RUGBY UNION: A COMMANDING performance saw Old Leamingtonian Ladies score no fewer than 15 tries as they secured a huge 98-0 win at the birthplace of the sport away at Rugby Lionesses.
High winds and unfamiliar territory did not unnerve the OLs ladies as they signalled their intent from the off by turning the ball over from kick off and Kyra Gleeson was able to roll over the try line.
A similar attack formation from OLs using the pack to smash lionesses defence allowed Dee Hardwick to power over the try line for the second try of the match.
Utilising the backs to take advantage of the overlaps, wing Tash Barnes scored her first try of the season after an impressive run up the wing.
Excellent hooking from match captain Carrie Steadman and sheer pack power from the forwards turned over a lioness scrum, allowing the backs to quick hands it out to Laura Smith on the wing who proceeded to secure a fourth try.
Old Leams backs continued to show their skills, with an explosive run from centre Shannon breaking through lionesses’ defensive line to bring in another try.
A lioness kick off was received by flanker Hannah Trenholm who broke the line with a powerful run eventually offloading to Hardwick and then passed to newcomer Emily Worrall who found the gap and continued over the try line.
Trenholm brought in the final try of the first half in the last seconds of play bringing the score up to 43-0.
Shannon powered through to score her second try of the match under the posts followed by a successful conversion executed by scrum half Ffion Davies as the visitors picked up where they left off after the break.
Fly half Jamielee McCreadie ran the length of the pitch to score under the posts with Ffion delivering another successful conversion Hardwick exploited a gap in the lionesses’ defence to elegantly swan dive over the try line.
Barnes on the wing rocketed through for her second try of the match before second row Lorna Holloway made an amazing breakthrough, running from OLs 22 into the lionesses 22, allowing OLs to again dominate lionesses half of the pitch. With a few more phases of play the ball once again found its way to Shannon who scored her third try of the match.
Utility player Liz Kennedy delivered OLs’ 13th try which was soon followed by an outstanding performance of quick hands and smooth offloads where major gaps were created which is all centre Philippa Rawbone needed to sneak through and score a try under the posts.
A few minutes left of the game and Barnes scored her third try of the match bringing the overall score to 98-0.
