Looking to get the ball out to the wing as fast as possible, the home team cut a wide line through Newbury’s defence which created a gap for them to slot through. Thankfully full back Zoe Glittens was on hand to shut down any further momentum and Newbury were rewarded with a penalty for holding on.

Newbury had possession and with Tilly Burn splitting off the scrum with such pace, it only took a slight step and direction change for the opposition be fooled and Burn was past the first tackler. Reacting well, Havant reorganised and whilst trying to utilise the width of the pitch themselves Newbury found a better option back inside to Emily Phillips-Strudwick who brought the Blues closer to the try line. It was to be a few phases further on, built from hard hitting and low driving forward carries that Newbury put the first points on the board from Meg Horwood.

Unfortunately, clean balls from competitive rucks were few and far between, forcing Newbury to look elsewhere for a change in possession and dominance.

On the contrary, the scrum count was high and Havant put up a fight against the force of the Blues. Opportunity seemed to arise for the away team with scrum half, Chloe Darby, moving the ball away from the scrum with pace and slotting Meg Carter into a well created space. Havant’s defence was under pressure but it was the Blues who were to have a penalty against them in the contact area and Havant set up to kick for touch.

With the kick missing the touchline, it was Tilly Burn who cleared up the kick and charged straight back towards the gain line giving Newbury time to reset for the next phase of play and Havant would take the line out.

The battle for possession of the ball rolled on as Havant overthrew at the lineout and Newbury cleared up to return to attacking. A ferocious run from Ellen Thornton cutting in from the wing saw metres made but it wasn’t enough to get past the final line of defence or remain in control of the ball.

Havant were to equalize the score before half time as they gained a penalty for a badly timed high tackle. Utilising their lengthy boot, Havant found themselves with lineout possession five metres from the try line.

They were not to cross the line on first phase from the lineout but eventually having pulled the Newbury defence wide, they were able to squeeze in and over the line.

The second half continued with the same aggression and intensity as the first.

Burn controlled the ball from the kick off, once again stepping defenders and setting Carter up for another heroic crash ball, opening up the width of the pitch but it wasn’t to be as play was called back for a forward pass.

With Newbury starting to show as the team with greater fitness and longevity on the field, Havant continued to kick the ball away where possible to get out of danger.

Rewarded with possession at the lineout from one such kick, Havant were set to attack hard but it was Newbury’s hooker, April Harding who caused an upset at the lineout, cleaning up ball where Havant had not.

It looked as though Newbury would be able to capitalise on this quick change in possession but despite getting the ball into space, another forward pass hindered the Blues from continuing.

The battle continued on well into the half as both teams were desperate to break the deadlock of score.

Looking for space out wide, attempts were made to gain an advantage with wingers coming at pace but play was all too often brought back to the scrum and momentum lost.
It was from a Havant scrum in the centre of the park that gave the home team the opportunity to get wide quickly and then with a quick switch back inside paired with a well-timed miss pass that saw Havant just shy of the line.

Continuing to fire into the rucks to defend close quarters, the Newbury defence was caught narrow and Havant exploited this with a fast two on one around the outside bringing the ball under the posts for their second try, this time with the conversion.

Newbury were not seen to drop heads and instead came back from the restart with all cylinders firing and a desire to regain possession and make their attacking play count.
Once again Thornton would be crucial with her powerful carries. Crashing through the defence she gained a penalty in the tackle with the Havant defence not releasing. This was taken quickly pushing Havant back with every ball carrier until Emma Pallister folded over the line. It was the conversion from Gittens that brought the Blues back level with Havant at 12-12.

Despite Havant having significant possession at the scrum and lineouts, their option to kick for length was shut down time and time again by Gittens.

Running the ball out from the back field, she was able to look wide and shift the ball through the hands of Fanny Fouin and Roisin Winston, who were gaining pace towards the line.

Resetting the attacking structure, Newbury found forwards to carry the ball repeatedly through the centre of the pitch, until it was time to shift the ball into space with pace and accuracy putting Carter and Thornton through tackles and creating a disorganised defence.
Horwood would be the one to capitalise on this with a speedy pick and go from the ruck and diving over the try line to take the lead.

Not happy with such a tight score line, the Blues were not letting up.

Receiving ball from kick off, two phases of contact would steadily control play until the Blues moved the ball wider and Burn would have defenders falling off her as she rolled through multiple tackles before making a break behind the defensive line. Fending off a further two tacklers, it would be her change of direction that would put her into space. A final sprint to the line and confident grounding of the ball gave Newbury the win they had fought all game for.

Final score,12 – 22 to Newbury.

#COYB #BLUESFAMILY