Girls back to winning ways

The girls travelled to Bedford to play a mixed Shelford and St Neots team. Despite a number of injuries and illness we were able to put out a strong team of Mimi, Evie, Eva, Ella, Hattie, Bethany, Freyja, Amelie plus Shelby, Amalia, Evangeline, Rebecca and Annalisa. Special Kudos to Eva for playing through flu and a knock to the nose with her first touch.

Playing four quarters of 12 minutes each, it was clear after 8 minutes that there was only going to be one winner. We were 5 tries to nil up by then despite the opposition having some decent players including a very talented skipper. Our initial scorers were Hattie, Eva, Evie, Rebecca and Amalia. The tries were products of some excellent interplay and strong running. Equally pleasing was the robust defence that the girls put up.

In order to make the match more competitive we agreed to mix and match players, which was a refereeing nightmare with 4 different kits on each side. Credit to the girls who continued to give their all despite the changing teams. We perhaps got the balance wrong in the second quarter when giving two of our strongest players resulted in a tough competition with Shelford/St Neots clawing back 4 scores. The third quarter saw Olney edge the contest 4-3 with Mimi, Annalisa and Hattie getting into the scorebook. Annalisa’s try was particularly rewarding as she has had some knocks this season, but ran a diagonal across the defence, opened the door and burned through it.

The final quarter saw us reassert control with captain Mimi crossing three times. Her kicking was immaculate throughout the day and she also mixed it up with a few chips. Interestingly her opposite number was the most accomplished kicker we have seen this season outside Olney. Evangeline from Bedford in her first appearance for some weeks managed to get onto the score sheet for the opposition.

The try of the day was the last, however. Eva, having risen from her sick bed, took the ball in her own 22 and was shown a gap. Needing no second bidding she took the chance, stepped the cover and left the full back grasping at air. A wonderful score to finish the match, final score Olney/Bedford 13 – Shelford/St Neots 7.

Notwithstanding the changes this was a good hit out for the girls in preparation for the titanic contest against ON’s next weekend. All the girls contributed, Bethany in her quiet way doing the right thing and Ella going desperately close again having done all the hard work. Amelie showed excellent tackling technique against much bigger opposition and will be a force to be reckoned with. Freyja, despite being smashed twice in a ruck by one of her colleagues playing for the opposition had an excellent work rate and was involved in lots of good work. Hattie was back to her fizzing best, the sight of her chasing a struggling full back in her own 22 is always one to remember. All the Bedford girls made a good contribution too, with Shelby again unlucky not to have her work rewarded by a try, Amalia scoring one and making several and Rebecca really growing into the game.

This was a day where “you can only play what’s in front of you” and the girls did just that. Several key players were missing but they all stepped up and continued to build on what is an excellent team spirit. Well done all.