The ladies second outing of the season began with an overwhelming sense of deja vu when Royal High stormed up the pitch to cross for a try in the first minute of the game. Good interlinking between their no.10 Tanya Griffith, and no.12 Ronnie Fitzpatrick, put outside centre Cara D’Silva in to touch down in the top left hand corner. Conversion missed 0-5.
A rallying call from inspirational Captain Heather ‘HRL’ Lockhart meant the girls came out from under the posts with a renewed sense of purpose and set about their task with refreshed vigour. Desperate to shake of the cobwebs from their previous defeat the front eight worked hard to cope with the heavy RHC pack. The home sides continued pressure was rewarded with two penalties which were expertly kicked by Kerry Armstrong whose right boot was on fine form. 6-5.
Hills took the lead after a good tackle by number 8, Susie Brown created turnover ball which was quickly distributed by new no.9 Caroline ‘German’ Muellenbroich to the outstanding Craig who drew and passed to Sarah ‘Canada’ Tomb who expertly touched down. Conversion missed 11-5.
RHC were reduced to 14 after an injury to Jilly ‘CSC’ McCord who was forced off with a bad knee injury. This forced a re-shuffle in the RHC pack and allowed Hills to begin to dominate all forward play. Despite this Hills were guilty of resting on their laurels and were caught napping after lazy defending from the back of the lineout left space on the right hand side for Cara D’Silva to skip over and touch down. Conversion by Claire Fergusson. 11-12.
After a stiff talking to at half time by Coach Kitch and Rach, Hills started the second half playing down the hill. Craig’s exquisite kicking kept RHC pinned in their half. The travelling sides brief forays into Hills territory were quickly snuffed out by the strong defensive work of no.12 Steph Johnston, no.13 and debutant Rhianne Boag and winger Sarah Canada. A strong scrum platform enabled no.8 Susie Brown to cross for the first of her brace after she picked and went route one down the blindside to increase the Westenders lead to 16-12. Conversion missed.
Hills next try was made by the ever consistent Hazel Belinski who fielded a kick from RHC and cut through the chasing defence. Pick and go specialist HRL did what she does best from the ruck and hit a hard line, eventually straightening to put Brown in for Hills 3rd try to increase the home sides lead to 21-12. Conversion missed.
Hills maintained the pressure and forced another penalty which was converted from a wide angle by Kerry ‘on the wagon’ Armstrong.
Notable mention must go to Rebekah ’sit down’ Sibenaler whose debut on the rugby union field was highly impressive. Her ability to create go forward ball and her confidence under high balls means she is a welcome addition to the Hills pack.
Final Score 24-12.
After the match Captain HRL commented ‘the side showed real character to bounce back from the defeat by Murrayfield and this victory will hopefully set the tone for the rest of our season.’
Players of the match were Susie Brown and Julie Craig although the whole team deserved a pint after the effort exhibited from all involved.
