Women’s National Championships East 1 Woodbridge Amazons 47 Lakenham Hewett 5 The Amazons got their season off to a flying start at Hatchley Barn on Sunday with a nine try rout of Norfolk side Lakenham Hewitt, writes Ian Girling.
Despite losing some influential players in the offseason, the balance of the Woodbridge side looked excellent in this match. Solid at the set piece, the pack looks up to scratch and skipper Claire Brickley must be thrilled to have some absolute flyers around her in this season’s back division.
From the outset it was all Woodbridge, and after just minutes had passed, the referee allowed advantage to be played after a Lakenham knock-on, resulting in centre Beth Clapson scoring out wide.
The Amazons gained possession after the restart and worked the ball wide again. A crossing penalty halted that attack, but when the Lakenham kicker missed touch it was returned with vigour until Clapson straightened to grab her brace.
From a scrum it got worse for the visitors, as they tried to clear the ball but the kick was fielded by Kirsty Brierley, who tore into the heart of the defence.
Again the ball was worked wide, Robyn Gordon, then scrum half Rheann Claydon both made good ground, before an inside pass had Brickley running a nice line for try number three.
Then Kat Sidoli, Roisin and Toni Bell made inroads, before Alex Saunders touched down for the fourth try of the half.
There was still time for Roisin to grab try number five and a first conversion from Stacy Robinson padded the score line to 27-0 at the break.
In the second half the free flowing attacks became even more surgical as centre Anna Dewberry registered a score to make it 32, before Gordon capped a superb break from firstly Roisin, then Jess Delaney to make it 37-0.
Gordon, a former Rosslyn Park winger who joined this year, is a real speedster and grabbed her second score when Brickley sprinted blind from a scrum on halfway.
A deft pass out to the Irish flyer saw her outpace the cover easily to advance the score again. Clapson rounded out the hosts’ scoring when she registered her first hat-trick with another excellent effort.
Ill discipline marred the final few minutes, and the Norfolk side even managed a consolation try from Jess Underwood.
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