The Thornwood girls arrived at Hitchin for the 2pm KO, but were faced with a 30 minute delay whilst a player from a previous game was treated for a serious neck injury .

Once the game started though, Epping proved their focus was still strong, chasing the kick and pressuring the defence.
Hitchin were trying their best to punch holes, but were met with tackle after tackle from the disciplined line defence
Rosie T and Becks in the centre harried and chased, Chris Rodriquez jackalled and Niamh, Larry and Millie brought down any stray runners on the edges.

Eventually Hitchin coughed the ball up and 10 minutes in Original Hurley went over from 10m after a slick lineout move.
The kick proved too far out for Chris to convert so the score stayed at 0-5

From the restart the ball was gathered and recycled.
Donna spun out a fizzing pass to Ella who decided to step the defence and go for the line herself.
Racing on a wide arc, she skirted 2 flailing defenders and went over to dot down under the posts.
Chris duly converted and the score was 0-12 with 13 minutes gone.

Five minutes later, after more periods of hearty defence, the Forwards took possession and moved the ball up the pitch.
Sha-Kiera punched through the line, Kerrie and Alexa supported and carried hard and presented well so that scrum-half Donna had no problem distributing
Chris was never far away from the action and took a slick pass and raced away from the pack again to score her own try.
Millie converted easily and the score was 0-19

The referee then seemed to take a dim view of pretty much every tackle, ruck, carry and kick that Epping made and awarded penalty after penalty to Hitchin over the next 10 minutes,
Epping didn’t let it get to them though and kept their discipline.
Eventually Hitchin coughed up the ball again and Millie took advantage, scooping up the ball and sprinting away to score and then convert her own try
0-26

10 minutes later, Ella decided to have another go around the flank with the same outcome.
Try scored, but too far out for the conversion,
So the score remained at 0-31.

With that the Ref blew for Half time and the team gathered for refreshments.

As soon as the whistle went for the start of the 2nd half, Ella showed that there was a ruthlessness to this team now, by picking up the ball in her own half and shrugging off 2, then 3 tackles on the right wing, before outsprinting the Hitchin Full-back to score directly under the posts.
Conversion completed by Chris
Score 0-38

Rosie T had to come off with a hand injury and was lovingly tended to on the touchline by a concerned looking Nicky T who was heard asking “if you can’t use that hand, we’re getting takeaway right??”
Rosie was replaced by Emma in the centre and Becks moved to Inside centre.

Although the ref gave Hitchin many, many chances to progress with some very odd decisions, Epping kept rebuffing them and just wouldn’t let them over the line, no matter how close they came.

It was now becoming a routine and Millie went over next with a carbon copy of the first, which was duly converted
0-45

Yet more phases followed, the ball was passed to Original Hurley, who had been providing offloads all game, but this time she decided to give it a go herself from 30m out
Bouncing the first tackler, she fended off the 2nd and went for the line.
With desperate defenders hanging off her, she pumped her legs again and again and forced her way over the line to score under the posts.
Cue raucous screaming and hugging.
Chris converted yet again and the score was up to 0-52

Shortly after, Hurley took a boot to the head whilst she was on the floor and discussed the situation briefly with the ref, before deciding it was time for someone else to take over from her.
With a flick of her hair and blinking those famous lashes she departed to hearty applause.

Millie obviously thought it was unfair to let Ella have the only hat-trick on the day and promptly went over for her 3rd, which she then converted
0-59

Rosie Wheelhouse was now on the pitch and smashing everything in her sights, much to the annoyance of the opposition

With the crowd checking their watches and eagerly eyeing up the bar, the Thornwood Girls went for one more push and barged their way back up the pitch.
Excellent rucking and support running moved the girls within 20m, and one final sublime short pass to Sha-Kiera saw her dive over the line to score the final try of the day
Final score 0-64

Whilst the score is massive, this result was by no means a walkover.
Hitchin had some good players, but they were stopped by disciplined, aggressive defence.

Quick reactions led to quick ball and Hitchin just couldn’t live with the ferocity of the Epping Forwards and the pace shown by the Epping Backs

Smart captaincy by Donna & decisions by Ella kept the momentum going forward at all times.

Special mentions should go to Becks O’PlasticPaddy, who is playing her best rugby to date, Lauza the Rozza who is playing with a smile on her face and chopping opposition at ankle height, Kerrie who is just a ferocious carrier and Chris who is a Portuguese Pain in the Ass for the opposition
Both wingers Niamh and Larry didn’t put a foot wrong all game and stopped at least one try each on their own wings.

Forward of the game went to Jane Elmer who played the full 80 minutes and was a nuisance all game and everywhere.

Back of the game went to Emma, who came on making her debut in the centres and showed that she is one of those players that will never let you down.

Original Hurley deservedly won the Defence award, proving what she is capable of when she’s in the zone.

Well done again Ladies, Exciting game to watch and you continue to make your club proud.

MVDT