It had been a really physical week in training and the team had really come back down to earth. Several key players were back for Novos this week, including centre Emma Nichol, second row Katy ‘I bleed black’ Chamberlain and full back Emily Oliver. This led to Novos fielding one of the strongest teams they have had all season despite still missing skipper Amelia ‘one ear’ Neagle.

After stand in captain Janey Eccles won the toss Novos decided to stick to last week’s tactics and play into the wind in the first half. Despite the weather the pitch was in good condition, however, this did not factor the gale force winds straight through the pitch. With a good crowd in for the Novos famous cheese and wine event the game kicked off. It was Déjà vu for Novos as the kick off wasn’t gathered at the first, second or third attempt… eventually Caitlin ‘the general’ Sedgewick collected the ball and got Novos rolling. Novos playing into a huge wind tried playing from their own 22, were let off the hook when Loughborough conceded a soft offside penalty. This allowed Emma Nichol to clear the ball to touch and now the game would really begin. A well won lineout from hooker Elle ‘your worth it’ Bloor who’s mum had made the trip to Newcastle after hearing what a good ‘hooker’ Elle had become. This gave Helen ‘Wrecking Ball’ Kane the platform she needed to power through the Loughborough line. This set the tone as Novos were completely dominant in all areas of the game, however, some slight handling errors in the Loughborough 22 prevented Novos from crossing the white wash. Nowhere was Novos advantage more obvious than at the scrum with Cat Ingoe and opposition player of the match Sal Fitzpatrick marching them back. With the pressure building eventually the Loughborough defence broke, as a trademark scampering run from skipper Janey Eccles got Novos the first score of the game under the posts. A successful conversion from Emma Nichol made it 7-0.

A long series of penalties and strong runs was enough for Loughborough to sneak over the line to make it 7-5. Novos didn’t panic or go into their shell, they continued the attack and soon had Loughborough on the back foot again.

Novos continued their bombardment of the Loughborough defence with powerful runs from Jess Richards and Katy Chamberlain. Fran Mockford had obviously been listening in training and her excellent work at the break down kept the ball alive for Novos. Great hands started off by Ruth ‘Struth’ Scott allowed Fanny Fouin to break down the left wing, the ball was recycled and a breakdown was set up in front of the post meters from the Loughborough line. More slick hands but lateral running almost had Racheal ‘Flem’ Bass in the corner but Loughborough tackled her into touch. Loughborough were able to win their lineout but indecision from the scrum half gave Novos a sniff. An awful pass back to the fly half on the edge of her own in goal was dropped and Elle Bloor pounced to score her second try in Novos colours. Novos had their tales up 12-5 up going into the wind, but this was short lived; a series of penalties had Loughborough attacking again. Their simple but powerful rugby had Novos pinned of their own line, some awesome defence from player of the match Sarah Kilby prevented Loughborough from scoring, despite them getting over the line 3 times! Novos held out to take a 12-5 lead at half time and with the wind at their backs everyone was sure they could bring home the win. Rachel Cooper came on for Racheal ‘Flem’ Bass at the break.

Novos started the second half very brightly and less than 2 minutes in Jess Richards had powered her way over in the corner to score another forwards try. At 17-5 Novos finally had some breathing space. As the game wore on Novos started to loose their structure but penalties cost Loughborough and Helen ‘Wrecking Ball’ Kane tired of not getting the ball at 13 ran into the forwards to take and then score from a quick tap penalty, well there is a first time for everything. This put the game out of sight as Novos lead 22-5 with 20 minutes left in the game. It was time for some fresh legs with Laura Armstrong, Emily Yarrow, Steph Barratt and Amber Hyde who made her Novos debut. With the physicality of the game and the nature of the conditions there were obviously some tired bodies on the paddock. This resulted in a constant array of penalties preventing any rugby from being played as some supporters claimed they counted over 60! There was half a chance though as Amber Hyde kicked through a Loughborough dropped pass and looked like she had collected the ball to score, but alas she had knocked it on. It was at this stage it was revealed that without her glasses she couldn’t really see and related to it being sort of drunk, good to know that now!

The clocked tick to 80 minutes and with both sides desperate to get a bonus point the game kept going at it’s fast pace. Eventually with the light almost gone and having played 160 minutes of overtime the ball was knocked on and that was it.

It was a good result for Novos and just the reaction they needed after last week’s performance. If we are to break it all down to numbers we have now won more games and secured more league points than we have in any recent season we have played in the Championship, all with 4 games to go!

Thank you for your continued support and we hope you can get down next week when we play Darlington in the first round of the cup!