Lionesses raw to success against Loughborough after Xmas break
Coming into the match the Lionesses had won every single one of their six matches and only conceded 12 points, all of them in their first game against East Anglia University. Victory today against Loughborough would bring the 1st Team back to the top of the table in a two horse race against Nottingham 1st Team.
The match was at a cold Bournbrook at 5pm with cloudy dark skies and good crowd. The first 15 minutes of the match saw three quick tries of the Lionesses, the back line of Jas Clarke, Zoe Bennion and Sophie Jackson with great hands to put the tryscores into great positions. Bennion was successful twice of the kicking tee so the score was 19-0 to the Lionesses.
Loughborough at each kick off started to exert pressure but unfortunately they didn’t give support to their ball carriers. Hence the Lionesses were able to quickly repel the attacks with strong tackling. There was a delay after the half an hour mark as Blindside Flanker Katie Purcell received a leg injury but this didn’t distract the Lionesses.
This was proved with another three tries in the last 10 minutes of the half. Two of them showed really good patience and control from Birmingham; moving the Loughborough defense from one end to the other before dotting down. It was also down to the play from Zoe Bennion who carved up the Loughborugh defense by throwing many dummy passes.
The last try of the half came after a high tackle was made on Birmingham Winger Emily Partridge. The Loughborough Winger was sent to the sin bin with a yellow card; but with the new protocols in place from World Rugby it looked more like a red card offence. However, the Lionesses were still able to score at the end of the half courtesy of Chrissie Hanson, the score now 42-0 to the home side.
The second half saw the Lionesses continued to dominate and it was a long lost cause for Loughborough. The highlight of the half had to be a hatrick from replacement Fullback Heather Cowell. Cowell showed great pace and agility to canter in for a hatrick of tries, two of them she converted herself. The match ended with a score of 65-0 to the Lionesses.
If they had to work on anything, it would be to prioritize getting the tries closer to the posts as possible; to make the place kicking easier for Bennion, who had 4 unscuccessful conversion kick attempts from both touchlines. The Lionesses now top the table in the Midlands 1A with 34 league points, 4 more than their rivals Nottingham and on a points difference of 263. The Lionesses have 4 fixtures left in the season with the second one against Nottingham, a crucial game to win, if they are to play premiership rugby next season.
