Newbury Women lose out to the T-Birds

A strong reaction from the kick off from Meg Mason saw Newbury instantly gaining possession, though it would be soon lost due to a penalty at the break down, with the first ten minutes seeing possession moving swiftly back and forth between both teams.

Strong pressure from Becks Reeves saw Thurrock make no gains from a lineout in Newbury’s 22, as their 9 dropped the ball and Becks managed to kick it back into Thurrock’s half.

It wasn’t long before Thurrock managed a great exit from a scrum, kicking the ball close to the Newbury try line – fullback Chloe Darby managing to take the ball over and ground it for safety resulting in a Thurrock scrum at the 5m line which Newbury won. Unfortunately, a penalty for not releasing resulted in a penalty to Thurrock which they turned into a lineout – once again on the 5m. In an impressive display Newbury managed to keep the attacking Thurrock at bay for 10 minutes 5 meters away from their try line until the visiting team finally managed to score, but only after traveling the entire width of the pitch. Leaving the score 0 – 7.

After the reset a strong scrum on the halfway line saw Becks Reeves run off with the ball before Thurrock could notice, the next phase of play allowing for her flanking partner Tilly Burn to continue to charge through pushing Thurrock close to their 22. A few more phases saw the defending side give away a penalty, which was swiftly kicked by Meg Mason resulting in a penalty close to the Thurrock 5m. As the weather set in the home side pushed on through the forward pods, seeing Lucy Mercer get over the line, though her attempts were judged to be held up.

The resulting goal line dropout saw the ball return to the halfway line, where it was unfortunately knocked on, resulting in a Thurrock scrum. With Thurrock attempting to kick it off the back to gain territory, they were unfortunately denied by an impressive charge down from Tilly Burn.

The fight continued on the halfway line with Thurrock continuing their attack and tempers riding high. Newbury saw themselves marched back by the referee allowing Thurrock to kick for the corner and return back into Newbury’s 22. A strong maul defence saw Thurrock unable to march it across the line, but a few phases from it resulted once again in a try. As the weather began to set in the score now stood at 0 – 14.

With the rain now fully set in the second half kicked off with the undeterred home squad once again on the attack with some strong phases and a quick thinking kick from Meg Mason. An error from Thurrock saw a Newbury scrum in the middle of Thurrock’s half that the away team won but once again their efforts to kick it away were thwarted by another charge down, this time from Captain Lizzie Harris. Another knock on resulted in a scrum, which the Newbury pack dominated shoving the attacking side firmly backwards before Tilly (now in the 8 position) chose an opportune pick and go – seeing Newbury now on Thurrock’s 5 m line. With the weather now fully set to torrential the Newbury forward pack pressed on with more pick and gos, but an unfortunate slip saw Becks Reeves receive a yellow card. Despite being marched back and a Thurrock lineout Newbury stayed firmly within the away team’s half though were unable to achieve a try.

A strong attack from Thurrock saw them make their way through the phases to the Newbury 5m swiftly, the home side’s defending line trying to keep up with the chaos. A Thurrock scrum close to the posts resulted in a few attacking phases before they eventually scored, now at 0 – 21.

Despite the weather and the score line against them Newbury pushed on, though Thurrock regained possession from the kick off and a lineout. The home team pushed them firmly back into their 22 from a strong face up defence where another attempt to kick to exit was denied by Meg Carter. Some more strong scrummaging from the forward pack saw Newbury move up into Thurrock’s 5m once again but a few missed passes from an undoubtedly slippy ball saw the attack go more backwards than forwards. An eventual scrum saw Thurrock exploit a small crack in the Newbury defence and charge down the wing. Though Newbury were quick to recover and managed to push the attacking team back another scrum in front of the posts saw Thurrock getting it out to the wing and completing another try. 0 – 28.

With not much left in the game, Newbury found themselves back in their own half once again, where an unfortunate penalty for a high tackle saw Thurrock take a penalty kick, making the final score 0 -31.