Tough opener for North Down Ladies

Playing in their first home fixture (at Hamilton Park), the North Down Ladies came out on the losing side after a hard fought game against the more established Randalstown Ladies.

In fact this was probably the first game of rugby most of these girls had played. Given the gap in experience between the two sides, there were many creditable performances by the North Down Ladies which, had they enjoyed a better rub of the green, might have led to several scores.

Every player can take heart from knowing that they put in a good shift. The line out work from Danny Perry, Jordan Winters and Victoria Presho ensured that North Down secured all their own ball and were able to disrupt the Randalstown throw. This was coupled with some terrific defensive work from the whole team, with huge tackles going in from Colleen Hutchinson in the centre, Toni Stewart at full back and Ellen Glynn in the second row.

When in possession and on the attack, North Down produced a number of first half penetrations deep into the opposition territory from powerful runs by Sam Smallwood and Emma Coey at 10 and 12. Meanwhile, scrum half Shel Laffin showed her experience with a number of sniping sorties down the blind side of the scrum.

In the second half, North Down’s confidence increased and although they produced some good attacks, they were unfortunate not to score. A surging run from Colleen Hutchinson powered her way through 4 tackles before being brought down, bringing play from deep inside the North Down 22 to the half way line, and when the visitors were in possession, wingers Angie Eadie and Bex McBratney dealt well with the powerful runs from Randalstown's second row forward who proved to be somewhat difficult to bring to a stop.

The final 20 minutes saw the North Down side growing in confidence with Victoria Presho cutting through the defence only to be brought down by a last ditch tackle. In the final minutes of the game North Down again clawed their way deep into Randalstown territory following a series of quick penalties, but the resolution of the opposition defence held firm, and only just prevented them getting on the score board.

The entire North Down team put their bodies on the line time and time again and certainly prevented the more experienced Randalstown side from running away with the game. They were also unlucky to score themselves on several occasions with just the last pass going askew or the ball being turned over in the ruck by the more experience Randalstown forwards.

This may have been a hard experience for many of the players, but one from which they can hopefully learn and develop. From the coaches point of view, they have plenty of positives to take from this game and, over the next few weeks, they will be building on these as they gear up for the next match, away to Malone 2nds on Sunday 11th November.