Fords dig deep but were unable to maintain their winning streek

Our hosts could only manage to field 11 players, which was a little annoying but we would have 5 on the scrum and 6 in the back line.

Even with a few players missing through injury, we put out an impressive front 5 for the forwards. Lara and Georgia propped up Lucy in the front row, the boiler house in the second row was Emily and Teya. Our impact forward was Jess, who in spite of feeling a little groggy, was insistent on playing.

The starters in the backs were Lauren at scrum half, Aleisha (capt) at fly half, centres of Hermione and Georgia, wingers/full back Robyn and Lizzy. Our impact players were Kitty and Robyn. We used a rolling sub combination for the backs.
The wind was blowing a gale across the boggy pitch, which in horse racing terms was to say the least soft.

Even though there was an intense warm up, the girls struggled a little with the conditions. However, the opposition had one outstanding player who demonstrated her divisional skills throughout and was the top try scorer.
The Fords fought back and at one point the score of 12 – 14 to the home side was encouraging. We knew we had the power and fitness in the scrum to tire them out and progress. Unfortunately an injury to the Ashford hooker, meant there were uncontested scrums and that took away our main advantage.

I will not dwell on the game, save to say the girls never gave up, they put in a huge effort and were the wrong side of some decisions and in the last couple of minutes, conceded a number of tries. It is my opinion that they had given so much and with some injuries and not firing on all cylinders, I felt like Mark McCall must have done at Saracens the previous week. It was just one of those days.

Both Kevin and I are extremely proud of our players and what I am confident of, is that this group of exceptional young ladies will bounce back and have a very bright future.

Final score Ashford 56 Fords 26.

Report by Gareth