Pulborough u18 Girls win a game of four halves

Managers doing rock, paper, scissors to determine the playing order, before going off to tell Eddie Jones that he can slow down the warm-ups, as he has Italy in game 2 followed by Wales in game 3. It's bound to catch on.

Anyway, the only thing that was sunny about Dartfordians was the hospitality of Dave and Martin, the welcoming coaches and manager of the Darts.

The weather was getting increasingly grey, the fading light casting a shadow over the mud slick next to the club-house, such that if you squinted your eyes and pretended to look at the whole world in sepia, then there was almost something atmospheric about the place. Almost.

Most of the team and coaches had finally made it into the modest car park, with just the Kiwi left queuing on the A2, like some form of happy post-Brexit premonition, where all the NZ immigrants are the last to get the parking spaces.

The first win of the day was recorded at the sorting hat, where numbers were pulled from a bobble hat to reveal we would play the first two games in a row; the first versus Cobham and the second versus the mighty Darts. Given the impending gloom, this would give the Borough girls a half chance of missing the worst weather, while testing their stamina and resolve against fresh legs.

Perhaps not our slickest warm-up (maybe 7 out of 10) the Borough girls endeavoured to rise to the occasion while the parents lounged about the bar, watching the England women beat the French, aided and abetted by one Jess Breach, of ex-Borough fame.

A big huddle, one more pep talk from Jade, some strapping from new physio Robbo, and we were off.

Without over-egging it, there was something England-esque about the start, as the Borough girls dominated the first 5 minutes to deliver the perfect start for a short game.

Forwards looking composed. Set patterns. Backs being orchestrated at the rear. Wait for the moment……… oh, yes, there it is…… and Aliya is bustling her way over.

Even better to see Amy plug one over the posts in a well deserved fashion, (drawing what proved to be an endless stream of well-deserved praise from the ref each time we stood about the kicking-tee).

After that the game tightened up. Borough certainly had the advantage but insisted on gifting the ball back to the opposition through a range of penalties, from not supporting the weight (67.2%), offside (27.7%), in the side (10.4%), high tackle (5.1%), not rolling away (13.3%) and missed tackles (a penalty of sorts - 14.2%)

Perhaps the worst penalties were Borough not working out who the real game players were in the Cobham attack, because they certainly had some girls with both talent and strength, and Borough would have done better to manage those individuals out the game.

As we entered the second half still ahead by 7 points, the pitch looking increasingly heavy, the line speed got a little slower and the substitutes were starting to be used.

It never really felt like Borough were pulling ahead. Possession was even at best. But finally, learning to avoid the scrap down the centre, the mighty Borough got the ball out wide for two more 5-pointers. The first courtesy of the rocket Rach, the second in the hands of full back and amateur dramatist Chloe (nice ‘James Bond’ roll).

The luck with the boot was spent for the moment, so the game ended a skinny 17-0 after what seemed like a hard 34 minutes.

Amilia and Jade had put in a days work making some of the big hits, supported by a cast of extras, not least Lottie who closed down the 12 channel all day.

Ellie Hamer, Pip, Lieske were all making an impact, while the likes of Rosebud and Hattie were invaluable off the bench.

Amy crafted good distribution in some tricky weather all afternoon, while Legs Lauren showed her inexhaustible energy and talent in a pressing defence and fleet-footed attack throughout.

So on to game 2 against the Dartfordians, who came to the match as the perceived underdogs, and during a brief warm-up looked like they would not trip the Borough girls up. Never judge a book by the cover.

Once more a fast start would give Borough the momentum initially needed. This time delivered by raging bull Carla. From there it felt like the game would be in the bag. But apparently not according to the Darts.

Pulborough were getting sucked into playing the game Darts wanted. A game-plan of crashing down the centre would explain some of the pitch conditions, as the whole Dartford team and some remarkable individuals gave a display of go-forward, quick rucking and continuity. Borough would have to dig deep against the fresher team.

With Dartford starting to own the possession, it suddenly felt like Pulborough were lucky to exit a first half 5 points ahead. But some of the best lessons are learned in adversity, and the Borough squad would have to learn how to react.

Quickly in the second half, captain Jade set an example for others to follow, bullying her way over the line for another five points. Game secure? Certainly not.

Dartford simply wouldn’t lie down and eventually took a well-earned try to suddenly be just five points behind. One converted try and Borough could be behind in this short game format.

With subs rotating on field to try and bring the energy and focus back to the team, it was not long before Amilia was barnstorming over the try line to secure a third and potentially winning try, this time converted by Amy, (based on her strict 1 in 3 principles).

But Dartford were still refusing to stay on the script and found another try under our posts, giving them a seven point opportunity which they promptly took.

At 17 – 12 it felt like a game we should win might slip cruelly away from us. Had we done enough? Was there enough left in the tank?

It was not for a lack of effort, courage, or the crowd cheering. Such was the inappropriate noise from the touchline that the manager had to apologise to the Dartford faithful for the bloke with the dog (again). ‘We’ve all got one’ was the heartfelt and sympathetic response.

The heavens opened, but rather than a ray of light and choir of angels marking the end of the match, the upturned faces of the crowd were met by freezing rain, and the echo of the final whistle. Thank goodness.

It turns out that freezing rain is one of the few things that can shorten the post-match speech from a Kiwi coach. Shame because we had all been looking forward to it so much.

Perhaps the wise words were best left to others. The Cobham coach very kindly commented on how the Borough girls had played with real structure, good patterns and communication. They looked well drilled apparently, and that is down to the attitude of all the girls who turn up each week, in big numbers, and put in the effort in what sometimes might feel repetitive exercises - all so that you can do it under pressure as second nature.

Better still was the feedback from the ref, refereeing girls for the first time, who cited multiple experience of refereeing Pulborough first XI teams, and commented he thought the handling skills were better than he had seen from Pulborough for a long time. (Not my words...)

And so the Pulborough girls march on. Next is the South East Area final on March 3rd, against old adversaries Sutton & Epsom. A proper contest to be sure. Let’s just hope for some grass for our backs to play on.

Team (Tries): Aliya (1), Amilia (1), Amy, Carla (1), Chloe (1), Elisha, Ellie, Ellie Mae, Emily, Hattie, Imo, Issy, Jade (c.) (1), Jess, Lauren, Lieske, Lois, Lottie, Lydia, Niamh, Pip, Rachel (1), Rosebud