Bristol Ladies v Aylesford Bulls Ladies

Review

Bristol Ladies return to winning way with a comprehensive victory over Aylesford Bulls

Having watched their team mate Izzy Noel Smith score the winning try in England’s victory over Ireland yesterday, there was a buzz about the Bristol camp as they prepared for their game today.

Playing at Trowbridge RFC due to a water logged pitch at The Portway, the girls were looking to work on their solid performance against Richmond the week before to return to winning ways.

From kick off the girls were inspired, with the first half seeing a series of well worked tries showing some great interplay between the backs and forwards. Philippa Tuttiett got the scoreboard moving on 4 minutes, shortly followed by some brilliant handling by Bryony Cleall – putting Olivia Jones over the try line. Jones got her second of the afternoon shortly after. Taking the score 17 – 0.

A team infringement saw Bristol down to 14 players for 10 minutes, with Aylesford successfully slotting home the penalty kick. However, as soon as Bristol were back up to their full complement of players, Tuttiett added a second try to her tally.

Later in the half Amelia Buckland Hurry broke through the Aylesford defence, showing great strength with a huge hand off the final Bulls defender. She fed the ball out wide to Jones, who secured her hattrick and the five try bonus point for the home side.

Elinor Snowsill added her name to the score sheet as the whistle blew for half time.

Half time score: Bristol Ladies 38 (6 tries, 4 conv) – 3 Aylesford Bulls (pen)

The second half saw Bristol continue to dominate, Snowsill scoring first, followed by Beth Dainton who was on the receiving end of some great interplay between Clara Neilson and Kate Newton.

Bristol went for a full front row change on 45 minutes, which was quickly followed by Snowsill getting her hattrick try.

Dainton, not wanting to be left out, added her second and third in quick succession – showing her speed as she darted the length of the pitch on both occasions.

Substitute Courtney Bishop ended the game with a final try – dotting it down under the posts taking the final score to 78 – 3.

With both Saracens and Richmond winning at Lichfield and Worcester, Bristol Ladies are back up to third in the table – ready for our away fixture at Wasps next week.

Final score: Bristol Ladies 78 (12 tries, 9 conv) – 3 (pen) Aylesford Bulls