From the start, the Sevenoaks/Old Colfe’s girls looked strong as they practiced their drills before the game. Within the first few minutes from the kick-off, Nat and Lara combined well and when Lara was tackled just before the try line, she was able to play the ball back to Nat in the tackle, who went over for the first try. No conversion.
Play was quite even in the middle of the field for some minutes, before Lara stripped the ball from a Medway player, and spotting space in the backfield, kicked in behind, which Ivana ran onto and scored the second. No conversion 10-0.
From the restart Medway powered up the left side but were stopped when Alice bundled the storming winger into touch. With a solid lineout, Sevenoaks were off up the pitch, and a kick chase from Anabel almost resulted in a try for Joan. A penalty for Sevenoaks near the try line and a clever switch move saw Izzy run in under the posts. Conversion by Lara, 17-0.
Then it was Medway’s turn to show some pressure and despite some strong defending from Sevenoaks, they scored in the left corner. No conversion 17-5.
Following some even play in the middle of the field, Sevenoaks had a penalty in front of the posts: Lara tapped and passed to Nat who powered through to score the fourth try under the posts. Conversion Lara 24-5.
From the restart and some resolute defence by both teams, Charlotte B made a fantastic run down the left and managed a lovely offload back inside: Sevenoaks patiently applied pressure near the try line which resulted in another try for Izzy. No conversion 29-5.
In the last play before half time, Lucy and Nat powered through the middle in tandem, and following a Medway scrum and kick, Sevenoaks regathered the ball which Lara kicked cross field, Charlotte W gathered and cleverly offloaded in the tackle for Lara to score. No conversion 34-5.
The second half saw the balance of the game change as some of the Sevenoaks players came off, with Medway immediately pressuring the line. Despite some immense defence from everyone, with Lucy in the forefront, Medway scored to make the score 34-10.
Two injuries to Medway who were without subs, took the players on the pitch down to 12 each and Medway were able to apply more pressure and score a third to make the score 34-15. A few minutes later saw another try to Medway in the left corner, no conversion 34-20.
From the restart, some good strong running from Sevenoaks, led to a lineout near the try line. We were knocked back and went again: Lara kicked and almost chased successfully but Medway secured a goal line drop out, which they successfully gathered and ran down the left wing to score under the posts. The conversion made the score 34-27.
Following another injury, and a penalty to Sevenoaks, Lara was able to tap and pass to Izzy who went forward and offloaded to Joan who scored the last try of the match, in the last action of the match. No conversion made the final score 39-27. The quality of offloads in the tackle was a particular strength today and helped send the Sevenoaks girls into the Cup final to be played at Medway on 2nd May.
