Blues Make it Three from Three

From a frantic start, Newbury found it hard to get their hands on the ball, and spent most of the first twenty minutes camped inside their own half. After twice defending deep line outs, the breakaway from the rolling maul saw Teddington cross for the first try of the day.

From the restart the Blues again placed themselves under pressure, but the strength of Lucy Mercer at the breakdown regained possession for Newbury. With ball in hand for only the second time in the match, scrum half Devon Holt broke through the Antlers’ defence before finding centre Jemma Thripp to score. Chloe Hunt fresh from her Florida flight adding the extras.

A strong pick and go from the base of the scrum by number eight Kat Smith allowed Holt in for the second.

Teddington soon regathered to finish the half within two points of the home side.

The second half saw the Blues again caught in slight disarray, and conceding a soft try. This appeared to act as a wake up call for Newbury. From the restart, good work from Thripp and Holt allowed Smith to power through and score, Hunt with the conversion.

The Blues finally decamped from their own half and begin to build pressure on the visitors. Newbury’s fourth saw fly half Emma Swinton pivot and dance her way through - Hunt again successful with the conversion.

Aware of the ever present Teddington threat, when offered penalties in the Antlers’ half, Newbury opted to increase their lead through Hunt’s boot. The first kick successfully extending the Blues’ lead. The second - a rare miss by the hooker - resulting in an even greater prize, when the pressure applied by Newbury forced the turnover, before beautiful hands allowed Lozzie Price-Richards in for the bonus try.

With the wind now fully in their sails, the Blues found themselves almost immediately back down in Teddington’s 22, Jemma Thripp unstoppable from close range.

As the game entered the dying seconds, Newbury gathered the ball from the restart before releasing fullback Lizzie Harris, who streaked the length of the pitch to give the Blues a deserved seventh. Chloe Hunt successfully converted her fifth to bring her points to 13 for the day - unlucky for Teddington.

With one league match and one cup match remaining before Christmas, Newbury will look to finish off the year in style - away v Wimbledon Sunday 25th November, and away v Buckingham Swans 16th December.

Tries
J. Thripp 2
D. Holt. 1
K. Smith 1
E. Swinton 1
L. Price-Richards 1
L. Harris. 1

Conversions
C. Hunt 5

Penalties
C. Hunt 1