Having been in the same league as Bracknell for many seasons and having already beaten them earlier in the season the Newbury Ladies knew what they were in for, the toughest challenge yet that wasn’t just going to be a hard game but an out and out battle. As our coach Lee Goodall said before the match, the winner would be determined by whichever team wanted it the most.

The game was kicked off by Newbury and the chase followed, the Newbury girls all determined to get the opening score of the match. There was clearly going to be a tough challenge up front with some massive drives in the scrums and strong contests at the breakdown with Bracknell holding steady in defence.

Newbury however drove on and after a Bracknell scrum within their own 5m our captain Laura Smith charged the ball down under the posts but was held back by one of the Bracknell players resulting in a penalty try for Newbury which was easily converted by Ashley Hunter.

The game continued and Newbury were able to contain Bracknell within their own half whilst they tried to find gaps in the defence for their backs to break through. Bracknell showed why they were the biggest challengers to Newbury as they held firm with Newbury unable to find a way through.

There was then an extended stoppage to the game after one of the Bracknell players went down with a shoulder injury resulting in her being taken to hospital and the game being moved onto the Bracknell first team pitch.

The extended break in play seemed to benefit the Bracknell players and once the game resumed, after a series of off side infringements from Newbury and a missed tackle the Bracknell captain was able to score in the corner but from a tough angle they were unable to convert.

This took us to half time where we held the narrowest lead of 7 points to 5.

After the break we regrouped determined to try and win the game and it continued on with the play switching between teams and with Newbury managing to stop all the Bracknell drive. Our flanker Megan Horwood was an inspiration in defence managing to rip the ball from the Bracknell girls in the rucks and Laura Smith was always first up from our defensive line to stop their attack.

Newbury continued on and didn’t lose composure, when going forward we slowly built up our phases and played percentage rugby. From penalties we either went for the line out which was working well but we also opted to go for the posts on 2 occasions, one of which was successfully converted by Ashley Hunter.

This gave us a 5 point lead but we knew that the game was far from won.

The game continued to be played between both team’s 10m lines and it seemed as though the Newbury girls were going to be able to grind out a most difficult victory. Bracknell were up for spoiling the party and with 5 minutes to go they were able to break through and score in the corner levelling the scores. From such a tough angle the conversion was always going to be tough and with a chase on the kicker from the whole team the kick was missed but it left the scores level.

With the Bracknell try having just been scored Newbury were quickly up on the half way for the restart and with a pre worked plan Newbury were straight up and into the Bracknell 22 pushing through the defensive line and making ground. Bracknell were able to turn the ball over but knocked on giving Newbury a scrum within the 22 with only 1 minute left on the clock.

What happened was so unexpected but showed the composure of the Newbury team.

The scrum was strong and hard with Newbury driving forward, the Bracknell defence left an overlap where our winger Hannah Grey who had been awesome all game and our full back Jeannie Ivanov were screaming for the ball but it was to be our fly half Hannah “Tom” Ward who was to have the final say and with a level of composure that can only be compared to Jonny Wilkinson in the 2003 world cup final ran onto a pass and effortlessly slotted the ball over the posts from a drop goal.

At this we knew we had won the game and kept our unbeaten record, all that we needed, was to make the ball dead from the restart and our full back Jeannie ensured that there were to be no mistakes and kicked the ball into touch.

Final score Bracknell 10 Newbury 13.

It was a game to be proud of and a contest that lived up to all our previous fears and expectations. It showed that even with the absence of some of our key players and having a bare 15 with no replacements we played as a unit, as a team and as friends all working for each other not willing to let each other down.

Forward of the match was deservedly Megan Horwood for not just her awesome scavenging in defence but also her forward drives. Back of the match, well there wasn’t really any contest, it went to Hannah “Tom” Ward for her poise, composure and skill at scoring that winning drop goal.