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| Women Women's Rugby - The Valkyries
National Challenge 1 - South East 2007/08 Contacts
Ladies XV 2007
Sunday 2nd March 2008 Portsmouth Valkyries vs Footcray Sunday 20th January 2008 PORTSMOUTH VALKYRIES 17 – 0 WIMBLEDON Following a defeat away to Thurrock last week, the Valkyries re-asserted their position in South East League 1 with a tough, yet well-deserved win on their home turf against 7th place Wimbledon. An excellent start showed off Portsmouth’s ability to play good rugby in poor conditions, highlighted by an early score twelve minutes in. Ruth Pearse broke the Wimbledon defence following much testing. New winger Sarah Provest introduced herself in fine style by creating the crucial run around the remaining defenders, offloading smartly to Sophie Exton on her shoulder, cutting in at the angle to score. A lull period entered the game for 15 minutes with neither side able to make much ground either side of the halfway line. The deadlock was broken by prop, Suzanne Kear, smartly breaking on the open side following a difficult maul. A clever dummy allowed a neat pass to an awaiting Sophy Roseaman who charged down the centre but was brought down on the 10. The second half began with as much enthusiasm as the first, and much the same pattern of play followed. A Wimbledon knock-on gave Portsmouth a scrum on the opposition 10, but a crash ball effort on the line by Marie Hallam was held up by a determined defence. A second scrum this time gifted Portsmouth another 5 points courtesy of Roseaman who broke from her No.8 position down the open side and took advantage of a gap in the defence. Neither side could take advantage of the slow period of play in this half but Portsmouth once again broke the stalemate with a sudden change of pace in the back line. Once again, Pearse tore through a tired Wimbledon defence, only to be brought down 10 metres from the line, but not before off-loading to Hannah Bennett who finished the dynamic move. Exton converted in the difficult conditions to take Portsmouth to a 17-0 lead. Wimbledon were gifted a brief flash of inspiration 2 minutes at the end, but the fitter Portsmouth side defended to the hilt, with particular note going to Sally Parker and Provest working effectively together to prevent a score for the visitors. Women of the Match:- Katie “Splodge” Whiteley - a cracking game at hooker (only her second time in the position!) and for some exceptional running play. Karen Honeygold – her fast, strong pace got Portsmouth out of trouble on several occasions and encouraged some excellent work in the forwards.
Mon 21st November 2007
Sunday 11th November 2007 Portsmouth Valkyries vs Reading Sunday 7th October 2007 Valkyries 10 -24 Thurrock
LADIES TAKE MORAL VICTORY
The first game of any new season is always tough. Portsmouth Valkyries was no exception. Playing against last seasons runners-up, Thurrock, (whom we managed to deny promotion to in their final game of 06/07 season) this was to be a real measure of how the ladies had grown as players over the pre-season months.
Excellent early pressure from Portsmouth’s kick off resulted in a lot of forced errors from a particularly grousing Essex side. A well taken Thurrock line-out gave Portsmouth an early scare with the wings trying to force the play wide but a terrible succession of passing allowed Portsmouth to regain possession. Following four phases in the centre of the pitch including a penalty to the home side for holding on in the ruck, Portsmouth’s restart was flawed by Thurrock’s dangerous fly-half taking advantage of a loose ruck for a break away try.
Portsmouth’s restart created a smart turnover by a fantastic tackle from skipper Suze Kear, with a pass being sent wide to flighty centre Liz Polson a lengthy run, which was increased by dazzling support from full back Sophie Exton – a partnership well worth keeping an eye on for future games. This was sadly stolen and run back up the pitch.
A thumping tackle from Portsmouth stalwart Nicola Waters allowed a defensive Pompey but was lost quickly to a more experienced Thurrock combination. Having been declared not straight, Thurrock elected for a scrum. With a devastating run from the tough Thurrock centre, Portsmouth’s key defensive tackles held the line. An un-chased clearance kick allowed Thurrock to push again but a knock-on gave Portsmouth a chance, but is wasted through un-binding too early at the scrum. Thurrock take a scrum and through fast hands to an awaiting wing give them another try with an added conversion.
At the re-start, Thurrock make a major error resulting in a Portsmouth penalty. Kicked into touch, a retained line out and fast, accurate hands out to Polson made for a tense moment. Thurrock knock-on to give Pompey a scrum in the Thurrock twenty-two which is retained. A simple pass to Caz Goodman at fly-half off the back of the scrum resulted in a chip and chase for Polson to pick-up and charge over the line. A quick restart and Portsmouth giving away a penalty allowing Thurrock to land another try in reply to this taking the half time score to 5 – 17.
After the break, Portsmouth remained camped in the opposition end for a good 15 minutes with stunning phases of play with particular mention going to props Pam Williams and student Joanne Hamment for their thumping attacking runs off the rucks. The referee at this point missing a penalty for Pompey by a highly-obvious offside but unfazed, Portsmouth continued their attack. A calm full-back kicks the ball away from a turn over ball but a confident pick-up by Exton once again makes Thurrock commit another error at the ruck to give Pompey a well-earned scrum. New player from the USA Meagan Herdina gives a confident run but is harshly tackled and spills the ball. Thurrock retain their scrum but hold on in the ruck again to allow Portsmouth a scrum. This is retained and scrum half Charlie makes punch through the Thurrock defence and is held up on the line. This continues for 3 separate scrum phases on the Thurrock line but each time held up. With the fourth attempt came a confused ruck which allowed Thurrock to steal possession. Charmian Williams makes an important defensive tackle here resulting in Pompey regaining possession. This is then spun wide from the fly-half to Liz Polson in the centres who makes another long pass to the solid hands of Hannah Bradley on the wing who achieved a well-deserved try for her team.
This was sadly not to be the end of the game as the referee missed another deliberate off-side from Thurrock (New Zealand switch-style pass anyone?!) who blocked our tackler. Their tricky fly half did the damage to Portsmouth again but running away and scoring under the posts. This was converted to make the score 10-24. The score was to remain the same despite continued pressure from the Portsmouth team to the end.
A highly entertaining match displaying how far Portsmouth had come from the end of last season to a more fluent, mature team we saw this game. Coach Jim Pearce hopes to take this new confidence and flowing team work to the next game away at Wimbledon. This will be an interesting game as they were on an equal par to Portsmouth last season and with Portsmouth playing like they did versus Thurrock, that much coveted “W” will be present on the score sheet.
Forward of the Match – Nicola Waters (on the flank)
Blondie Click here for link to Blondies Photos 20th September 2007
September 9th 2007 - Bracknell Tournament Hurrah! We came third and won the plate! A very encouraging display from a very new side. Below is a link to some photos I snapped from the sidelines...
Photo courtesy of Blondie
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