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Old Leamingtonians Ladies
Old Leamingtonians Ladies proved that their strong start to this year's competition last week was not a one off by beating last season's 2nd in the league, Oxford, 39-0 at The Crofts on Sunday.
In a league where bonus points are awarded for more than 5 trys scored, this strong start may prove vital at the end of the season. Old Leams ran in 7 tries against Oxford, added to the 8 they scored last week.
Second Row Marieke Vink was the first to score. A poor clearance kick from Oxford saw Leams re-gain the ball and attack their line. After a series of fast rucks, Vink picked up the ball up from the back and forced her way through the defence and although being tackled just short of the line managed to stretch out and ground the ball for her first ever try.
Old Leams put the pressure on Oxfords fly half as it was passed out from the scrum and inside centre Kelly McLeod was quick to take advantage of a dropped pass by chipping the ball on and chasing it all the way to Oxford's line to take care of the second try.
Unfortunately Old Leams lost their hooker due to concussion after a serious collision and their blind side flanker Laura Knox who broke her wrist. But, like a week earlier, the substitutes filtered into the team without any problem and soon the third try was scored, this time by Outside-Centre Charlotte Hewer who powered past 3 defenders to ground the ball making the score 15-0.
Oxford were clearly not the same team that they were last year, their team had 8 new players in Sunday's starting line-up, and their inexperience was exposed by the well drilled Old Leams team. Excellent support running saw the forwards push Oxford back time and time again. The forwards were clearly having fun on the pitch, so much so that individual players sometimes looked too eager to get their hands on the ball, ignoring the overlaps on the wings and picking up from the rucks too quickly.
The second half of the match saw more of the same with Old Leams forwards dominating the game. The forwards did however manage to keep it more organised especially around the back of their rucks, resulting in more involvement from the backs.
Vice-Captain and fly half Vicki Stokes scored the first of her two tries when she received a short pop from the Outside Centre that enabled her to run through gaps in the Oxford defence and ground the ball.
Scrum Half Charlie Graham got her try minutes later when Oxford kicked the ball up the pitch after their scum. It was picked up by full-back Claire Davenport, who passed it on to Centre McLeod. McLeod switched on the turbo and sprinted through the Oxford defence, popping the ball to Graham who scored between the posts.
Stokes then scored her second try when she chased her own kick from the Old Leams half all the way to the Oxford line.
The game was played in good spirit and Oxford kept going, putting in some good tackles, never letting their heads drop.
The final word came from Old Leamingtonians when Flanker Chris Lycett took a pop from a ruck, 10 metres out and ran through 2 Oxford players, handing off a third one before putting the ball down.
Stokes kicked her second conversion, bringing the final score to 39-0.
Next week, Old Leamingtonians enjoy a week off before heading to Oakham who are new to Midlands 2.
Score:
Marieke Vink
Kelly McLeod
Charlotte Hewer
Vicki Stokes (x2 + 2 Conversions)
Charlie Graham
Chris Lycett
Starting line-up:
1 – Jackie Meade
2 – Caroline Lambert
3 – Chris Lycett
4 – Marieke Vink
5 – Michelle Ferrer
6 – Laura Knox
7 – Claire Penna
8 – Christie Honor ©
9 – Charlie Graham
10 – Vicki Stokes
11 – Tami Summers
12 – Kelly McLeod
13 – Charlotte Hewer
14 – Jenny Martin
15 – Celina Bennett
Subs used: Michelle Ramsey, Fiona Rose-Jebson, Claire Davenport, Katy Ingram
Ladies who are interested in playing for Old Leamingtonians are welcome to check out the information on our website: http://www.olrfc.co.uk/ladies |
