They've only gone and done it again!

Coming off of the first league victory of this campaign, the U14 girls combination of Crowborough and Heathfield (affectionately known as Crow Field) headed across the boarder into West Sussex looking for another victory. They had tasted blood a few weeks ago when they humbled the visiting Baa Baas at Steel Cross and they liked the taste! Hungry for more, the team looked up for exercising the ghosts of last season’s heavy defeat at the hands of the Pulborough Piranhas.

The weather was glorious to look at but a bitter wind cut across the pitch. It tempered the rays of the sun, but did nothing to hinder the spirits of the travelling support as they were, like all weeks, in full voice and full of positive support for the team.

Wearing the familiar candy-caned themed red and white hoops, Crowfield received the kick off and set about looking after ball superbly well. With a few experienced absentees, a slightly re-jigged team set up and a few debutants to new positions didn’t look out of place. The forwards hit ruck after ruck securing the ball allowing the backs to do their thing. Lilly Manning started the game with particular panache as was almost always first into any contact and kept the Piranha forwards at bay just like King Kanoute sat on Eastbourne seafront screaming at the waves!
It wasn’t long before our phase play had reaped its rewards as the backs, led by a returning Isobel Kirby at fly-half, sprung into action and we witnessed some amazing footwork and a lesson in the art of drawing the defender in only to make a late pass to set your team mate off on a strong carry.

This led to Crowfield being awarded the first penalty of the game for Pulborough being off their feet in the ruck. Nelly Jupp took control of the ball and made it look, to the casual observer, that she was going for touch and to secure an attacking lineout. She used the wind brilliantly to make sure the ball didn’t quite make it and Chloe Bains ran on to the perfectly placed cross field kick with an amazing take and then showed a clean pair of heels to the Pulborough defence to run in our first try of the game in the corner. Champagne stuff!
A great statement of intent to show the home side that Crowfield were not to be trifled with. A tricky position meant Nelly couldn’t quite manage the first conversion attempt of the game. Five points on the board. Great start!

Pulborough restarted with a kick straight into the waiting arms of Nelly Jupp who plucked the ball out of the air confidently and set off on a trademark run like a streak of blonde lightning. Sophia Colley was outstanding in the scrum half position today as she glided from breakdown to breakdown, digging the ball out quickly to make sure the Pulborough defence couldn’t get set in time for us to launch another fleet footed attack.

Pulborough didn’t like this and started to mount a fight back in the middle of the park. Their tackling was strong and were no push overs to say the least. After winning one of their own scrums, a fierce run from one of their main attacking threats made a lot of metres before she was bought down by a number of red and white shirts. This overload left a bit short in defence which allowed a nice line break from Pulborough which led to a breakaway try. Missed kick which meant the score was pegged back a bit to 5 – 5.
Realising this humbugged themed opposition wouldn’t be a pushover, the girls regrouped and rallied. A nice sign of maturity in the team is that the coached didn’t need to get involved under the posts as the team knew what they had to do and led their own discussions with minimal input needed.

Another intense period of expert rucking on display and Pulborough were unable to get to the ball and in turn, leading to Lilly Manning busting through the defence like they weren’t there to dot down under the post. After quite a few weeks out of playing you might not expect someone to come back into the second game full of beans, but Lilly was cooking on gas and had a fantastic game at prop. Her ball carrying was superb and pretty much every ruck you’d see her getting stuck in. Brilliant work Lilly.
Nelly had an easy job converting this one directly in front of the posts. 5 - 12 to the good.

Pulborough restart, again, finding Nelly in the midfield saw another trademark burst from our ferocious terrier at 12. To say the skills in the team have improved immeasurably would be an understatement but we also saw a much stronger game awareness from all girls today. Specially call out to Megan Wiseman who spotted a number of key plays throughout the game and was sure to be there to make an impact. Sophia had taken the ball in contact which meant we had no 9 to recycle the ball at one point and Megan spotted this and leapt into action. Megan also notched yet another try of her first season not long after this, striding away and putting the pedal down to accelerate away into the distance. Another conversation for Nelly made it a commanding lead. 5 - 19
More spotlight on Megan and she scores and stops tries. Pulborough were still plugging away when they had ball in hand and a few breaks in the line were well mopped up by our ever reliable full back.

