Junior Plate: Barnes Ladies vs Hackney Ladies (7th February 2016)

In the build up to Sunday’s round of Junior Plate matches we were under no illusions about the threat that we would face from Hackney Ladies. They had beaten us in a league match at their home grounds at the start of the season and we’d returned the favour just two weeks ago in our second league meeting with a convincing win at Barnes. This cup fixture would give us an unusual but psychologically important ‘best of three’ scenario with our rivals – competition is quite fierce whenever we play against Hackney. Facing each other three times, and with a draw not being an option in this game, it was very clear that the winner of the match would walk away with bragging rights for this season, irrespective of the league standings.

We’d opted to play twelve-a-side rugby due to issues with player numbers for Hackney and Barnes. With both teams being fully aware of what was at stake, the atmosphere was charged as we took up our positions on the pitch in the windy sunshine. The ground was damp and muddy and we knew that this would make it a tough contest in the set pieces – we deeply respect Hackney Ladies for their efficiency in the scrums. They’re a powerful pack and we expected them to capitalise on the conditions underfoot more than ever.

A lofty kick off from our captain put the game in motion, with both teams setting about with intent to the win the ball in the breakdown. Some jittery nerves form Hackney Ladies meant that they committed a number of infringements early on. This gave Barnes an opportunity to set up camp in their half, and although we kept the pressure on, we weren’t disciplined enough to make good use of the territory, fumbling the ball or losing possession at key moments.

After about five minutes of exchanging penalties, Hackney Ladies put a big hit in at the scrum and secured the ball cleanly from their set piece, quickly shipping it out to their backs who came onto the ball at pace and sped off downfield to score in the right hand corner. The blustery conditions made an already difficult kick that much harder, preventing Hackney from clearing the conversion.

We kept our heads up and set up for the restart. It became clear very early on in the game that it was going to be a contest of the forwards, with breakdowns playing a pivotal role from the off. Roishi (who had already had a bit of a wallow in a mud puddle in the warm up) was lightning quick in defence and seemed to be involved in every breakdown at one point. Anna drove over the ball, rucking relentlessly, but Hackney were equally as keen to keep possession and managed to push us off the ball quite a bit – although not as much as they had in our game against them a few weeks back.

Just before half time, Barnes almost scored, with Amelia making a great run just right of the middle of the field in Hackney’s 22m. She played a quick tap-and-go after a Hackney player had entered a ruck from the side and it immediately became a blur of crashing bodies as Amelia was set on by two defenders. She managed to pop the ball up left to Lorraine but she was also held up by a powerful Hackney defensive line. A maul ensued and a short drive toward the try line gave us a small advantage, with Eleonore securing the ball in hand before breaking off the maul to try and drive over the line with a couple of Hackney defenders hanging off her. The Referee wasn’t satisfied that the ball had been grounded properly so didn’t award the try. Unfortunately, although we retained possession off the set piece, Hackney Ladies ripped the ball out of our hands just meters from the line and their captain booted it down field, relieving the pressure for her team.

The second half was as tough as the first with a lot of pick-and-go rugby, and lots of rucking and mauling. Lorraine lead a few good mauls, with Barnes making the most of her yells for support although we didn’t get the customary ‘will ye’s push me’ this week. Hackney soon got wise to our dominance in the mauls (as most of the Barnes backs on the day were actually forwards so we almost surely had a weight and power advantage) and opted for going to ground a bit more as the game wore on. In a spell of quick play which saw the ball come off the breakdown and swing beautifully through the hands of the backs out to Elle on the left wing, Barnes managed to secure a try (just) as our newbie powered her way at pace across the line leaving three defenders in her wake. Hackney didn’t seem to be convinced that the try had been scored, as our first time try scorer got the ball down in the try zone with mere millimetres to spare, but the referee was adamant and Lorraine set up to attempt a conversion that would have been impossible even if she wasn’t kicking into the force five gales that were buffeting the pitch.

Again we committed a few errors at the restart and although we eventually gathered the ball in, we had no option but to boot it down the pitch and set up for a line out. Hackney took control of the play for a spell, breaking our defensive line from well inside their own half as one of their locks made substantial ground (at a pretty good pace too) to come up just short of the try line herself when Em and a few others crowded over her. Just as she was going to ground, the Hackney lock managed to get the ball out to her support runner who ran onto the ball with a crash and cleared the try line.

Again we fumbled the ball in restart, failing to gather it in and giving Hackney an opportunity to snipe in our half, which they did a few minutes later as one of their backs spotted an overlap in our defense and snuck round to the right of the pitch and over the try line. Their captain converted while Andy gave us some stern words to mull over as the clock ticked down.

With about 7 minutes left in the game and following a ferocious off-the-ball tackle on Jen, Hackney subbed off one of their second rowers, potentially as precautionary move as I don’t think she took too kindly to the fact that Em - the smallest player on the field - had lifted her and put her on her arse in probably the best tackle I’ve seen this season – their player seemed to be running a little hot. Momentum shifted immediately in the scrums, and Barnes had the ascendency which seemed to catch both teams a little by surprise at first. But after packing down a few times and coming away with the ball much easier than we had all game, the Barnes forwards started to back themselves and drove harder and harder in each scrum – and there were plenty of them.

Despite having a blood injury, newbie Rachel was epic in the scrums, and with Anna making a great job of stealing the ball out from Hackney’s raking feet, we managed to secure the ball within Hackney’s 22m again. Ruth, making her second appearance at 8, spotted an opportunity to pick-and-go with the stolen ball off the back of the scrum and powered through two Hackney bodies to slam down over the whitewash near the posts with the ball tucked tight to her chest. This brought the tally in the ‘I scored my first ever try today’ category to two along with Elle’s earlier 5 points. This time our captain secured the conversion despite the pressure on her shoulders and the wind whipping around her.

With just under three minutes to go, Hackney Ladies captain restarted with a long kick into our half, which popped up neatly into Em’s hands. The Hackney defensive line hadn’t had a chance to form yet, and Em kicked on the afterburners to speed around the disorganised backs as she charged up the right hand side of the pitch. Despite Hackney’s nippy flyhalf and fullback pushing to get round to cover the try line, Em managed to dart past them and dot down under the posts, setting up the most crucial conversion we’ve had as a team this season.

Barnes nerves were in bits as we trotted back to our half while the seconds ticked down and Leslie urged us to keep calm from the side line, reminding us that there might still be time on the clock and we need to stay composed if we have to defend. Both teams looked on as Lorraine set up the kick, with Hackney tensed and ready to charge up on the kicker from the try line and Barnes twitchy and hopeful from behind the halfway line. Lorraine took a look up at the posts, stepped in and booted the ball cleanly and evenly between the uprights before turning to the ref who blew his whistle to signal the end of the game. Hackney looked in tatters and despite our celebrations, we truly felt for them because we knew we hadn’t played our best and as Andy put it, we had virtually ‘committed daylight robbery’ to come away with the win.

Highlights of the game

Millwall at home this coming Sunday and it looks like we’ll have some fantastic numbers, with a lot of our new recruits putting their hands up and looking to get stuck in. This is a league game and we’re still in the hunt for top spot on the table so lets be there early and ready to put in a big performance.