Burton RFC Women V Long Eaton RFC ladies

BRFC Women's team played a pre-season friendly fixture on Friday night against Long Eaton Ladies, this fixture was keenly awaited by both players and coaches to see how all the hard work in pre-season was going to pay off? By chance Long Eaton were the final game of last season and in that game they ran out winners 36 v 18 so any progress in Burton would be fairly easy to measure. Burton gave debuts to Becky, Amy and Grace who were playing their first ever games of rugby and they did the shirt proud. The game took a while to settle in and Long Eaton came out of the blocks fastest and put pressure on the Burton line, Burton holding firm. It was a good 15 minutes before the first score and this came from Lorna powering over from short range, the game settled down and both sides played some good rugby, Burton handling and defence were excellent. Burton crossed the white wash 3 more times in the first half . In the 2nd half Burton's forwards got the set piece up a gear or 2 so giving the backs good clean and quick ball, the line outs were all well worked. Burton crossed the white wash a further 4 times and converted 2. Final score 44 v 0. Try scorers, Millie (3), Lorna (2) Ange (1), Mitch (1) G (1)........an even split between forwards and backs try's, which is a good sign for the rest of the season. Lots to work and improve on, however the progression over pre-season is clear to see, the fitness, handling and calling in both attack and defence have vastly improved and the win was no more than the women deserved after working their socks off in a pre-season that started in June. A word on Long Eaton, the score line doesn't reflect the game, it was a close affair for much of it and to their credit Long Eaton never let their heads drop and kept fighting to the very end. Burton's next game and their first league encounter is away to Amber Valley next Sunday, a tougher nut to crack no doubt but the Women should travel with some confidence follow this good start to the season.