With very little pre-season gameplay under their belts, several players unavailable and new faces drafted into the team, NDW may have felt uncertain as to the outcome of their opening league fixture against Strabane. However, their pre-match preparations were given a welcome boost by way of the much-improved clubhouse and changing facilities at Upritchard Park. Many of the upgrades were specifically implemented to benefit youth and women’s rugby and provide both a suitable, and welcoming environment.

Strabane got the game underway, playing with a strong wind at their backs. The opening exchanges were tentative, as both sides weighed up their opposite numbers. However, it wasn’t long before NDW made a telling break from deep inside their own half. Good passing got the ball to Sam Robins on the left-hand touchline, who then used her impressive pace to run clear of the Strabane defence and score her debut try in the corner. The difficult conversion into the wind was missed, but NDW had got on the scoreboard by 5-0.

Although Strabane enjoyed some good spells of possession, it was NDW who looked the more dangerous when on the attack. However, when a NDW pass went loose and was then kicked ahead by Strabane, the Tyrone girls showed good footballing skills as they continued to kick the ball forwards, and then finished off the move with a successful chase to touch down under the NDW posts. The simple conversion was added to put the visitors into a 5-7 lead after 18 minutes of play.

This proved to be as good as it got for Strabane, as NDW’s superior running and passing saw full-back Hannah Anderson complete a flowing move to score and put her side back into the lead by 10-7. As the first half drew to a close, a sustained period of pressure by Strabane looked certain to produce a try, but determined defending by NDW saw them hold their line and clear the danger as the referee blew for half time.
With the benefit of the wind now at their backs, NDW started the second half with renewed vigour and within the opening couple of minutes, Angel Shaw produced a powerful run through several Strabane defenders before running clear to score under the posts, giving kicker Eimear Campbell a simple conversion to take the score to 17-7.

NDW were now playing with confidence and, shortly afterwards, a clever lineout move saw Shaw collect the ball and charge over from 5 metres to score NDW’s bonus point try and stretch the lead to 22-7.

Both sides displayed great determination and commitment in their tackling, so much so that the game had several stoppages due to player injuries. This hampered either side building any kind of momentum, but NDW seemed better able to produce more incisive attacks when the opportunity arose. This was evident when Georgie Montgomery, supported by Maddy Eadie, powered through several tackles to take her run to within a metre of the Strabane goal line. Although stopped just short of the line, Miya Van Der Schyff was on hand to pick up the ball and crash over for the try. Another successful conversion by Campbell brought the score now to 29-7. As the Strabane players struggled with tiredness and injury, NDW sealed the victory a few minutes later with a penalty try after a try-scoring opportunity by Sophie Dennison was denied by a Strabane high tackle. With the score now 36-7, and the injury count continuing to rise, the game was brought to an agreed close with NDW as the worthy victors.

This was an encouraging start for NDW and, with the prospect of more players becoming available in the future, the outlook looks promising for the season ahead. Congratulations to Sophie Dennison and Heidi Lupton who came off the bench to play their first ever game of competitive rugby, and also Shannon Fisher who made her first start for NDW.