RAF v Royal Navy RAF Cranwell 18th September 2009

In only their first full outing of the season RNRL Ladies the ‘Wrenegades’ scored an impressive win over their RAF counterparts in the opening match of the days fixtures. Coach’s Darren West and Steve Smallbone were delighted to have over twenty players to select the starting seventeen from with those not in the squad being used to great effect to support those on the pitch.

The RAF having already played one full fixture against the Army were on the scoreboard before the RN had settled with a try out wide seeing the first points of the day. RN Ladies got themselves sorted out quickly however and played some terrific Rugby led by Zoe Waring the Wrenegades showed from the start they were prepared to give the ball plenty of width. A couple of foiled attacks gave the RAF plenty to think about but they resisted well, after ten minutes however the ball was moved well across the field and winger Sam Alderson beat the RAF defence to go over in the corner to bring the scores level. The stiff breeze that blew all day made kicking difficult and Alderson was unable to convert her own try so the scores remained tied. Barely three minutes later another flowing Wrenegades move across field stretched the RAF Defence and RN 2nd Row Sophie Roseman cut back inside to crash through the defence to put the RN in the lead for the first time in the match. As the game moved towards half time RAF ladies enjoyed probably their best period of the match regaining the lead with a brace of try’s one of which was converted putting them 14-8 ahead at the break. The first half proved to be only a taster for the thrilling, eventful and highly entertaining second half. Piling on the pressure from the word go RN Ladies continued to spin the ball out wide and within ten minutes of the restart they were rewarded, a try for Emma Swinton closing the gap on the RAF to just two pints. Influential second row Fiesha Green found her way to the lane to regain the lead for the Senior service and Sam Alderson finally beat the wind to land the conversion so the RN were ahead by four. The next passage of play was a bit scrappy as the teams began to tire but the home side made the best of it scoring a try to once again bring the sides level, which in itself would have been a fair result for the effort both teams put in. The Wrenegades were in no mood to settle for the draw and regained the momentum pushing the RAF back into their own half. A brilliant break from the halfway line saw the ball pushed out to Green and she immediately took route one for the line after beating two players she appeared to be clear however she was pulled back by the RAF defence with the line at her mercy. After much deliberation with his touch judge the Referee adjudged that Green had been pulled back by her hair and dismissed the RAF player from the game. Despite there perhaps being a case for the award of a penalty try only a standard penalty was awarded. So with only five minutes left the Wrenegades began to make the numerical difference count, after much hard approach work RN Prop Sara Simms broke the defence to crash over for he try to cap a fantastic al round personal performance, unfortunately for her in the act of crossing the line she received a serious facial injury making her a doubt for the Army match but her contribution to this match was massive. There was no way back for the RAF after the Simms try and so after a fantastic game the RN Ladies ran out winners 18-22.

The whole of the RNRL ladies set up deserve full credit for the victory and the seventeen on the pitch well led by skipper Zoe Waring highlighting how far the sport has progressed in only the Wrenegades second year. For the record RAF Stalwart Vickki Dillon Davies received the ‘Man Of The Match’ however unofficially most agreed that, not just for the match winning try, but for her all round performance throughout the game Sara Simms was the Player Of The Match.

The Wrenegades:- Leanne Green, Emma Swinton, Sam Alderson, Ayeshea Amihere, Chelsea Stokes, Lou Clarke, Zoe Waring (C), Gail Hodgkinson, Lauren Morton, Sara Simms Sophie Roseman, Fiesha Green, Emily Atkins, Carla Pashby, Tegwyn Ledbetter, Marie Hallam, Sammi Collins

Scorers; - T – Alderson, Roseman, Swinton, Green, Simms
G – Alderson (Conv)