Longton - OLs Ladies: 5 - 31

Written by Hannah Leyland

Tuesday, 15 January 2008

Old Leamingtonian Ladies regained their spirit on Sunday after a run of disappointing performances by convincingly beating Longton 31-5. Playing in Stoke at Longton’s new ground the elements were sent to challenge both teams. In the first half fly half Victoria Stokes used the wind to OL’s advantage & within 5 minutes OL’s had driven up the blind using winger Hannah Leyland to gain ground. Spinning the ball wide OL’s ended up rucking on the line, captain Laura Knox picked up the ball & drove through for the first 5 points with Stokes converting for 7-0. From the next kick off OL’s avoided contact, off loading neatly to drive Longton back. Winning a Longton scrum, quick ball from scrum saw 15  Karen Coleman switching into the line, taking an offload from the pack & darting for the line, side stepping both centres & the full back to score near the posts. The majority of the 1st 40 minutes was played in the Longton half. The third try came after a 22 restart, from a series of mauls; Christie Foster took quick ball & drove for the line dropping near the posts. The second half posed a little more of a challenge with strong wind against us kicking was not an option. Against some strong defence from the Longton pack Knox broke through & off loaded to Foster and after gaining 10 metres, Stokes in support called for the offload at the perfect moment hitting the ball at an angle to break past the full back & score under the posts, unfortunately injuring her foot as she went down. Knox stood in to take the kick, gained 2 more points & OL’s lead 24-0. The next 20 minutes saw Longton come back hard, penetrating the OL’s defensive line & forcing OL’s to make several errors. A couple of penalties against OL’s helped the oppositions crusade to put a score on the board. After some hard defence & a held up ball on the line, persistent driving from the Longton forwards & quick hands penetrated a gap in the defence & 5 earned them points. With only 10 minutes to go, OL’s were determined to get the bonus point & took the game straight back at Longton scoring within 2 minutes. Coleman received a deep kick & ran straight back in field darting past several defenders & making good ground. Tackled 10 metres before the try line she offloaded to Honor who whilst powering through more defence popped off to supporting runner Janine McComiskey who stormed in try number 5 for the much needed bonus point. Forward of the Match went to Claire Nuznyi & Back of the Match to Winger Hannah Leyland. OL’s face Lutterworth at the Crofts Next Sunday for a 2.15pm kick off.   OLs are always looking to recruit new players at the Crofts, training on Monday and Wednesday nights from 7.30pm. See www.olrfc.co.uk for further information.

 

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