Basford v Spalding

Sunday 13th January 08.

The eagerly awaited game between the two U15 sides took place this afternoon in Spalding.The players from both clubs became friends last year following the closely fought game in the semi final of the Herts 7's. That weekend took its toll on both sides, and meant that due to injuries neither side would have sufficient players to put a squad together for the National 7's the following week. The situation was quickly resolved when 3 of the Spalding girls joined with our girls to put on a brilliant show of rugby, scoring many points on the way to the final against Cramberleigh.The efforts of all the girls that day saw them walk away with runners up medals and some great memories of some fantastic rugby.

Todays game started off as expected with both sets of backs seeing plenty of the ball, and first blood was drawn by Spalding when the Basford defense failed to put the usual wall in front of the opposing players and allowed them through to go 5-0 up within 5mins. The girls quickly rallied and it wasn't long before they had levelled the score with Lucie converting to give us a slender lead(5-7).
The game was being played at a fast pace throughout, and only some excellent defence from both teams stopped the scores running up. The Basford forwards were slowly starting to make headway, and a quick ball of the back of a maul allowed the girls to breakawy for their 2nd try(5-12). No sooner had Spalding kicked off when they put the Basford defence under pressure again and some subtle handling played to ball across the park for them to run in their 2nd try(10-12). The game was still very much in the balance with both sets of forwards putting in some big tackles in the centre of the field. It wasnt just the forwards who were putting it about, the backs were everywhere mopping up when ever one side tried to break through.Just before half time, the Basford girls broke through to add another 10 points to their score.Going in at half time the girls were (22-10)up, but knew that any lapses of concentration and they would soon be staring at a defeat. As the 2nd half wore on, the Basford girls began to exert a bit more pressure and began to find holes in the Spalding defence. The Basford girls ran in a further 6 tries in the 2nd half to record a 52-10 victory. Although the score line may look like the girls had it all their own way, nothing was further from the truth. The Spalding girls never stopped running and putting in some big hits.It should also be mentioned that this was only the 2nd game that the girls had played this season, and with a bit more rugby under their belts they will give any team a run for their money. There were some truly outstanding tackles going in today, and Amy Tinn, Emily H, Bronagh and Ellis to name a few,made our girls work for the whole game. The whole of the team were a credit to themselves and the coaching staff.

Back in the club house, the coaches picked their "man of the match" from the opposing teams. Basford man of the match went to Amy Browne who given that she has only played a handful of competetive games was outstanding going forward with the ball in hand. Spalding's man of the match was Emily Haines who continually ran out the basford defence and caused them all sorts of problems.

The after match drink off of a pint of orange squash between the 2 players was a close run affair and I would think a draw would be a just decision.

A big big thanks to all the payers, coaches and parents at Spalding for making us welcome today, and to the ladies who provided a lovely warm meal after the game.
We look forward to returning the welcome down at Rochford in a few weeks.

Basford: Megan,Lucie,Alex,Amy,Frances,Yasmin,Layla,Olivia, Abbie,Madeleine,Jessica and mouse.

Spalding: Amy T,Amy V,Ellis,Annabel,Tessa,Emily H,Jess,Emily P,Bronagh and Vanessa.

Tries: Alex 3,Abbie 3,Madeleine 2, Layla, Jess
Cons: Lucie 1.
Well done to all the girls for a fantastic display of rugby.

Sunday 6th Jan 08

Basford U18's v Aylesford Bulls

This was the Basford girls first trip to the Aylesford Bulls, (near Maidstone), after arranging the fixture during the Rochford festival, where the Aylesford girls gave a good account of themselves.

The game was played 10 vs 10 due to lack of numbers, so there was plenty of space on the pitch for both sides to take advantage of. Aylesford Bulls kicked off, and despite this being the first game back after the long Christmas break, the Basford girls went straight onto the attack and applied the pressure down in the Aylesford 20m zone. A knock-on gave Aylesford a scrum but an impressive Basford pack won the ball and Frenchie opened the scoring with a run from 10m out. 0 – 5
From the restart, the Basford girls set the pattern for the whole game, and kept applying constant pressure on Aylesford. The next score came from a line-out and drive for Sarah ‘wing prop’ Carmen to score. 0 – 10
Again, Basford took the game to Aylesford and only some very stout defensive play kept Basford from scoring more – the next Basford attack was ‘held up’ but from the resulting 5m scrum Sophie ran off the back of the scrum to ground the ball. 0 – 15
The game was being played mostly in the Aylesford half, with Basford constantly looking threatening. A line-out 15m out demonstrated a training ground move where the ball was passed short, and a great interchange between Sarah C and Nat led to Nat scoring the next try. 0 – 20
Just before half time Nat scored her second of the game following a great move from the halfway line, which showed some excellent passing and support play. Sophie converted to make the halftime score. 0 – 27

