Another weekend win for Barnes Women's 1st XV

On Sunday 13th November Barnes women’s 1st team travelled to Chesham, hoping for the second win in a row to keep us creeping up the league table.

The weather felt more like July, and despite the disappointment of the World Cup final the day before we were in good spirits. We started the game well, with an immediate turnover by Amanda giving us possession in Chesham 22. A few hard carries by our forwards and then hands out from the back line put fullback Lily in space, and she handed off a couple of defenders to score. Sophie converted, 7-0 to Barnes.

Chesham had their most dangerous period of play after this, keeping us pinned in our 22. A few errors by Barnes handed them possession, and they capitalised quickly. 7-5.

The rest of the first half saw some truly clinical play by us. We fixed our errors, stuck to our game plan and it was just too much for Chesham. A maul on their try line led to fast play all the way across the pitch. We then switched back, and hands through pretty much the entire team ended with Amanda running a hard line to score under the posts. 12-5.

Our forwards ran hard in the middle of the pitch, drawing the defence and making space for our back line, which proved too much for Chesham to stop. A masterclass in 2 on 1 play by Eleanor put Lily through twice more in the first half. Both converted by Sophie, and we went into half time 26-5 up.

The second half was more of the same. Defence across the whole team was outstanding, and Chesham didn’t look likely to score at any point. We managed to start the half with 14 players and score almost immediately, with Lily running through a gap once again to put us 33-5 up. The team worked together seamlessly, with forwards and backs combining. Morv saw a gap on the opposition tryline to score under the posts. 40-5.

In the final play of the game Eleanor once again drew the defence to put Lily through for her 5th try of the day. The game ended with another conversion by Sophie. Final score 47-5.

It was a genuine whole team effort this week, with everyone deserving of a player of the match award. Special shout out to Joss who played her debut 1st team game, and was outstanding.

Forward of the match this week went to Amanda, who made some really key turnovers.

Back of the match was Eleanor, for creating multiple scoring opportunities through excellent play.

This weeks player player was Lily. She had some incredible runs and outclassed the opposition back line at every turn, scoring 5 trys in the process.

Next Sunday our 1s play a rearranged fixture against Teddington, and the 2s play Ruislip. Both games are at home, come to barnes and cheer us on.