7th April 2002 - Beccs Ladies vs the Swedish U20 National Side
Beccehamian Ladies played a 12-aside friendly game this weekend against the Sweden U20's ladies side who are currently over in the UK on a tour. (The Swedish team have just completed a 2-test series against the Welsh U19's, falling to a 61-0 defeat in the first test and 25-3 in the second.)
Playing 12-aside, both teams played with a tight-five plus number 8 in the scrums, and 8 players in the backs which meant there was a little more room than normal to run about. On a very sunny but blowy day, the ground was unusually hard and it was the Swedish team who were fastest out of the blocks. After some hard, fast play with a number of scrums, the Swedish side managed to find some room on the wing to run in their first try of the afternoon.
Beccehamians re-grouped and competed well against the smaller Swedes with some good rucking and excellent scrummaging, hooker Gill Horn managing to take quite a few against the head in the first half. It became a tightly fought match with much of a stalemate taking place in the central parts of the pitch. The Swedes managed to grab the advantage again with a well-worked set-piece from the scrum which broke through the Beccs defence.
Rejuvinated in the second-half, Beccehamians made some good moves, running the ball around more and winning some ball from mauls. Prop Sam Howe stood out in this half having a lively afternoon with some good tackling being put in. The standard of play was very equal between the teams, the Swedish girls perhaps just having the edge in the second half with a touch more gas left to burn.
However Beccs kept their heads up and kicking on from a fumbled Swedish ball, managed to see a great passage of attacking play which went through a number of phases before Beccs managed to cross the line for what can only be described as the total team try.
The final outcome was a win by the Swedish team 29-5, but a great experience for Beccehamians to play against a National side. Also encouraging were the individual performances from all the Beccehamian players who are beginning to string together some very good and encouraging performances.
The next match is Sunday 14th April away to Aylesford in the Southern League.
Beccehamian Team
Forwards:
Sam Howe, Gill Horn, Jo Henson, Sarah Henson, Kelly Malynn, Angela Stark
Backs:
Louise Thomas (Capt), Karen Benham, Charlotte Henry, Lara Fisher, Wendy Stevens, Hannah Tyson
|
