Bletchley do the double over Kenilworth

Bletchley opened the match and immediately demonstrated they meant business with a try between the posts, just five minutes in, from Caroline Collie. The extras were added by Rachael Taylor to fire Bletchley 7-0 in front.

Kenilworth restarted with a low kick, taken by Amie Daniels. A penalty from Kenilworth helped progress back into their territory, with a kick deep into Kenilworth’s half. Bletchley secured the line out, passed along the line to Collie who ran it up to the 5m line. Kenilworth gained possession briefly, ripping the ball from the ruck. They kicked it away, but it was gathered up by Jodie Dimmock. Bletchley regained the lost ground, then another high tackle gave them the advantage. A quick tap was passed to Kass Carry, who drove it forward. Bletchley recycled the ball well till it found Collie again, who took her second try, this time in the corner for 12-0 just ten minutes into the game.

Four minutes later, Kenilworth replied with a try of their own, to give them their first points. However, five minutes on and Collie took her third, after Betty Susova set things up just ten metres out for 17-7.

Kenilworth continued to fight, and after a hard ten minutes from both teams ran in another try fot 17-12. It was beginning to look as though whoever could get near the line would get points.

It was Bletchley’s turn again. They knocked on from the restart, giving Kenilworth a scrum. They used this to drive play into Bletchley’s half, then gave a penalty, enabling Bletchley to move play deep. They won their lineout, passed out to Susova who drove it forward up to the 22. The ball passed out through the hands to Toni Ranger who ran it in, but lost control just as she was going to put it down. Kenilworth had the scrum, 5 m out, but knocked on, giving Bletchley the honours. Susova picked it up from the back of the scrum and ran in the try. The kick just dropped short, opening Bletchley’s gap to 22-12

In the last play of the half, Bletchley opened the gap further. Despite several unused mauls, Bletchley managed to work play up to their hosts 22. Emma Lucey turned over a Kenilworth scrum on the halfway line, ran it up, then set up the ruck. Bletchley recycled till the ball found Carry who drove it further forward. The ball then passed out to Taylor who ran it up. A loose ball from a ruck was gathered up by Lucey who put it down over the line for 27-12.

Kenilworth opened the second half. They kicked deep and forced a knock on from Bletchley, taking a scrum. They passed out, then dropped the ball, giving Bletchley the chance to kick into their host’s ground. A knock on gave the honours back to Kenilworth, who passed the ball back, then kicked it straight out. Bletchley won the line out, then gave a penalty. Kenilworth chose to kick for touch, missed, with Bletchley taking the catch, but stepping out as they did so. Kenilworth took the line out, then set up a maul, dropped then picked up and drove through to set up a ruck just outside Bletchley’s 22. They passed out, then kicked on. The ball went into touch, giving Bletchley a line out in their 22. They passed back and kicked up the pitch, to give Kenilworth a line out, just outside the 22. Bletchley knocked on, so Kenilworth now had a scrum, still deep in Bletchley’s territory. a knock on from Kenilworth as they moved the ball away gave the honours back to Bletchley. They passed out from the back, made a run then passed on to find Collie, who make a break from the middle of Bletchley’s ground to take her fourth try, opening the gap to 32-12.

Ten minutes later, Kenilworth began to claw back the gap; after some handling errors and a penalty, they gathered themselves and forced a return penalty from their visitors. They kicked to touch, then held their line out and set up a rolling maul. After a strong push they peeled off the back, then drove forward again. They kept up the pressure on Bletchley’s line, recycling the ball with persistence. Eventually this pressure paid off, moving Kenilworth to 32-17.

Bletchley weren’t going to take this lying down; they took advantage of a knock on followed by a penalty at the restart and kicked up the field. They secured the line out, then drove hard up the pitch. The got the ball over the line, but Kenilworth managed to hold it up, giving Bletchley another scrum to win to continue with their pressure. 5m out and Kenilworth took possession at the scrum, further helped by a penalty by Bletchley. They chose a quick tap and run, setting up a ruck just in the 22. They passed back and kicked, only to have Dimmock take the ball and run straight back into Kenilworth’s 22. Bletchley drove forward, then took a quick tap from a penalty form their hosts, continuing to push and exert the pressure. The ball found Collie again, who finished off the work for 37-17.

Two minutes later, under pressure on their line, Bletchley gave a penalty which the referee deemed to be worth a penalty try to Kenilworth.

However, Bletchley took this on the chin and came straight back at their hosts. Kenilworth picked the ball up from the restart, ran across the pitch, set up a ruck, passed back, then kicked straight out. They moved back to the kick for Bletchley to take the throw, which wasn’t straight. Kenilworth chose the scrum in the middle of their ground. They held this, then knocked on. Susova picked form the back of Bletchley’s scrum and passed the ball out. A tap from Taylor was taken by Kenilworth who kicked to touch. Kenilworth knocked on this time, giving Bletchley the scrum, just outside their host’s 22. They held this, passed through the hands to Collie to the final points of the game. Taylor made the posts to give a final score of 44-24.

The Ladies now take a break for the festive season and return to the pitch on January 6 when they play their return match with Buckingham, who currently sit just ahead of them in the league.