The Battle for Second

This weekend’s opponents West Park Leeds Ladies sat just 1 points behind in third as the stage was set for a clash of the Titans.

It had been a really strong week in the Novos camp with some players taking time off work to make sure they could train. They reached new levels of skill and intensity as they prepared for a huge game. As the players arrived at the fortress (Sutherland Park) you could feel the anticipation. Everyone was very focused in the warm up and you could get a real sense of how much this match meant to all the players.

As the game kicked off Novos put themselves under unnecessary pressure by not securing the ball and were immediately on the defensive. West Park sent their big runners up the middle but some great tackling from Jess Richards and Chrissie Miller in particular kept them at bay. After several phases of awesome defence West Park made the mistake of going off their feet at the ruck. This gave Novos a chance to clear their lines and get into the game, which they did through Helen Kane. A stand out performer this season Kane did what she did best, crash into the defensive line and get Novos over the gain line. Great support from Katy Chamberlain and Fran Mockford gave Caitlin Sedgeworth the platform she needed to release the backs. This time it was Emma Nichol who was sent crashing over the gain line thanks to good hands from Ruth Scott. Novos continued to dominate both possession and territory despite playing against the wind. However, much like in previous matches Novos were their own worst enemy and the inability to look after the ball in contact let West Park off the hook several times. Some huge defence from Novos kept West Park stuck in their own half and some more great tackling from Janey Eccles forced a knock on. It was time for the first scrum of the game where Sal Fitzpatrick, Chrissie Miller and Cat Ingoe had West Pak marching back at a rate of knots. This led to a Novos penalty and much to the surprise of the balcony and most of all coach Calum Harris, skipper Amelia Neagle did not take it quickly but instead allowed Emma Nichol to nudge it into the corner for an attacking lineout. The lineout was beautifully won by Amelia Neagle and the ball quickly shipped to Emma Nichol who went crashing towards the line. 10 meters out Novos went to the forwards and hearts were in mouths as it looked like Jess Richards had crashed over? She hadn’t but selfless play allowed Novos to recycle the ball and pass it through the hands to Helen Kane who crashed over for yet another try this season! A good conversion from Emma Nichol saw Novos 7-0 ahead and heads raised high.

Novos got away with one at the KO as the ball failed to travel 10 meters giving Novos a scrum in the middle of the paddock. A good pick by Amelia Neagle gave Novos a half break down the right hand side. Novos looked set to loose the ball in contact again until Rachel Bennet hit her first ruck of the season to win the ball for Novos. Sedgeworth unleashed the forwards who were easily able to rumble over the gain line giving Novos all the momentum. With the defence tied in, Novos handled well to give wing/backrow Fanny Fouin (who knows where she is playing this week) space out wide to attack. Desperate defence from West Park got Fouin to ground but the damage was done, the quick ball gave Nichol another chance to dance through defenders before hands going out wide to the right gave Rachel Bass (Flem) her second try in as many games. A tough conversion missed from out wide by Nichol still have Novos 12-0 in front.

The game tightened up and neither side were able to hang on to the ball for very long. West Park continued their game plan of tight forward runners but the Novos defence didn’t give up an inch. A very physical first half came to a close with Novos by far the happier side, 12-0 up playing well with the wind in the second half gave them every confidence they could bring it home.

The second half kicked off and despite a positive start by Novos they were soon on the back foot by a revitalised West Park team that realised it’s not against the rules to make 2 passes in one phase. They had Novos under the kosh but more excellent defence kept them at bay. It was at this point that Amelia Neagle almost lost her ear! Dripping with blood and in no shape to continue Jen Meaghs ran out onto the paddock to replace her. The fresh legs made an instant impact lifting Novos defensive efforts. However, 17 minutes into the second half the game took a turn for the worse. Some rough and tumble resulted in the West Park 8 throwing a punch against a Novos players. This was picked up by the referee who had no choice but to show her the red card. Even though West Park were now down to 14 you could not tell by the way they were playing, strong forward runners backed up by slick hands saw them go over in the corner to make it 12-5.

With Novos on the back foot and the game brought to within one score, exhilarating coach Calum Harris made the changes bringing on Elle Bloor for Sal Fitzpatrick (after a mighty shift) and Capucine ‘KP’ Auger for Ruth Scott and Hannah Pollard for the very impressive Jess Richards. The fresh legs had a huge impact on the game and Novos responded incredibly well to conceding. They got their hands on the ball from the restart and were on the attack once again. The hard hitting centre combination of Kane and KP was too much for West Park and they had to conceive the penalty to stop the Novos pressure. Novos showed a great maturity by opting for the shot at goal. Emma Nichol slotted the shot to make it 15-5 with just over 10 minutes to go.

With a 10 point lead there was a change in the wind and a tactical change from Novos, coach Calum Harris’ shouts had finally been heard as Novos started to implement a kicking game. This put huge pressure on the West Park back 3 and great defence from Rachel Bennet prevented any counter attacks. It was at this point that the West Park winger had a little melt down, as she collected the ball from a good Novos kick she lost her sense of direction and started running towards her own line… it was there that a huge hit from Bennet forced the ball loose and Janey Eccles scored to send the balcony into eruption and put the game out of sight for Novos. At 20-5 with 10 minutes to go Rachel Cooper came off the bench to stretch her legs. Novos now really had their tales up and were taking it to West Park with at every opportunity. West Park still within a loosing bonus point looked like they would be happy to hear the final whistle. But Novos had one more gem in the treasure chest and looked to reward all the supporters who had made the effort to get behind them. A great break with some of the best offloading ever seen in the North East gave Helen Kane 40 meters of fresh air to the line. Her legs just had enough in them as she went over the line to deny West Park the loosing bonus point.

It was an incredible performance from Novos ladies and they fully deserved the 25-5 victory they received. Chrissie Miller was the player of the match for her great steals and tackling while Rachel Bennet was back of the match after her best performance of the year. Thank you so much to all our supporters for being the 16th player!

Next week we are back on the road as we look to continue our winning run to 5 games down at Camp Hill.