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Injury blow for the Ladies

Injury blow for the Ladies

Natalie Davidson24 Feb 2015 - 20:19
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Having been gifted a walkover from Trojans Ladies II', Chris Griffiths hastily arranged a friendly match in the UK with Crowthorne Ladies.

Crowthorne Ladies 24 - 17 Guernsey Ladies

But while it proved an ideal test, the match came at a cost, as we potentially lost the highly influential Carly Parrott and Heidi Mahy who are now doubtful for this weekend’s title decider against Ellingham & Ringwood.

Playing on a ground slightly eerily overlooked by Broadmoor Hospital, it was clear that Crowthorne had come with a large squad with intention of rotating players as much as possible.

The team were largely made up of ex-Bracknell Ladies team members who had previously played in a League two tiers above where Guernsey currently play and the size and experience of the Crowthorne players showed very early on.

Within the first four minutes they worked the ball out wide to the left wing with the fullback entering the line at real pace to drift around the outside and run un-apposed under the posts.

Slightly shell shocked Guernsey seemed to lose their shape and leaked two more tries within the next 15 minutes with a brilliantly taken try from their full back who ran from her own 22 to score under the posts.

At 19-0 down things were looking very ominous.

However, Guernsey seemed to finally settle and re-organised their defensive line well and began to keep things a little tighter up front and at the breakdown, making sure that possession was retained far better and they began to exert more pressure on the opposition.

Despite loose head Heidi Mahy having to be helped off after a pulled calf muscle after a scrum collapse, Guernsey kept their shape and made several incursions into the Crowthorne 22 with left wing Anneka Saunders looking the most likely to get around the outside of the defence.

Just before half time after a period of pressure Guernsey did eventually score on the far left hand side after the ball was worked well along the back line and was finished off by the ever dangerous Carly Parrott who had entered the line well.

As the second half commenced Guernsey maintained the momentum and were soon finding they had the ascendency in the scrums and at the ruck and this began to create room out wide.

Jemma Crouse was controlling things well at fly half and on several occasions a blind side move from the scrum ended up with Crouse kicking Guernsey down into the corners of the opposition 22.

From a lineout Guernsey spoiled the ball and the play eventually broke right where scrum half Justeen Baker and centre Chelsie Blondel conspired to put Parrot in for her second of the match.

With the score now at 19-10 and Guernsey with all the momentum, it wasn't long before some great hard yards around the fringes enabled the back line to run riot again and but for a try saving tackle from the impressive Crowthorne full back Guernsey would have had another try on the left hand side.

However, the home team now being put continually under pressure were giving away a lot of penalties and Guernsey were able to keep working themselves down field.

Eventually from a lineout on the right a brilliantly worked strike move from the backs saw Parrott scream in under the posts for her hat-trick although unfortunately injuring herself in the process.

Crouse converted to make it 19-17.

Despite opportunities for Guernsey to make the comeback complete, Crowthorne had the final say as they worked their way powerfully downfield, and despite valiant defending on the line they were able to touch down on the far left hand side to seal victory 24-17 with just four minutes left to play.

‘It was always going to be about the performance, not the result, although obviously a win would have been nice,’ said Griffiths,

‘We got off to a really bad start against a very well organised and powerful team, but I was very impressed with how the team worked tirelessly and with a lot of guts to nearly come back and win it.

‘The self belief in this team is quite something and it speaks volumes about the positive attitude, fitness and determination the players have had all season.’

Griffiths was full of praise for his captain, in particular.

‘Kristine Vavere had moved to play No.8 from her usual second row position and was simply immense. She carried so much ball and looked as though she had played 8 all her life when at the back of the scrum, but it was her tackle count that was simply extraordinary.’

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