U15s at Harlow - Undaunted

EASTERN COUNTIES SQUAD from; Emily Davis, Louise Bugg, Kelsey Davis, Katie Myers, Rose Corbyn-Smith, Claire Johnstone, Rachael Burroughs, Katie Parke, Natalie Leggett, Maya Whitmore-Tennant, Sophie Owens, Alice Graham, Shelby Davis, Chloe Bissell, Ellie Halls, Chloe Baker.

In their first game, on a cold, windy day, Eastern Counties played a very strong Essex team, and whilst obviously outgunned, led by Claire Johnston who was captain for the day, worked very hard defensively but never really got on the front foot and eventually lost 15-0.

The second game against Herts was a slightly different affair, with possession being shared more evenly, E.C. still struggled to mount many meaningful attacks and when opportunities did come their way some of their inexperience showed. The squad was depleted even more when debutant Natalie Leggett, who had caught the eye at centre, was forced to withdraw with a suspected broken nose.
The game was eventually lost 30-0.

After a very quick turnaround E.C. then played Middlesex, a team they had lost 47-10 to a fortnight ago, and this showed when by half-time, due to some woeful tackling they found themselves 17-0 down.
During half-time Win (coach) made some changes and gave the girls a stiff talking to, and this seemed to work as the pack started working really well, repeatedly driving Middlesex off their own ball, setting up quality ball for the backs to exploit, the backs in turn found spaces they could not find earlier in the day and this resulted in 2 very good tries by Claire Johnston and Katie Parke, Katie converting her own try for a very respectable, if slightly unfortunate 17-12 loss.

By now E.C. were starting to tire quite badly, having played 3 hard matches in a very short time and this showed in game 3 against Oxfordshire.
Although the scrum was still working well the girls struggled in the loose, probably due to fatigue, and only some massive tackling by Emily and Kelsey Davis, and some really good defensive work in the backs, stopped Oxfordshire scoring in the first half, but something had to give, and early in the second half, from one of E.C’s best attacks Oxfordshire intercepted to score under the posts.
Win somehow managed to raise the girls spirits again, and the rest of the second half was evenly contested, Oxfordshire scoring on the final whistle to win 10-0.

With daylight and energy levels fading fast E.C. played Leicestershire in the last game of the day and soon found themselves 15-0 down, but rallied once again at the end of the first half to put Claire in for her second try of the day, but once again conceded on the stroke of full-time to lose 20-5.

Congratulations go to all the girls for what was a massive effort and thanks to Harlow RUFC for being excellent hosts.