I don’t know what the Aylesford coaches said to their girls at halftime, but they came out of the blocks like a rocket, and within a minute had scored a great breakaway try, which was duly converted 7 – 27
This seemed to spur the Basford girls on to better things, and Frenchie went over for her second try following a scrum 10m out. 7 – 32
This was quickly followed by another score – again by Frenchie – following a great run by Sophie and some good support play. Sophie kicked the extras 7 – 39
The next score came from a passing move from 30m out, with good hands shown by a number of players that led to Kerry scoring her first try for the club – well done!! 7 – 44
Frenchie wasn’t finished for the day, and went over for her 4th try of the game (fantastic!!), again following an excellent passing move – Sophie kicked the conversion 7 – 51, and in the dying minutes, Fi showed she still had something left with a great 50m run to score her first and Basford’s 10th try of the game – brilliant! Sophie again kicked the extra points to make the final score 7 - 58

Many spectators said that this was one of the best displays of ‘team’ rugby that Basford have shown, with every member of the team being fully involved in the game – great forward plays, great running, great passing, and fantastic support for each other – well done!

Many thanks to everyone from Aylesford Bulls RFC for an excellent days rugby, and thanks especially to the Aylesford girls who played the game in great spirit – fantastic - and we hope to meet you again later in the season.

Final result: Aylesford Bulls RFC 7 Basford 58

Clark French Ace Reporter Essex Daily Blah Blah Blah

Sunday 6th Jan 08

Basford U15's v Aylesford Bulls

With Christmas a distant memory, the girls made the short trip across the Thames to play Aylesford Bulls.

Following on from the meeting between the two clubs at the Rochford Festival, and given that the majority of the girls out there today played in the Essex v Kent game in December, a close and hard fought game was on the cards.

Depleted by injury and holidays the Basford girls arrived subdued but confident.

From the whistle it became apparent that our forwards who have dominated games this season were not going to get it all their own way with some good tackling and surging runs being made by the Aylesford forwards in the early exchanges.

A good run from our backs freed Jessica to break for the line only to be tackled and brought down on the 5m line. Confidence was growing and as the first half wore on the backs combined to play some lovely ball across the field and touch down 3 times with Yas converting once.
Going in at half time 17-0 up, we were expecting a high scoring game, however Ayleford rallied straight from kick off and a surging run up field was briefly halted by our defence but some deft handling freed the ball from the maul and allowed Aylesford to go over in the corner.
From the resulting kick off, the Basford girls surged forward and again with the forwards in the thick off it, the ball was quickly fed out to the backs who combined to cross for the 4th try of the day.
From the kick off the ball was caught by Ellie who ran straight back towards the Aylesford try line, and some excellent defending held up play long enough for the girls to position themselves for another attack on the Aylesford line.
A quick ball from the ruck was spun out wide where Olivia was waiting and went over for try no 5.
Unfortunately just after this Frances who had been valiantly carrying on since injuring her knee way through the 1st half,twisted her knee again making a tackle and had to leave the field.
With the girls a player down, Aylesford really piled the pressure on, and were rewarded with a well worked try in the final minutes.
As the ref blew for full time both sets of players looked totally shattered having played at the same tempo throughout the game.

Full credit should go to Aylesford who despite falling behind early on never stopped running at our girls when they had the ball, and their defensive play was excellent.

It has been a good start to the new year with the girls carrying on that winning streak.

Tries: Jessica W, Yasmin P,Olivia S,Lucie W, Abbie C.
Cons: Yasmin P (1)

Well done to all the girls,not the easiest of games for the first game back after the break, but you all did yourselves and the club proud.

Next week another tough game beckons when we travel to the depths of Linconshire to play Spalding who took the girls to the wire in the Worthing festival last season.

Schools of Rugby

At Basford we have 3 girls who are in the Elite TDG squad at U18 level, Emily Scott, Sophie Russell and Natalie Mcclarnon.

We are pleased to announce that we now have some of our U15's following in their footsteps.
We have been informed that 6 of our girls have been selected to attend the Schools of Rugby.

The RFUW brief for the Schools of Rugby is that they are focussed towards high performance, elite players. They are looking at further developing the top players in the County who have demonstrated the potential to go on and play at a higher level.
The programme focuses on skill development with Players focussing on "basic skills done well".
The girls who have recieved invites into the SOR are

Alex Grant
Jess Harris
both the girls will attend the East Counties School of Rugby at Culford School

Yasmin Pemberton
Megan Robson
Lucie Wood
Jessica Wilkins
these 4 girls will join the elite girls from Herts at the Saracens Academy

Well done to all the girls

you have all done the Club and County proud!!

Basford v Hertford

Sunday 16th Dec

Last sunday the U15's travelled round to Ware to play against local rivals Hertford.
As usual the girls recieved a warm welcome from Hertford.

With the game being close to christmas, both teams were without key players and it was decided to play 11 a side.

This was the second time the girls had met this season and with all but a few of the girls being nominated for East Trials both sides gave their all.

