Despite the freezing conditions which made ball handling very difficult Harlow ladies produced a very convincing win over local rivals Chelmsford on Sunday. Both sides had some talented runners in their back division but the decisive factor was the devastating tackling by the Harlow squad. Harlow also had the advantage in the forwards which ensured that they dominated the possession although their penalty count was higher than it should have been particularly for offside offences.
Two players made their Harlow debut on Sunday; Gemma Wood, an experienced player who recently joined the club had a superb game at open side flanker. She had a very high tackle count and was also very effective in the line-out. Elizabeth Sturman is new to the game but making very good progress and came on as a replacement on the wing. This is a good example of the way in which players without experience can successfully learn the game with the Harlow squad.
Harlow, playing up the slope, dominated play from the very start and spent most of the early phases inside the Chelmsford 22. Determine defence by Chelmsford kept them out for the first 15 minutes before Tracey Lee playing at lock gathered the ball from the back of a maul and crashed over for Harlow’s first try. Harlow continued to apply a pressure on the visitors and 10 minutes later they produced a very well worked second try. Sarah McCarthy who was having an excellent game at No. 8 gathered the ball from a scrum and made a powerful drive for the try line. She was held up just short but offloaded well to Amy Spearpoint playing at centre who looped round the remaining defenders and touched down for the try. The remainder of the half was cut and thrust play but still with Harlow having the best of the territory.
Despite having the slope against them and Chelmsford started the second half well and for a while Harlow were forced to defend. Harlow had been warned for persistent offside and on 45 minutess Tracey Lee was yellow carded when they were defending close to the try line. Chelmsford continued to apply a pressure but 5 minutes later a very good interception by the Harlow fly half, Sarah Stimpson allowed her a clear sixty metre run to score the try under the posts. Amy Spearpoint slotted the conversion to give Harlow a 17 point lead. Chelmsford came back on to the attack and a good break by their centre produced a try just one minute before Harlow returned to fall strength. In the final quarter of the game Harlow regained the upper hand with a combination of hard work by their forwards and some good tactical kicking by Stimpson and Spearpoint. Twice Harlow managed to drive over the Chelmsford line but were held up and when the game ended they had once more driven over the line but were judged not to have grounded the ball.
This win consolidates Harlow’s third position in the league, eight points ahead of fourth placed Newbury but with several of the chasing clubs having games in hand they must not ease up.
Tries: Tracey Lee, Amy Spearpoint, Sarah Stimpson
Conversion: Amy Spearpoint
Team: 1 Alison Boggas; 2 Kelly Smith; 3 Emily Wooller; 4 Carla Marshall; 5 Tracey Lee; 6 Katherine Mockeridge (tactical sub Leah Dixon, 45 mins); 7 Gemma Wood; 8 Sarah McCarthy (blood replacement Leah Dixon 25 mins for 10 mins); 9 Charlotte Smith; 10 Sarah Stimpson; 11 Abbi Claxton; 12 Nikky Wilkins; 13 Amy Spearpoint (injury sub Emma O'Donnell 55 mins); 14 Anne-Marie Rand (tactical sub Elizabeth Sturman 60 mins); 15 Dani McKenna
Harlow players were: Aimee Jones, Katie Boggas, Courtney O'Mara, Elise Prudence, Shannon Andrews and Jamie Marshall.
The Harlow/Stortford cluster-squad remain at the top of their league and the collaboration between the two clubs is doing a great job in bringing more girls into the game
Using this Site Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Accessibility Press & PR, Home Page
©Copyright Dave Sharp / Paul Eynon Harlow Rugby Club 2011
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge