Home win for SMOBL

SMOBL played hosts to Devizes on Sunday and were keen to keep momentum going following a good win against a strong Chipping Sodbury side the week before and securing top spot. As has been the case on a number of occasions this season, waterlogged pitches at their home ground lead to North Somerset side Nailsea & Backwell kindly lending their club to the ladies to enable to game to go ahead.

The away side won the toss and chose to play up the hill for the first half, this suited Mary’s game plan and it wasn’t long until they were on the attack. Strong forward running enabled Lisa Larsen to snipe in off her wing to take control at the back of a rolling maul and going over for her first try of 2016. SMOBL quickly added to the scoreboard when a well worked penalty move from the forwards enabled Mary’s experienced and ever reliable fly half, Lucy Bowering, to put in centre Jo Smith with a beautiful floating pass which Smith duly converted. The game continued with SMOBL retaining ball and constantly on attack with strong running from centre Laura Rugman and flanker Victoria Shakespeare. Mary’s scrum continued to dominate with Abigail Meredith, Lisa Yip, Francesca Golton being formidable in the front row.

Mary’s third try came from a strong run by Smith who broke through the Devizes defence only to be tackled short of the line, however a quick offload from the floor to flanker/scrumhalf/vice captain (who knows) Kyara Martin lead to the vice touching down in the corner. SMOBL didn’t have to wait long for their next try, when similar to the previous, Smith broke through the defensive line and offloaded the ball from the tackle to Mary’s captain and number 8 Kirsty Fido who ran in SMOBL’s forth try of the game, which was converted from far out by Smith once again. The last try of the half came from Ellie Clarke, who showed no signs of jet lag having landed back on UK soil only a few hours before, to cross over the line for her first SMOBL try following another well worked move from the Mary’s forwards, again converted by Smith.

The second half started much slower than the first, the heavy mud under foot and going uphill clearly taking its toll however, this didn’t deter hooker Yip making good ground for the green and blacks with strong pick and goes. The only try of the second half came following turnover ball allowing the dangerous SMOBL backline to quickly take advantage resulting in Smith running in her second try of the match which she converted well.

With a considerable amount of time left on the clock the forwards worked effortless around the pitch, with flanker Sarah Wray and prop Golton consistently tidying up scrappy play and stray balls allowing Mary’s to retain possession. SMOBL’s lineout worked expertly both in defence and in attack when continual line steals by second row jumper Harriet Quick meant Devizes had to change tactics, firing longer balls over the top which never got far with second row Sophie McKenzie defending the line well. Mary’s nearly added to their points when Rugman and Shakespeare continued with their hard running only to be tackled short by a number of Devizes jerseys each time. Fullback Johanna Charlotte worked well with her wingers to tidy up any balls kicked over the top and a great team performance resulted in a clean sheet for the ladies side.

Mary’s strength continues to grow, with new faces joining and good numbers at training. Short on backs due to injuries and sickness, flankers Kyara Martin and Ellie Clarke covered the scrum half and wing positions respectively and took to both roles well, pleasing coach Barry Stone. Most notable from the weekend’s performance was the strong defence and the great depth of talent allowing backs and forwards to easily cover each other’s roles.

SMOBL now travel to Westbury on Sunday to face the ever improving Westbury who are also strong league contenders after taking over second spot on the weekend. Another top of the table clash will prove to be a great game to play and watch.

Player of the match: Victoria Shakespeare
Coaches player: Ellie Clarke