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.