The Basford forwards as they have been all season were dominant and gave little ball away to the Hertford girls.

Playing her first full game at Hooker Amy Browne had a fantastic game making some big hits and made a terrific break from the back of a ruck to run from the half way line to touch down under the posts.
We also welcomed back Hannah into the team after a long absence and she proved that she had not forgotten anything, making some timely challenges to thwart Hertfords attack.
The backs were given plenty of ball to run at the Hertford defence and used the space across the pitch to display some excellent ball handling and passing.
With all but 2 of the girls getting on the score sheet this week, the girls ensured that they finished the 1st half of the season on a winning note.

Although the final score of 62-5 to Basford may look flattering, the Hertford girls never stopped running at our girls and gave them a real run for their money.

Congratulations to all the girls for their efforts so far this season.

Also a big thank you and a Happy Christmas to all at Hertford for making the day enjoyable for the girls.

U15's

Sunday 9th Dec 07.

With a squad depleted by injury and illness, the girls travelled over to Saracens on sunday to play against Saracens, Welwyn and Hertford.
The aim behind the fixture was to give the coaches a final look at the girls before selection for Regional trials.
Each team seemed to be in the same position with girls missing for one reason or another.
Given the numbers available it was decided to play 10's Rugby.

With the weather wet, windy and an extremely heavy pitch to play on, the girls opened the day with a game against Hertford.
Having met earlier in the season with Basford coming out on top, confidence was high amongst the girls.
From the off, the basford girls went on the offensive with the forwards controlling the game in the middle of the park.
Some strong tackling from Ellie, Meg Lucie and Frances kept the Hertford forwards on the back foot which allowed the backs to play some neat passing rugby to open the scoring through Jessica.
As the game went on the Basford girls made their dominance pay with some deft handling on the 5m line which following a nicely weighted pass gave Meg the chance to go over in the corner.
Not wanting to be outdone, Frances collected a pass on the other wing shortly after and crashed over for the 3rd try.
Turning round at 15-0 the girls immediately went on the attack again which was quickly rewarded with a try for Olivia who minutes later went over again for her second.
The final try fell to Ellie who fully deserved her try after the work she had put in in keeping the Hertford forwards quiet.
the only conversion of the game was made by Yas.
Final score 32-0

In the 2nd game the girls came up against Welwyn, and again having beaten them earlier in the season at the Rochford Festival, the girls were ready to take the game to their opponents.
Whilst the game was a lot tighter than the first one, the forwards were keeping their counterparts quiet which allowed the backs freedom to run at the Welwyn line.
Abbie opened the scoring with a well worked try under the posts to give Maddy an easy shot at the conversion, which she calmly put away.
Shortly after Ellie went over after some strong defensive tackling from Welwyn looked like they might hold the girls at bay. Again Maddy was on hand to convert the kick.
A rare mistake from the pack saw them penalised for pushing too early in the scrum and from the resulting penalty Welwyn went over for their first try. Courtney duly converting the kick.
Turning round at 14-7 the girls again began to pressure the Welwyn defense and it wasnt long before Ellie went over for her 2nd try of the game. Maddy again made light work of the conversion.
with the minutes ticking away, some excelent play in moving the ball across the park gave the ball to Jessica W who evaded a couple of tackles to run in her try.
Unfortunately Maddies boot was on the wrong foot this time and the conversion went wide of the posts.
With the score nicely settled at 26-7 and with only a minute left on the clock, the Basford girls were penalised in a scrum and from the resulting penalty Welwyn went over for their 2nd try.
Final Score 26-12

The final game saw the girls play Saracens, and although they met on a couple of occasions last season, they had yet to meet this year.
Fully aware of the danger from the boot of Claire Shutler after the County meeting between Herts and Essex, the girls were intent on closing her down to restrict the damage she could cause.
With the forwards again putting in some big hits, it didnt take too long for the backs to open the scoring through Maddy, who duly converted her kick.
From the restart Lucie collected the ball and ran straight through the Sarries defence to go over under the posts,with Maddy stepping up to convert.
Amy who was playing her 1st competative game of Rugby in the front row was not going to be outdone by her more experienced team mates and made some excellent tackles and continually ran at the Sarries defence with ball in hand.
Just before half time Jessica W scored her 3rd try of the day , going over in the corner.
Turning round at 19-0 things were going according to plan.
Following some smart play in the centre, the ball was fed to Frances who seemed to forget that she was a 2nd row and went on a blinding run half the length of the pitch to go over for her 2nd try of the day.
Maddy presumably still shell shocked from seeing Frank run that far was too dazed to convert the kick.
As the game was drawing to its close, Jess Harris who has had a terrific season so far at Hooker raced clear to touch down.
Final score 29-0

But for two mistakes which gave away penalties close to the try line, the girls almost kept another clean sheet.

Congratulations to all the girls for some excellent performances out on the pitch.
It has certainly given Simon and Peter something to think about at Regional.

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.