Havant Women 1XV vs Bath Ladies 2XV

The first game after a long 5-week Christmas break saw Havant Women take on Bath Ladies 2s at the lane. After a wet and windy warm up, the weather cleared just in time for kick off.
With the U18s County game on just before, the lane was busy and a large crowd gathered to watch.

From the kick off, Havant were quick to get into Baths 22. Captain Natasha Bullock made a break through the defence, only to be caught just short of the line by Bath's number 15. Havant continued to put pressure on Bath's defence, however the opposition's defiance meant the ball was turned over following a penalty. With a short period of play from Bath, the wet ground caused some handling errors. This meant it was time for the forwards to show off all their hard work at training with the first scrum of the game. Havant absolutely dominated the scrum and continued to do so throughout the entire game, with very few errors.

Halfway through the first half, Bath managed to get into the Havant 22, making some strong carries into the strong Havant defence. Bath were within 5m of the Havant try line for a solid 5 minutes but to no avail. The strong defence from the home side meant that the away side didn’t get to score.

After 30 minutes of both teams holding possession inside each other’s 22, Havant managed to get points on the board. These points came after a few phases of forward balls, a quick pass to number 10 Sam King saw the ball sent through the hands, straight to Emma Ralph who grounded the ball for the try. This was not converted.

A further 10 minutes of play ensued, with strong and consistent play from the home side, but no more points were put on the board. Half Time. Havant 5 – 0 Bath.

The start of the second half began and Havant were quick to get back into the game, more scrums in the second half meant that the front row; Katie Casey, Ruby Dunaway and Lucy King, were tested, but due to extensive training and experience, they dominated the opposition every single time.

A quick intercept from number 13 Jess Codrington saw Havant put some more points on the board, this was successfully converted by number 12 Amy Brittan. Havant 12 – 0 Bath.

With 25 minutes to go, Flanker Jenna Duffy returned to the pitch after a long 9 months out due to injury. She added experience and flair to the pitch, making defensive tackles and strong ball carries.

With a quick running line, Bath managed to break through Havant’s defence and put some points on the board, this was not converted. Havant 12 – 5 Bath.

After another powerful period of play from Havant, number 15 Abi Pearson (who gave a star performance throughout), touched the ball down under the posts for the last try of the game for Havant. This was successfully converted by Amy Brittan.

With a few more minutes of play, both teams continued to push to the final whistle with Bath scoring again minutes before the final whistle, this was not converted. Full Time score, Havant 17 – 10 Bath.

Forward of the match was Captain Natasha Bullock, who had an absolutely fantastic game, she was strong in both defence and attack.

Back of the match was number 15 Abi Pearson, who again had a fantastic game, with many try saving tackles made and many metres ran with the ball

Head coach Matt Davis said this ‘Very proud of the squad who gave 100% for the whole 80 mins. Defensive structure won us the game.’