After 4 weeks without any fixtures, the Buckingham Swans assembled with fresh legs to take on Romford and Gidea Park in the second round of the Women’s Intermediate cup.

The game opened well with strong carries from the Buckingham forwards taking them up to the opposition’s 22 and a penalty awarded to Buckingham on the 5m line for a high tackle was successfully exploited by captain Holly Malins. Katie Clark converted, opening the score at 7-0. Continuous hammering on the Romford defence opened the line up for another successful opportunity for Malins. Romford replied with a try and a conversion, bringing the score to 12-7. This did not deter the Swans, as the forwards managed to turn the ball over at the break down and lead us marching back towards Romford’s try line. A back-handed off load from Katie Clark was collected by Malins, who broke the line and then offloaded to number 13 Emily Chapman who slinked her way past two defenders and scored the try. Clark converted, bringing the score to 19-7 at half time.

Romford kept up a strong display in the second half, but Buckingham’s organisation around the breakdown meant that the pick and goes kept puncturing the line. Strong carries from prop Lorna Cooke and flanker Sophie Ryder meant ground was continually made and the close support from the rest of the pack kept the Swans rolling forward. Katie Upton, returning for her first game after having a baby, brought stability to the scrum, which allowed the backs the platform to set up excellent attacks, which led to a try from Malins. Romford scored one unconverted try of their own, but the second half saw 3 more tries for the Swans (1 conversion from Clark and 1 from Malins) bringing the final score to 43-12.

Forward of the match: Sophie Ryder
Back of the match: Holly Malins