Heathfield Ladies 98 Lordswood Valkyries Ladies 19
Heathfield had a comfortable 14 tries to three win over Lordswood Valkyries Ladies who were only able to field eleven players so the match was played ten a side. Injuries meant that the visitors all had to play almost the whole time while the home side could rotate players. It also has to be said that playing ten a side on a full pitch is very demanding of players. Thankfully the rain stayed away during the match and conditions were generally excellent.
In the first significant action in the game Domi Wilkinson made a storming run of some 30 yards up the right hand side before releasing the ball in the tackle and after some good hands Linde Brouwer was on hand to collect the first of her three tries on the day in the left hand corner. Carla Monson impressively converted and remarkably went on to achieve a 100% conversion percentage in the game although most of the rest were from in front of the posts.
This illustrated the basic outline of the game: Lordswood have a decent pack but Heathfield generally matched them in that phase and had a big edge in pace and skill out wide.
Brouwer soon collected another try thanks to a sympathetic pass from Emily Sowell with Jo Clement and Ellie Duley also touching down in the first quarter of the game (28-0).
Lordswood now showed that they were not daunted as they utilised their forward strength effectively through a number of phases and eventually worked their way over in the right hand corner (28-5). However this was a mere blip in the regular traffic at the other end with five more tries leading to a half time score of 63-5.
Heathfield made multiple changes at half time to give everyone a game. Lordswood were certainly playing a full part in the contest and scored two tries in the first minutes of the half as they effectively kicked ahead and their right winger snaffled two fine individual tries as a result (63-19).
The visitors’ scrum continued to put some pressure on the home side but Heathfield were achieving plentiful possession and had the ability to make use of it with four more tries.
Lordswood ended playing one short as injuries took their toll but were much applauded afterwards, including by the referee, for their commitment in difficult circumstances.
The try scorers for Heathfield were Brouwer (3), Sowell (3), Jo Clement (2) and one each for Monson, Carly Harris, Duley, Keeleigh Harman, skipper Becky Taylor and Georgia Hutchison.
Afterwards the coaches were delighted with the whole team performance with relative newcomers gaining valuable game time experience. Coach Chris Ambrosino singled out fly half Hutchison for her control of the game and also gave a particular mention to Sophia Skinner for her contribution off the bench. Sowell continues to impress with some hard work in defence in addition to her usual, but still much appreciated, deadly finishing.
Heathfield now have a week’s rest before they visit Hove Ladies II (25 Nov 14.00). The league table has yet to settle down but Heathfield are comfortably near the top.

Team: Domi Wilkinson Carly Harris Saskia Sullivan Linde Brouwer Katie Statham Alex Young Sophia Skinner Becky Taylor (c) Carla Monson Georgia Hutchison Izzy Bowler Keeleigh Harman Ellie Duley Jo Clement Hannah Chapman Hannah Osbourne Emily Sowell