A 2 point conversion was the sole difference between the teams as ‘Societe Generale Valley Black Ladies and HK Cricket Club Babes shared 8 tries in a great game at Aberdeen on Saturday. It was a spirited, full-throttle affair from the start, with HKCC pinning Valley in their own half early on and then whipping the ball out wide for an early try from WaWa. Valley punched back soon after with a great breakaway run.
Within five minutes HKCC had restored their advantage, some aggressive running and a well-timed penalty from scrum half Lynda creating the space for Sarah to fall over the line for her debut try (the two players rewarded for this effort with joint player-of-the-game billing). But Valley were on the prowl straight from the kick off, bursting through the line for a try under the posts, duly converted.
Valley was never able to establish a proper attacking platform though, with every lineout stolen away by HKCC jumper Winnie and the HKCC dominance also apparent in the scrum, with Rhonda making a number of powerful runs from number 8. However, HKCC’s backline struggled a little defensively throughout the game, and bunching around the breakdown created a gap in the line which Valley soon exploited, leading to their third try from scrum-half and Valley player of the game, Shanshan. And early in the second half, the lead was extended slightly with another breakaway try.
But the HKCC backs looked dangerous and creative with ball in hand, well-executed runs and excellent handling skills reaping dividends in the second half and securing a try for Tinley at 13 and the excellent Wuki at fullback (stepping in at very short notice whilst on Christmas vacation and now headed back to the snowy East Coast US). This latter try was converted by fly-half Harriet, setting the game up for a tense conclusion, as Valley sought desperately and successfully to win back possession, putting the ball out of play and settling the game at 24 points to Valley, 22 to the Babes.
Despite the loss, Babes’ Coach Darren Cartlidge was proud of the performance, noting, “This is a phase of rebuilding for the team, and the four well-worked tries indicate good progress. We have new players coming on board, including Ellie Storey who made her debut today, and much to look forward to as we head towards the business-end of the season”.