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Sun 05 Nov 2023 · Women's NC 1 South East (South)
Ladies 1st XVHorsham Women
5
42
Horsham pace too much for Ladies
Philip Bell6 Nov 2023 - 07:07
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Six visitors' tries from counterattacks
Heathfield Ladies 5 Horsham Ladies 42
Six tries to one is a simple statement of this NC1 contest which Heathfield Ladies had entered with a degree of optimism but this was rudely shattered by this newly promoted team who are clearly growing in strength and confidence.
This is probably no coincidence as they benefit from being able to train twice a week on the excellent 4G surface at Horsham while most other teams are currently struggling with waterlogged training areas. Horsham had people with pace which they used to deadly effect. One senior Heathfield player later commented that ‘every time I got up from the breakdown I saw another blonde running past to score’.
This comment at least partially reflects that one of Horsham’s standout players was their inside centre Freya Bell who happens to be blonde and who was at the heart of much of their best work. Horsham particularly thrived on counter-attack ball.
Given the volume of rain in the preceding 48 hours the pitch was in fair condition with a decent grass cover over a soggy and claggy surface. There was a strongish breeze down the slight slope but thankfully there was no rain.
The start of the game was delayed as the referee only arrived at the scheduled kick-off time so his pre-match inspections were rushed.
With the slight slope and breeze advantage in the first half Heathfield will have wanted a strong start. For the first fifteen minutes this seemed possible with Amber Lovick and Maya Champion being particularly noted with some strong work.
However when Heathfield secured a defensive lineout ball the subsequent kick into midfield was run back with deadly effect. In common with all Horsham’s tries this was touched down under the posts allowing an easy conversion.
Heathfield now had some decent periods of play, especially into the bottom corner where several chances were foiled as players were just too frantic when going through the phases would have been preferable. Generally the visitors’ defence contained the attacks and duly broke out.
In the last ten minutes Horsham worked their way up the pitch and good lineout ball was worked into midfield for their full back to run in for a good try.
Nothing daunted Heathfield soon surged into the bottom corner and did get over the line but were adjudged to have been held up. From the restart the ball was run back though multiple pairs of hands before Clare Baker claimed an excellent team try in the left hand corner.
Just before half time Becky Taylor made a major run to put Heathfield on the front foot. A consequent penalty gave them a good attacking lineout in the left hand corner but the throw was adjudged not straight and the chance was gone.
At half time the score of 5-14 suggested a game much in the balance. This would have been a wrong deduction as Horsham scored four more converted tries from remarkably similar situations, typically from good turnover ball in midfield.
One area in which Heathfield did have an edge was the scrummage where Kayleigh Honeyball was afterwards picked out for particular praise. Honeyball also carried well on several occasions. However this was not enough to deny the visitors’ impressive back division.
The last Horsham try came from their outside centre Kacey Matthews who brushed through several despairing tackles and had the pace to outrun the cover.
While Heathfield will feel that they were very competitive in the pack, there will be little argument that the Horsham back division showed a level of skill and pace that was a class above anything seen in this league last year, The growing quality of play in womens’ rugby in a relatively small pool means that there will be a wide range of abilities in a league such as NC1.
Heathfield will also take considerable pleasure in fielding two complete squads today even though both teams lost. Next week Heathfield entertain Dartford Valley with whom they had two good contests last season. (11 Nov 2.30)
Team
1. Kayleigh Honeyball 2. Amber Lovick 3. Abi Bandtock 4, velvet Turner 5. Clare Baker 6. Lauren Dult 7. Becky Taylor 8. Carol Saunders 9. Britt Mole 10. Maya Champion 11.Phoebe Morgan 12. Sophia Skinner 13. Chip Chippett 14. Lib Lawrence 15. Jaz Lewis
Replacements
16. Stephs Chipps 17. Georgia Reed-Davies 18 Caitlin Flower
Six tries to one is a simple statement of this NC1 contest which Heathfield Ladies had entered with a degree of optimism but this was rudely shattered by this newly promoted team who are clearly growing in strength and confidence.
This is probably no coincidence as they benefit from being able to train twice a week on the excellent 4G surface at Horsham while most other teams are currently struggling with waterlogged training areas. Horsham had people with pace which they used to deadly effect. One senior Heathfield player later commented that ‘every time I got up from the breakdown I saw another blonde running past to score’.
This comment at least partially reflects that one of Horsham’s standout players was their inside centre Freya Bell who happens to be blonde and who was at the heart of much of their best work. Horsham particularly thrived on counter-attack ball.
Given the volume of rain in the preceding 48 hours the pitch was in fair condition with a decent grass cover over a soggy and claggy surface. There was a strongish breeze down the slight slope but thankfully there was no rain.
The start of the game was delayed as the referee only arrived at the scheduled kick-off time so his pre-match inspections were rushed.
With the slight slope and breeze advantage in the first half Heathfield will have wanted a strong start. For the first fifteen minutes this seemed possible with Amber Lovick and Maya Champion being particularly noted with some strong work.
However when Heathfield secured a defensive lineout ball the subsequent kick into midfield was run back with deadly effect. In common with all Horsham’s tries this was touched down under the posts allowing an easy conversion.
Heathfield now had some decent periods of play, especially into the bottom corner where several chances were foiled as players were just too frantic when going through the phases would have been preferable. Generally the visitors’ defence contained the attacks and duly broke out.
In the last ten minutes Horsham worked their way up the pitch and good lineout ball was worked into midfield for their full back to run in for a good try.
Nothing daunted Heathfield soon surged into the bottom corner and did get over the line but were adjudged to have been held up. From the restart the ball was run back though multiple pairs of hands before Clare Baker claimed an excellent team try in the left hand corner.
Just before half time Becky Taylor made a major run to put Heathfield on the front foot. A consequent penalty gave them a good attacking lineout in the left hand corner but the throw was adjudged not straight and the chance was gone.
At half time the score of 5-14 suggested a game much in the balance. This would have been a wrong deduction as Horsham scored four more converted tries from remarkably similar situations, typically from good turnover ball in midfield.
One area in which Heathfield did have an edge was the scrummage where Kayleigh Honeyball was afterwards picked out for particular praise. Honeyball also carried well on several occasions. However this was not enough to deny the visitors’ impressive back division.
The last Horsham try came from their outside centre Kacey Matthews who brushed through several despairing tackles and had the pace to outrun the cover.
While Heathfield will feel that they were very competitive in the pack, there will be little argument that the Horsham back division showed a level of skill and pace that was a class above anything seen in this league last year, The growing quality of play in womens’ rugby in a relatively small pool means that there will be a wide range of abilities in a league such as NC1.
Heathfield will also take considerable pleasure in fielding two complete squads today even though both teams lost. Next week Heathfield entertain Dartford Valley with whom they had two good contests last season. (11 Nov 2.30)
Team
1. Kayleigh Honeyball 2. Amber Lovick 3. Abi Bandtock 4, velvet Turner 5. Clare Baker 6. Lauren Dult 7. Becky Taylor 8. Carol Saunders 9. Britt Mole 10. Maya Champion 11.Phoebe Morgan 12. Sophia Skinner 13. Chip Chippett 14. Lib Lawrence 15. Jaz Lewis
Replacements
16. Stephs Chipps 17. Georgia Reed-Davies 18 Caitlin Flower
Further reading
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