Wasps 19-20 Lichfield
With five players away on international sevens duty, including Chrissy Siczowa (Wales), Lucy Nye (England) and Amy Cokayne (England) making their international debuts, it was a much changed Lichfield side that travelled to West London for the first round of the England Senior Cup.
Wasps started off the brighter, pinning Lichfield into their own half for the first quarter. Wasps drew first blood with a try by Liz Riley after some excellent work by the Wasps pack some quick hands by their backs. Midway through the first half Lichfield’s Becky Noon received a team yellow card for not rolling away at the breakdown. Wasps took advantage of the extra player with a try by Gemma Rowland and a conversion from LaToya Mason.
Eventually the Lichfield players adjusted to the increased intensity and enjoyed a good spell of possession. They were soon rewarded with a try by Jasmin Coyne following a clever kick by fullback Nancy Stone. Sarah Nicholas added the conversion. Lichfield’s Carys Williams was sin binned for a high tackle. Wasps again took advantage of the extra player with Rebecca Row scoring a try which was converted by LaToya Mason making the half time score 19-7.
One minute into the second half Sarah Nicholas kicked a penalty to close the gap. More Lichfield pressure resulted in another three points kicked by Nancy Stone and a yellow card for a Wasps forward. For the second time this season Lichfield broke Wasps’ hearts, with a late try by Kaz Harris which was converted by Nancy Stone. Final score was 19-20 to Lichfield.
Bristol 10-44 Richmond
Bristol Ladies fell to a 10 – 44 defeat this afternoon at the hands of Richmond Ladies in the first fixture of this seasons Senior Cup. Tries from Fleming (1) and Holt (1) saw Bristol and Richmond neck and neck in the first half, with Richmond’s Holly Myers (2) scoring two well work tries. Burnfield (1) helped the visitors to a 10 – 17 advantage at half time in an entertaining and competitive first half.
The first Bristol try was brilliantly worked as Becky Hughes stormed up the pitch passing to Fleming who finished the move with some fantastic footwork. The second came after and impressive Richmond scrum, only for them to lose the ball which was left for Holt to scoop up and run over the try line. Richmond’s first 2 tries both came from long passes from Amy Turner at 10 to Myers on the wing.
The second half produced a much more one-sided score line with Bristol unable to gain any further points, and Richmond adding tries from Barber (1), McCormack (1) Pascal (1) and Davies (1), with Myers completing a hat trick.
Although the score line may suggests otherwise, the match was highly competitive and Bristol showed a good level of skill. With a mixture of 1st XV and 2nd XV players combining to create the team, Coach Pete Reakes was pleased with the performance saying the girls have now set the bar for future Cup games.
Trojans 0-72 Worcester
Worcester Ladies made an encouraging start to their senior cup campaign, scoring 12 tries without reply on a heavy pitch at Trojans.
The visitors really should have scored very early in the game as they completely dominated in the opening 11 minutes, but a series of handling errors at crucial moments matched by resolute robust defence kept them at bay until Rochelle Clark’s power saw her drive over to open Worcester’s account. Once the ice had been broken, the game became one of attrition for Trojans as Worcester continued to apply pressure and further tries came from a Kelly Smith hat trick, a brace from Lisa Campbell, ,Kelly Shields, Ceri Large, Rhiannon Watkins, Megan Goddard, Samantha Parker and Nikitta Flynn. Goddard and Large shared the kicking duties, but difficult conditions restricted the extras to 3 conversions each.
Worcester fielded 11 second team players in this fixture, each getting valuable experience of game time at a higher level, and none looked out of place, which bodes well for the current team building process. Lizzie Binks was outstanding, debutante Nikitta Flynn gave an impressive performance and Rhi Parker, getting her first start at 9, was a lively and disruptive presence.
Trojans must be applauded for their never say die attitude, they fought hard throughout, making countless tackles and despite being overwhelmed, maintained their spirit and true sportsmanship to the end.
