Crusaders Ladies vs Haverhill Ladies

The girls knew they were in for a hard afternoon, Feeling anxious and nervous, Haverhill
started well, and scored within the first few minutes. The girls woke up and came straight back
at them from the kick off. With a spell in there 22, building from scrums and picking and
going, until Michaela stepped up and powered through to score a try!
Haverhill came back moving the ball well and finding space, they managed to score a few more.
The ladies looked good in attack, picking and going through Natalie, making good ground, but
getting turned over to easily in the contact.
Haverhill clearly had a lot more experience on the field, but the girls stepped up and
matched them physically. Forwards working hard, the game was evened out by several
unforced errors.
The Second half definitely improved, again in attack as Katie (9), and Kay (10) started to take
control, unleashing centres, Helen and Sally who both grew in confidence and carried very
well, always making good ground.
Defensively a lot of hard work was going in, with some extremely good tackles starting to
come in, yet again the pairing of Katie and Kay, led by example, as Serena, Michaela and Josie
soon followed, showing they can put in the ‘hits’.
The girls tired, playing up hill and Havenhill took full advantage of the many overlaps and run
in some good tries. The last 15mins were the most impressive, as both teams showed clear
signs of fatigue, but no one gave in! The girls showed great inventiveness to try and change it up
a bit. Using scrums, Attacking the blindside both Alice and Coral showed a great turn of pace
making many yards on either wing.
What an accomplishment for the team, they certainly impressed a lot of people and were an
absolute credit to the club and themselves. There will be a lot of sore body’s in the days to
follow, but the many smiles made it very worthwhile!
And a special- well done to the ref, who just about kept up with play!!

Phil O'Brien