 2008

Girls

Having been in touch with Mandy at the Yorkshire RFUW, we can now confirm that our Easter tour will be to the North East, and in particulatr the scenic coastline around Whitby.

The dates are the 21st to 24th March inc and the plan is to stay at a local youth Hostel for 3 nights and to play games on the Saturday and sunday against local teams.

More information will be posted in due course, in the mean time put your thinking heads on to come up with this years theme.

Ideas so far

Gavin Village People
Gavin Super Hero's
Gavin Any thing where he can dress up in spandex and tights.


Simon and Myself will be voting for a scooby doo theme ( cos we have the gear)!!!!!!

So get thinking the best idea wins a ???????????????????

Phil

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Basford Girls shine at County

Sunday 4th November 07

Last Sunday saw the 2nd County Game of the season take place at Rochford Rugby Club.

Our own Basford girls turned out to represent Essex at Rochford against a very good Kent County side.
From the off, the game was played at a terrific pace with both teams playing some excellent rugby.No quarter was given by either side with some big tackles being made across the park.
Kent took the lead after some poor handling by the Essex side allowed them to break through the normally robust defense for Iona Todd to touch down. 5-0.

The Girls kept on playing to their game plan, and the forwards continued to make in roads into the Kent half of the park.
Following yet another turn over at the scrum, the ball was fed to mouse who pulled a perfect pass to Abby out on the wing who then raced through the Kent defence to touch down. 5-5, although the conversion was pulled wide the girls now had the upper hand.
The forwards were dominating the scrum with some excellent play by Ellie, Jess and Frances in the front row with Meg and Lucie providing that push from second row. Alex as usual was ever alert and quick of the back of the scrum to support Jessica at scrum half.
It would be fair to say that up to the moment when Frances went off injured we were totally in control of the scrum. However having lost Frances, we had to revert to uncontested scrums due to the lack of an experienced prop to replace her, and our physical advantage went along with frances.
The backs were seeing plenty of ball throughout the game and some strong running and tackling kept Kent at bay.
Maddy playing her first game at full back had the safest hands on the pitch and continually ran at the Kent side whenever she got a chance.The support play from Layla, Yasmin and Olivia in the centre allowed the girls to mount another attack on the Kent line and some deft handling from Ellie, Meg and Lucie fed the ball to Alex who broke through to go over for the 2nd and what proved to be the winning try. 10-5.
Kent did not give up and a mistake by the Essex girls from a scrum gave Iona Todd from Kent the opportunity to run at the line for what would have been an equalising try. However a deft little tap tackle on the ankle of Iona by Yasmin caused her to stumble forward and spill the ball.
The referee deciding that there wasnt time to scrum down, blew the whistle to bring to an end a fantastic display of rugby and a well deserved win for the Essex Girls.
After a brief respite, the girls took to the field again to play against a Kent Development side who had travelled over with their A team.
Although the first game had taken its toll on the girls, with Frances being unable to carry on and Anna (Westcliff) having to leave early, the girls played on against 13man Kent with 12 players, but proved far too strong for their opponents and ran out eventual winners 51-0.
A big thanks to Kent for coming over today to give the Girls what was undoubtedly the hardest game they had faced this season.

(Essex Squad Basford Girls)
Megan (Capt), Ellie, Alex, Jess H, Frances,Lucie, Jessica, Yasmin, Layla, Olivia, Mouse, Maddy, and Abby.
Tries: Abby, Alex 10-5
Tries: Lucie (2), Alex(2), Jessica, Layla, Mouse, Abbie(2)
Cons: Yasmin (3) 51-0
Well done to all those girls.