On Sunday 26 September, the Old Colfeians Girls – the Crimsons – U18s welcomed Ealing Grasshoppers to Horn Park for a friendly.
We have always had great battles with this opposition in the past and Sunday was to be no different. We also welcomed some new team mates from Sevenoaks who we will be clustered with when it comes to league fixtures this season.
The game started somewhat frantically due to a slightly rushed warm-up and kick off delays (thanks panic-buying petrol people!). In what was a scrappy 1st quarter, we managed tries from Lara and Natalie (both of whom have been selected for Wasps Centre of Excellence this week – well done!) with Lara converting one of the tries. Ealing had some particularly strong ball carriers and speed on the wings which, despite some initially strong defence, proved too much and we ended up going into the 1st break drawing 12-12.
Some changes for the second third gave us some fresh legs and new combinations. The latter took some time to gel and we ended up conceding two early tries thanks to Ealing’s speedsters. At 24-12, the girls didn’t let their heads drop however, and managed to fight back to 24-24 at the break after another bulldozing run from Natalie, and some good footwork from Joan.
Going into the final third, we knew that having the ability to make changes would probably work in our favour, in comparison to Ealing who were low on numbers. An early score from Izzy gave us the lead (alongside a crucial Lara conversion), however a lapse in concentration saw Ealing come back yet again! Leading by a mere two points, a fantastic move in the backline saw Joan go over for her second try! Yet another fightback score came from Ealing, however thankfully it was out wide and their kicker was unable to convert.
A lot of cobwebs were blown away on Sunday and there was some great individual play. POTM went to Joan due to her terrific running and bone-crunching defence. Thanks also to Rob Gardiner whose refereeing was exemplary!
