Old Dunstonians Ladies 38 - East Grinstead Ladies 20
Feb
The Old Dunstonian Ladies clocked up their second win from two in 2008 with a hard fought victory over visiting East Grinstead Ladies.
The home side started strong, putting pressure on the opposition from kick off. With strong rucking in the forwards and quick hands in the backs, the ODs were able to retain possession and make good ground towards the try line. East Grinstead defended well to hold off the Old Dunstonian Ladies’ attack but eventually the home side shipped the ball well out to Kate Huntingdon on the wing, who out-paced the defence to score her first league try of the season.
Both teams followed this first score up with some good attacking play, but it was the home side who managed to break through the defence to score again - this time through the middle with flyhalf Alex Tyson crashing over under the posts and number eight Louise Freds getting the conversion. Despite some good breaks from the visitors, all the points in the first half went the way of the ODs with the final score of the half coming from lock Bronwyn Sinclair, who took an excellent crash ball from a penalty to burst over the try line.
The second half started well for the Old Dunstonian Ladies who took first blood with a try from centre Ruth Dempsey following several phases of great forward play in contact and strong running for the backs in space. Louise Freds added to the home side’s lead with the conversion. The balance of the match then changed dramatically with the visitors coming to life and racking up four unconverted tries in the space of 20 minutes of play. This was due mainly to a loss of concentration for the ODs in defence and some great running from EG’s wing, prop and halfbacks.
The ODs weren’t about to give up the victory that easily though and came back fighting. A great solo run on the blind from the base of the scrum helped Louise Freds score and convert her own try and Alex Tyson took her second, which was also converted by Louise Freds to end the match 38 points to 20. Special note should be made of Caroline Mitchell who played her debut rugby match at flanker in the second half and Natasha James who played her first rugby match helping out the opposition at second row.
Thanks should also go to Alice Jackson, Nancy Jackson and Lisa Townshend, who all helped out playing for the opposition at some point in the game.
The Old Dunstonian Ladies will be hoping to continue their unbeaten run of 2008 with their last two league matches away against Medway on 16 March and Aylesford Twos on 30 March. To find out more about the Old Dunstonian Ladies visit www.odrfc.co.uk
