Ladies turn over Supermarines at home

It was quite the turnaround from the comfortable win Supermarines recorded over Antlers earlier this season and a testament to the hard work the girls have put is that they have won their last four league games in a row.

They now sit fourth but are reliant on results below them to keep them there, with Plymouth having two games in hand and Antlers with just one left over league champions Trojans.

The Supermarines game, played on a muddy turf in Bushy Park, was always destined to be a titanic effort up front and it proved to be. The Swindon based team have a well organised and strong pack and if Teddington were going to win they were going to have to match that power, which had been their key focus at training all week.

Playing with a strong breeze in the first half, Antlers played their tactics very well, with Laura Parry’s boot putting Supermarines under huge pressure back in their 22 in the opening 20 minutes. A solid scrum saw Antlers awarded a penalty about 10 metres out and Jane Wescott caught the visitors unawares and tapped quickly to dive over for the first try. Parry converted and Antlers continued to build on their good lead with a few more kicks into the swirling wind and excellent carrying from Laura Templeman, Rebekah Salmon and Heather Smith giving the home side front foot ball.

Antlers worked their way into the 22 again and this time Aimee Miller’s quick tap had Supermarines scrambling before Wescott again latched onto the ball and dived over for a 12 -0 lead. The visiting team got back into the match and some strong carrying from their lively number 8 and their pick and go style had Antlers fringe defence under pressure. They thought they had scored just before halftime but the ball was grounded on the 5 metre line and Antlers did enough to hold onto the two try lead at the break.

It was a good job the Antlers scrum was growing in confidence – and credit is due to Katie Brown and Toni Kershaw alongside Templeman for their efforts throughout the game – because the second half was a stop start affair with the huge amount of set pieces slowing the game down.

But Antlers had got a handle on the surging play of Supermarines around the fringes and defended heroically for a ten minute period back on their own try line with the away team choosing scrum after scrum from penalty and free kick awards. Emma Davis, Parry and Brown put in some huge tackles to drive Supermarines back – putting their flyhalf under particular pressure - while Zoe Feenan and Emma Kite played important roles in slowing down the heavier ball carriers lining up to hit short lines from every breakdown.

The huge pressure did tell though and Heather Smith was awarded her first ever yellow card after multiple team offences and with Antlers forced to throw a back into the scrum, the Supermarines fullback found some space to power her way over. With 15 minutes left and Supermarines nailing the conversion Antlers were in for a tough final passage but they did brilliantly to force play deep in their opponents half and indeed Izzy Jorris and Laura Mackay had some pacey runs out wide to keep Supermarines going backwards while Anne Marie Herward was solid as ever in the middle. Salmon too really took her ball carrying to another level and Supermarines struggled to contain some of her barnstorming runs.

Antlers chose to slow the game down with Smith back on the pitch, kicking for touch and keeping it tight and when the final play came, fittingly they secured the ball from an excellent scrum and Parry booted the ball of the pitch.

Coach Ali Donnelly said: “We knew we had to front up if we had any chance of beating Supermarines and that’s exactly what the girls did. The forward effort was superb and while it was a quieter day for the backs, I thought they played their part in our game plan and it was a strong team effort. The difference between winning and losing narrowly in this league is really down to fine margins, but there is a real belief in this team now and it’s fantastic to be ending the league strongly”

“Our final game couldn’t be tougher – against Trojans, who inflicted one of our heaviest ever defeats on us in the first game of the season, but I cannot think of a better test to measure our progress to end the season off so we’re all really looking forward to it.”

Do you want to join Teddington? We have two senior ladies teams and cater for all abilities from brand newcomers to more experienced players. Contact: sarah.edwards@makeitclear.co.uk