A semi-final win for the Bees

West Bridgford travelled through the Peak National Park to take on Manchester Ladies on a cloudy and dull afternoon. West Bridgford were keen to get their first meaningful rugby underway since mid-January. Arriving in high spirits, captain Laura Groves set the tone for the afternoon and ensured that her team played to their game plan; immediately making her presence known in the front row, continuing her effective partnership with props Mags Lowish and Pippa Arkle. Fly half Sarah Roper and inside centre Bethany James led the defensive line and their pressure allowed the ball to be turned over for outside centre Tanya Bird to score her first of the afternoon with only 3 minutes gone. The West Bridgford lineout was functioning smoothly; second row Sarah Elliot showing her aerial dominance as she stole quality ball. Openside flanker Kay Searcy benefitted from the extra posession as she stretched the lead to 10 – 0 after 12 minutes. This stirred Manchester into action as they capitalised on some indiscretion at the breakdown; Manchester marched on and got their rewards as they found the Bridgy defence napping, taking the scoreline to 10 – 5 after 17 minutes. West Bridgford fought back, but all too often paid for their runners not straightening and being turned over in the contact, Manchester’s fly half kicked the ball to space, but this was swooped up by full back Jasmine Coyne who never failed to break the gain line with ball in hand. West Bridgford looked to up the phase count and create the mismatched and on half hour mark, number eight Bethan Arthur crossed for her first. This was closely followed by Bird, who raced away for her second taking the score to 20 – 5. Bridgford were looking less rusty now and Coyne cut a superb line to score under the posts, with James converting. Shortly after a break from Roper saw the play taken back to the Manchester 5m line and Arthur spotted a gap from a quick penalty and scored the last of the half, taking the scoreline to 32 – 5.

With the unpredictable wind on their backs, Bridgford looked to settle into their rhythm, but it was Manchester who started the half brighter as they upped the phase count and made the Bridgford defence work hard to contain them. However, Bird struck again as she scorched her way to the line. Shortly afterwards, winger Amanda Stafford showed good footwork as she scored on the left touchline, to take the scoreline to 42 – 5 after 50 minutes. Two minutes later, Coyne struck again with James converting to stretch the lead to 49 – 5. Stafford ghosted through for her second of the afternoon on 57 minutes. Winger Amee Wilson found herself in space and only excellent defence stopped a certain try, replacement second row Megan West marking her debut with solid work in the loose. On 63 minutes, Bird schored her fourth try of the afternoon and the try of the match as Roper held the defence allowing James to use clever hands and create the space for Bird to power away from 40 metres, James adding the extras to take the scoreline to 61 – 5. The coaching staff rang the changes to ensure that all of the squad had game time and welcomed Kim Boultby to the team at full back, with Coyne moving to the wing. The changes didn’t seem to affect West Bridgford who worked seamlessly and Arthur was on hand to finish a supberb team try on 70 minutes. The remaining 10 minutes weren’t all Bridgford as Manchester continued to compete. Coyne picked a perfect line to round off an excellent performance and James added the conversion to take the final score to 71 – 5.

Considering the recent lack of rugby played, West Bridgford can be enormously proud of the result and the manner in which it was achieved. All players made their mark on the game and not once was there any selfish play. Full back Jasmine Coyne took the hotly contested player of the match award for her faultless display.

Before West Bridgford play their final, they finish off their league campaign as they host high-flying Waterloo Ladies at the Memorial Ground on Sunday 23rdMarch, kick off 2.15pm.