Tough day for the Ladies in Tonbridge

Tonbridge Juddians Ladies 19 Heathfield Ladies 12
Tonbridge Juddians secured a three tries to two win over Heathfield Ladies in an unusually extended game of variable quality in the RFU Cup competition.
On a hard surface with patchy grass coverage, no significant wind and initially at least a sunny day, conditions were demanding, not least on the feet. Frequent water breaks were needed.
Heathfield had much the better of the opening period and skipper Carol Saunders went close in the right hand corner with a strong carry off the back of a solid scrum. However the home defence just proved adequate. A pattern began to emerge of poor handling by Heathfield. The accuracy of passing was well below the standard that this team normally achieved as players seemed to ship the ball on without control.
After a period of Heathfield pressure, Judds broke out and it took a fine covering tackle by Sophia Macdonald in the corner to prevent a score. Soon afterwards Macdonald made a handy run from deep, carried on by Becky Taylor, but again the subsequent handling disappointed.
Another useful attack saw Clare Baker in space down the left wing and it took a fine cover tackle to bring her down.
On the half hour Maya Champion was binned for a dump tackle: she had earlier been denied a try by an unusual call by the referee. However Judds were unable to take advantage of the extra player. A long kick out of defence by Heathfield was well chased by Katie Baurer who recovered the ball but support was too slow arriving and the chance slipped away.
At half time any result seemed possible. Neither side had any advantage in the scrummage while the lineout was generally messy – although I am assured that Heathfield will soon be improving in this phase.
The character of the game changed at the start of the second half as Judds scored three tries in a similar manner. In each case Judds secured the ball in loose play out wide and had players with adequate pace to exploit the situation. Availability and selection choices with players being rested meant that Heathfield lacked defensive depth and Judds took full advantage in the circumstances to open a 19-0 lead with 25 minutes remaining.
Heathfield were not daunted and generally had the better of the rest of the game. Extended pressure on the home line, partly resulting from home penalties, saw Kayleigh Honeyball almost single-handed drive a maul over the try line and Saunders stole the ball in the heart of the action to claim the try.
A home flanker was now binned for yet another high tackle which helped the visitors in keeping the pressure on the home try line. A tap penalty was moved to Georgia Reed-Davies who charged over at short range.
As Judds had converted two of their tries and Heathfield just one, the 19-12 score line meant that Heathfield now needed two scores to achieve a result.
With less than ten minutes remaining, a Judds player was injured and could not be moved so the game had to be moved to another, not particularly adjacent, pitch.
After again warming up (!), the rest of the game was concluded without either try line being seriously threatened.
The Heathfield coaches picked out Hannah Overy for her contribution on the day as she has had little game time recently, as well as Saunders and Taylor. Liberty Lawrence did well in her first serious outing at scrum half and Honeyball was noted with useful work throughout the game. Steph Chipps also made some seriously strong carries.
Heathfield will look forward to playing Judds when both sides only have registered players. But then registration seems to be an elastic concept in the Tonbridge/Tunbridge Wells area at present.
In spite of the score line, this match is shown on the RFU website as an away walkover. This is presumably because Judds had a number of unregistered players today which is against the competition regulations.
Next week Heathfield return to league duty when they play Guildford Gazelles in the first fixture between the clubs at any level although a former Heathfield player did play for the Gazelles a couple of seasons ago (7 Oct 2.00)
Team
1. Kayleigh Honeyball 2. Amber Lovick 3. Hannah Overy 4. Georgia Reed-Davies 5. Stephanie Chipps 6. Samara Honeyball 7 Becky Taylor 8. Carol Saunders 9. Liberty Lawrence 10. Maya Champion 11. Phoebe Morgan 12. Sophia Skinner 13. Clare Baker 14. Katie Baurer 15. Sophia Macdonald
Replacements
16 Poppy Eacott 17. Abi Bandtock 18. Charlene Croft 19. Jade Fennell 20. Velvet Turner