Sunday 22 January 2012: Bletchley Ladies 0 - 87 Coalville Ladies

Sunday, 22nd January, 2012: Bletchley Ladies 0 – Coalville Ladies 87

The first match of the New Year was a home match to Coalville Ladies. The Bletchley Ladies team was seriously depleted for this match, with four ladies from the squad out with injuries, a couple just returning from injury and some unavailable due to work commitments. The squad could only put out 13 ladies, so Coalville agreed to play 12-a-side. Coalville play two leagues above Bletchley, who are hoping to enter the league system next year.

The opening minutes showed the gap between the two teams, with Coalville taking advantage of a lost Bletchley scrum to put a try over the line after just four minutes. This try went unconverted, giving an opening score: 0 – 5. Bletchley were awarded a scrum soon after the restart, which collapsed, giving the put-in to Coalville who immediately took the ball and ran away with a second try,
this time converted. Score: 0 – 12.

Bletchley Ladies settled into the game for a while, though they were struggling to make their tackles and lost their first line-out. After a knock-on by Coalville, Bletchley won their first scrum. They were unable to retain possession and Coalville took their third try, which was converted to make the score 0 – 19.

From the restart, Bletchley started to compete for the ball, moving it around more. They won a penalty and pushed forward. Coalville gained possession but knocked-on, giving a Bletchley scrum. Coalville won this and, after several missed tackles, scored another converted try. Score: 0 – 26. Within two minutes they had another try under their belt: 0 – 33. Five minutes of defence by Bletchley was not enough to prevent Coalville from scoring their final converted try of the first half. Half-time score: 0 – 40.

The first half score showed how much ground Bletchley Ladies had lost over the Christmas break away from matches. Unfortunately, a developing team needs consistent opportunities to apply the skills they are learning from week to week and, with the geographic spread of ladies teams, this can prove difficult to obtain.
The second half saw Bletchley approach the game with more attack. After a series of passes, Kelly Craig made a break and had a good run, making ground towards the Coalville line. Despite a good tackle from Coalville, Bletchley retained possession, due to some effective rucking. Coalville put in some strong tackles and regained possession. Bletchley’s tackles missed their mark and they conceded another converted try. Score: 0 – 47.

There followed the best rugby this game from Bletchley Ladies. They applied pressure, but were met by a strong defensive line from Coalville who, showing their greater experience, refused to allow the line to fold. After a few minutes, due to an injured prop, the game had to go to uncontested scrums. Coalville took control again and scored several tries in quick succession. The game ended without Bletchley managing to put the ball over the Coalville line. Final score: 0 – 87.

This was the biggest margin Bletchley have experienced this season. They lacked control when handling the ball and regularly missed tackles. However, their rucking was greatly improved, which has been their focus in recent training sessions. For their match next week they need to hold on to this, and work on catching and tackling the opposition consistently. What is good to see is, whatever the score line, the ladies do not let their heads go down and continue to compete till the final whistle.

If you are interested in trying Ladies rugby, Bletchley Ladies are a developing team who train every Wednesday evening at Manor Fields. For further details, contact Kim Davies, Ladies' Team Manager, on 07732 875260 or Ben Jasper, Team Coach, on 07874 998638.