The Fords U15 Girls Secure Another Great WIN!

The girls prepared for their fixture against a side who have traditionally played a strong brand of rugby, therefore the girls were required to make sure that they got off to a good start, as in previous games they had taken a little time to get going.

Not today, the starting team of Lola, Lucy and Ciar in the front row, had Emily and Lara in the second row and Teya at 8. The half back pairing of Lauren and Aleisha had Hermione and Georgie in the centre, Lizzy and Evie started as wingers and Robyn made her first start at full back. Georgia, Jess and Izzy were our impact players waiting to finish off the opposition when required.
Conditions were superb for this time of year, and we were looking forward to a hard fought game.

Unfortunately shortly after kick off, the magnificent Lola was undertaking one of her trademark runs, powering through, leaving a trail of destruction behind her, when she was tackled and fell awkwardly. Only two minutes into the game and Lola had to leave the pitch, suffering a fracture to her fibula, we wish her the speediest of recoveries.

The coaches had to make a snap decision as to who would replace Lola at loose-head and how to regroup. Lara stepped up and volunteered to move up a row, Georgia slotted in at second row and the girls sparked into life. A five yard scrum with Pulborough put in, wonderfully hooked by Lucy allowing Lauren to snipe to the left of the scrum, offload in the tackle to Aleisha, who powered over for the first try. 5-0 to the Fords. The conversion was on the wrong side and quite far right of the posts and missed but a sterling effort.

After the kick off, Fords took possession again, the ensuing play resulted in a 22 drop out by Pulborough, caught by Teya, she stormed up the pitch, supported by Lucy, the inter-passing that delighted the spectators was top draw, Teya collected the ball and went over for the second try. 10-0 to the Fords.

At the kick off, there was some ambitious but scrappy play, but a break by the Fords saw them on the attack again, Aleisha slotted a Dan Carter kick through the defence for Lizzy to run on to but Lizzy was tackled without the ball and a penalty followed. A quick tap and go penalty gained significant ground but Pulborough had the ball. The Fords tightened the noose and would not let their opponents out of their own 22, a turnover, Emily carried forward with determination and managed an offload, collected by Ciar and out to Teya who went over for another. Aleisha had found her range with the kick and slotted a beauty. 17-0 to Fords

The quality of play continued to show why the girls had progressed so far in this competition, Fords blitz defence and pressure ensured they re-gained possession. The backs linked magnificently and Lizzy was speeding down the right wing, her off load looked perfect, but the referee adjudged it to have gone slightly forward. Fords scrum was that dominant that Lucy hooked another against the head, the resulting play was open and clinical, the ball went through the hands for Lizzy to go over for her try. Aleisha converted the try, 24-0 to the Fords.

Fords regathered possession and controlled of the ball, their alacritous attack saw the ball flow through the hands, Aleisha, Georgie and Hermione all involved in a spell binding piece of play, that saw Hermione dot the ball down to make the score 29-0
The second half was a reversal of all other matches, the girls had lost focus momentarily but soon drew their opponents back into their sights. After a lengthy spell of injury time, Pulborough pulled a score back, a turnover ball out to their winger and she ran from the 22 to just outpace Lizzy who had made up a huge amount of ground, to tackle her near the touch line.

As fatigue set in, our finishers had already joined the team and Izzy and Jess made their mark when they graced the pitch. A penalty awarded to Fords, saw the quick thinking Aleisha dart off, although supported by others, she showed that she also has the power as well as trickery in her armoury, the score was now 34-5.

A further period of sustained pressure and Izzy took the ball into contact in the middle of the pitch about 5 metres from their try line, she suffered a knock and Evie came back on. The ball went along the line and Pulborough used the touchline as the extra defender.

The final play of the game was a Pulborough throw in 5 metres from their line, Teya rose majestically to take the ball and breach the Pulborough defence for the final try, which fittingly, was converted by Aleisha. Final score 41-5.