Ferns put in a ‘reem’ performance to defeat the Eels!
Brentwood Eels Women 8 – Bristol Golden Ferns 44
The Southern Women’s Championship continued on Sunday, with the Golden Ferns making the long trip over to Essex to face Brentwood Eels in their Round 2 fixture. The players travelled in confident mood after their opening round victory against Anglian Vipers but knowing that the Eels would pose a difficult challenge after their own defeat against the Army in a closer contest in Round 1. Both sides arrived for the game with slightly reduced squads of 14 players and were greeted with a temperature in the high 20’s plus a strong breeze blowing down the pitch – this would likely make things much tougher for both sets of players.
It was an early start for the Ferns players due to the kick off time being 13:00, so the team arrived, changed into kit, and conducted a quick, sharp warm up and were soon ready for battle. Captain Vicky Mansell lost the toss which meant the Ferns had the strong wind behind them for the first half, but the opportunity to kick off. It was Mansell herself that expertly aimed the kick off between the receiving Eels players positioned in the in-goal, with the ball bouncing dead and giving the Ferns the opportunity to receive a drop out with less than a minute on the clock. However, despite some good attack the Eels held them out with some resolute defence. It didn’t take long though for the Ferns to breach the defensive line, with prop Chloe Fletcher barging over on 5 minutes, Mansell adding the extras.
Almost immediately the Eels hit back. After a period of sustained attack in the Ferns half the Eels took advantage of some disorganisation in defence to score an unconverted try on 10 minutes. That try acted as a wake-up call, and some good discussions behind the sticks lead by Mansell and vice-captain Jessie Hood calmed the team and refocused them on the job in hand. From the kick off the Ferns were all over the Eels like a rash, not allowing them any opportunity to get into any kind of rhythm or even get out of their own half! The Ferns were getting stronger and more confident in their play – the opposition couldn’t handle the next half an hour period as the Ferns ran in 5 tries. First it was second row Trish Brown, in her first Rugby League game in a couple of years following her time away to start a family, who dove over on 15 minutes. Mansell converted, and soon after it was loose forward Hood who dummied her way over following some great work by Rachel Marley, and again Mansell slotted the extras.
There was a fluidity in attack, but also a hunger in defence – and it was a big tackle from centre Alex Rowles, who then picked up the loose ball to feed 17-year-old winger Anna Treharne who sprinted in from 20 metres in her first ever game of senior Women’s rugby. It was great to see Treharne in action and she visibly grew throughout the game, making some brilliant tackles on her opposite number all game. Unfortunately, Mansell missed the tough conversion, but she was successful in converting the next two tries scored by forwards Esme Bird and Emily Jennings just prior to half time. It was a brilliant first 40 minutes for the Ferns who went in at the break 34-4 up but knowing that the second half would see them playing into a strong breeze!
The next 40 minutes went as expected, with the Ferns finding it tougher to have all the territory that they had in the previous 40, plus with a smaller squad size there was tiredness creeping into both sides. Coach Gould continued to rotate the interchanges during the second half, giving players 5-10 minutes on the sideline to catch their breath before going back into the game. However, it took until the 64th minute for the Ferns to get over the whitewash again, with Trish Brown benefitting from some enterprising attack to dot down on the right edge. Mansell, kicking into the strong wind just failed with the conversion. The Eels did score a try of their own on 74 minutes following a penalty that was kicked up the field, and then a few battering carries resulted in space on their right-hand side to dive over the line for an unconverted score.
Ferns stand-off Sarah Humphries, playing her first game of rugby in over 400 days following a serious knee injury, expertly managed the team throughout and deserves a shout out for her performance. Her partner in the halves, Mel Wilkinson, also put in a solid performance as she continues to build her experience at scrumhalf. In the backline the Ferns silent assassin Daisy Pearce-Lyons had another outstanding game on both sides of the ball – she is someone that you really wouldn’t enjoy playing against as she is relentless for 80 minutes. Alex Rowles in the other centre position again demonstrated some great skills, setting up the first half try for Treharne but also defending courageously throughout.
It was through the middle though that the Ferns did most of their damage, and hookers Katie Cobain and Arielle Weston did a great job working out of dummy half and keeping the forwards going forward! It was perhaps fitting that a prop had the final word. Mansell did a short kick-off that was gathered by Pearce-Lyons. Within a couple of tackles the ball was passed out to the left where Fletcher threw an outrageous ‘around the world’ dummy to bamboozle the Eels defence, running through to add her second try under the sticks. Akin to Andy Farrell or Paul Sculthorpe, Fletcher added the extras herself to bring an end to the scoring, with the Ferns winning 44-8.
Another excellent run-out for the team, scoring 8 tries in total, and winning the game convincingly. The whole team from 1-14 showed some great skills, heart and effort, and the coaches and everyone at the All Golds club are proud of what was shown in this fixture. The two players of the match chosen by the coaches were loose forward Jessie Hood, scoring 1 try, having a hand in lots more, and looking a huge threat every time she touched the ball; and centre Daisy Pearce-Lyons who carried and tackled well throughout with an excellent work-rate.
The game can be viewed on YouTube courtesy of Brentwood Eels VEO camera here: