Berkshire U18 Girls hold off Buckinghamshire U18 Girls late charge

MATCH REPORT

Berkshire U18 Girls vs Buckinghamshire Girls U18

PLAYED AT: Reading RFC

DATE: Sun 3rd April 2022

After 1 minutes applause in memory of Maddie Lawrence (the UWE rugby player who passed away last week) the game set off at a frantic pace.

The defence from both sides was solid and neither side had dominance in the lineouts but Berkshire definitely had the edge in the scrums. At the end of the first quarter Berkshire broke the deadlock with a try from the captain Lucy Simpson converted by Ella Cromack.

26mins in after more ferocious tackling by both sides second row Elizabeth White broke through for Berkshires’ 2nd try also converted by Ella Cormack.

On the stroke of halftime the Bucks hooker landed badly after a tackle. As she was tended to on the pitch the 2nd half took place on the adjacent pitch and moved to uncontested scrums. Having had multiple personal changes over halftime the Berkshire team started a bit disjointed and Buckinghamshire immediately scored to bring them back into the game at 14-7. Shortly after Ella backed her boot (which has won her national kicking awards) and slotted a penalty from the 10m line to stretch Berkshires lead to 17-7.

There followed continued pressure from Buckinghamshire which was rewarded with their second try to bring it back to 17-12 but Berkshire came back immediately with Ella Cromack scoring and converting her own try with 8 mins to play to extend the lead back to 12 points (24-12).

But with 5 mins to play Berkshire were reduced to 14 by a yellow card and Buckinghamshire were able to take advantage and drove over through their forwards to again reduce he deficit (24-17). However, Berkshire held on to ensure that was the final score. A fine squad game where all contributed particularly with the first half defence

Well played to both teams who were a great advert for Girls and Women’s Rugby in the region

THANKS to Marla White for the photography and to Reading RFC for the hospitality

CONTACT DETAILS

For more details on the fixtures and honours players that have come through the Un18 programme go to the Berkshire U18 Girls County Page (link at the bottom).

Berkshire RFU would like to extend our gratitude to all the clubs, coaches, referees and supporting volunteers across the county who have developed and inspired these young players during their formative years to reach this highly respected honour in representing the county – You make a difference!