| Players and their coaches from Reading played Bucks Jesters, a mixture of players from Aylesbury and Milton Keynes, after playing a cluster league match watched by England star Maggie Alphonsi who is the newly appointed RFUW Club Coach Officer for London and Thames Valley |
| A wet and windy morning gave way to a clear afternoon ideal for a game with the Bucks Jesters at Reading. Injury and illness had conspired against The Jesters who only had 12 players so we re-adjusted our squad to match. Both teams took a little time to settle down to the slightly different set up but Reading ran in the first try courtesy of Hilbourne after 15mins. The try was unconverted but it settled the side and Millar soon drove over and scored under the posts and this time the conversion (Hilbourne) was assured. Late in the first half a well placed Jesters kick into space unleashed their blisteringly fast winger (We found out she came 3rd in an England 100m sprint competition!) who as able to chase down the ball and score (unconverted). |
| So 12-5 at half time and now with the wind behind us we were able to score two more tries as the backs gained in confidence. Fidler at full back linked up well with Clough on the wing to smuggle the ball from her tackled team mate and dive over. Then Allen cut through their backs after a period of sustained pressure and scored close enough to the posts to make the conversion possible. Jesters countered with a clever kick from there hooker that held up in the wind and allowed their team to get the super fast winger away in 5m of space, which is all she needed, to score a well deserved second try. In the closing minutes Field managed to break over the line from loose play for the final score of the day to make it 29-10 to Reading. |
| Berkshire play Bucks on 18th Nov at Aylesbury and there then follows a month of careful preparation with more league and county games before the girls take on a visiting U18 side from Canada on Jan 2nd at Reading KO 1pm. Yes, Canada! This will be a fantastic experience for the girls and a great way to start 2008 and to showcase girls rugby at a local club. |
| Tries: Hilbourne 1, Millar 1, Fidler 1, Allen 1, Field 1
Conversions: Hilbourne 2
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