Worcester Under 18 girls returned to National Cup action on Sunday 19th November with a home game against another local rival Barkers Butts. This fixture has previously been an action packed and fiercely competitive game.
The weather conditions this Sunday could have proved to turn the fixture into a battle of the forwards as it was cold, wet and with blustery winds blowing across the pitch.
Worcester girls arrived for the 12.30 meet and were out warming up before the Barkers team arrived as they got stuck in traffic on the motorway. They arrived with 14 players, to Worcester’s 20. Despite seeing Barkers with only 14 players the intensity of the warm up showed that the girls were up for the game and wanted to put their mark on the game from the first whistle.
Worcester came out of the blocks firing on all cylinders and gained a foot hold on the game straight away with some strong ball carrying and some monstrous tackles being put in. The first try wasn’t long in coming and it involved some neat interplay and some powerful carrying. This set the tide for Worcester and the pressure carried on coming. Worcester weren’t deterred when Barkers went down to 13 for short periods in the first half and carried on pressing forward while matching their team numbers. The resulting pressure was transferred into Worcester having gained the 4 try bonus point prior to half time. 5 tries were scored in the first half, and Worcester went in with a commanding 27-0 lead.
There was talk amongst the crowd on whether Worcester could come out after half time and carry on playing the same, or whether complacency would set in and Barkers be allowed back into the game. This talk was soon dismissed when shortly after the break Worcester scored again after some fine ball handling.
Worcester used their subs well during the game and constantly rotated players to keep them fresh. Barkers had no answer for this and soon conceded again. The cohesion of Worcester was continuing from the weeks before and they were playing with smiles on their faces and clearly enjoying being out there on pitch 1, and putting in a performance for the crowd.
However to Barkers credit they did not give up, despite falling to 12 players at one stage. They rallied and after a short period of pressure from their forwards they crashed over for a try in the corner. Worcester rallied again after this and resumed the pressure putting Barkers on the back foot again. The forwards were getting in on the action now and were enjoying running hard and working as a unit.
With about 10 minutes left in the game Worcester scored a try which proved decisive and took the score to 55-5. This resulted in the end of the game due to RFU rules. Credit to Barkers Butts for attending with low numbers and never giving up.
It was another impressive team performance by the girls and now sets up a mouth watering final pool game on 10th December against the other undefeated team in the league, Cheltenham North.
Off the pitch there will be an internal investigate and formal interviews with the team photographer and team VEO installer, who were missing in action. The photographer away in Liverpool on National Cup weekend, and the VEO installer watching a game of rugby in Newcastle on the Friday (yes Friday) night. (Although the team photographer did redeem himself slightly (very slightly) by sending his homemade corned beef pasties for the coaches, managers and first aiders to keep their energy levels up!)
Thanks as always to our great coaching team, our team managers and our first aiders and last but by no means least our intrepid match reporter, Ant!