I’m not sure how I have got this far without mentioning the dominance and power of our scrum. We had to shuffle the deck a bit for this game and special thanks go to Jess for steeping back into number two for us, Layla Lawson for playing second row for the first time and Nadia LaFlemming for playing at No.8. They all did brilliantly in the scrum. We won everyone of our put-ins and pushed their pack back on every occasion. This played dividends for us not only in attack when the back line ravished the black and white defence, but in particular where we were forced back in our own 22. Pulborough to put the ball into the scrum and the pack surged forward as one akin to a marauding Greek Phalanx (go and watch 300) and give us the opportunity to win the ball. Sophia collected from the feet of Nadia and got the ball away, through Isobel - metres made and pass to Nelly - Metres made, defender drawn - pass to Chloe - more metres made, defender drawn deft offload to Layla Cheek back on the wing for today who pinned her ears back and gassed it down the touchline. Our own 22 to the opposing 22 in one phase and all through the hands. That was liquid rugby!

The ref and his spectacularly bright socks called an end to the first half proceedings with the scores at an impressive 5 - 19. Quick chat, nothing much to say and a few changes which saw cousin replaced by cousin as Cheek replaced Cheek on the wing. Freya Rogers come on into the pack to replace Layla L who had a great game with the forwards. The Piranha’s had to drop player at this point as she had taken a knock early on and had bravely battled through the first half but it was too much for her to carry on. The Crowfield girls applauded her of the pitch and we felt it only right to match numbers and Poppy Rodriguez was happy to make way for a breather.

Twas not the rain the scuppered my efforts to dutifully etch the second half processings into the annuls of history this time, but the power and grace of the rugby spectacle before me enraptured my attention, so again, dear reader, I have failed you in making that many notes for the second half as I was bewitched by the performance in front of me. I will however, endeavour to recall from them faint scribbles and a misty memory.

The second half was underway and it was a similar story to the first. Strong running and support from the forwards with Nadia LaFlemming more noticeably carrying the ball in contact with force and vigour. The ever-present Lilly again providing support in the rucks. It was one of our newer forwards who broke the line this time as Alana proved her strength in the carry again and smashed through very much like an auburn haired wrecking ball. No conversion for this try but Crowfield running away with it early on 5 - 24.
Another restart for Pulborough punted long into our half. We battled with the ball bravely with some fantastic offloads and hands with Jess, Megan and Chloe combining to advance us up the pitch. Lovely hands!

Pulborough’s determination shone through at this point and no matter how good we were in the tackle through these phases they kept knocking on the door time and time again. We saw some staunch defence from Lexie Cheek who, despite her newness to the game, made a couple of excellent tackles to keep them pegged back. With our defences depleted after relentless battering it looked as though they were through only to be thwarted by the efforts of Chloe Bains. Superb covering defence from our outside centre.
It was only a matter of time though as they did break through and score another breakaway try which made it more competitive and to be fair a deserved award for their sheer tenacity. It was no converted though so score 10 - 24.

About 15minutes to go and we were soon realising that running uphill in the second half is hard! We battled on and coped with the uphill terrain remarkable well. We saw a breakout run from our 10 Isobel who broke about 3 tackles to get into the opposing 22 only to be stopped short. Megan then took up the reins and burst into action which resulted in a bit of “try, not a try, try - not sure” only for it be awarded as not a try. This is where I could have positioned myself better as I was stuck behind a line of taller parents so I missed this bit of the action! Reminder to self - get new rugby boots wit a hint of Cuban Heel!
Regardless - a goal line drop out was result which was soon dispatched directly into Nellys vicinity and collected with the grace and aptitude of a seasoned ballerina. She was not being stopped from that distance and try number 5 for the day. Easily converted. 10 - 31.

The determination and sheer stick-to-it-ness of the Pirahna’s was a thing to behold. Not once did they let the score get to them and they gong to the very end. They replied as far as the scoreboard was concerned with a conversation attempt so close that just the width of the crossbar denied them the extra 2 points. 17 - 31.

The ref, who stepped in last minute and officiated extremely well (well done Phil) called a halt shortly after this and the game ended Pulborough 17 - Crowfield 31.

Nelly received (another!) player of the match award from the opposition for her strong running and her massive tackles. Another well deserved accolade for a girl who is new to the game. You wouldn’t believe it! Sophia Colley was aware coaches player for today as she is still only 3 games into playing scrum half but the improvement throughout those games has been noticeable. She was at every breakdown delivering the ball to the right place at the right time which gave the backs exactly what they needed to do their jobs.
It was a really hard choice for coaches award this week as all of the team put in a worthy performance with everyone playing above par.

Not just a great score but more importantly, a great team performance. We saw a similar effort against Baa Baa and I think things have clicked into place with perfect timing as far as the league fixtures are concerned. The team should be very proud of what they achieved over the season as it culminated in back to back wins and more importantly, back to back brilliance!

You go girls!!