A winning start!!

Having won 29-19 in an enthralling game at the away encounter Novos knew it was going to be a hard fought game. We had been preparing all week for the threats that Camp Hill would offer and thought we were in a strong position. Arriving at the ground it was obvious the ladies hadn’t played in a while as they were chomping at the bit and ready to go.

After a good warm up the team were ready to go, we were kicking off and would have the wind at our backs in the first half. Camp Hill let the KO bounce and our strong defence immediately put them under pressure with Jess Richards putting in a big hit early doors. Camp Hill looked set to clear the ball but hooker Rachel Hayes and fit again skipper Amelia ‘one ear, one foot’ Neagle had other ideas. Pressured onto her wrong foot and then a charge down led to a Novos scrum just outside the Camp Hill 22. Props Cat Ingoe and Chrissy Miller took advantage of the artificial surface and gave Novos a solid platform to send Helen ‘Wrecking Ball’ Kane up the middle. Novos then came back the other way and a strong run from Fran Mockford put Novos in a great position when Jess Richards carried hard again before the ball went to the backs. Camp Hill obviously hadn’t heard of a Struth special, as one sharp dummy put her through a huge gap to score under the posts within 3 minutes of KO. Emma Nichol added the extra 2.

Camp Hill then grew into the game and Novos decided that tackling was optional which gave Camp Hill several opportunities. However, Camp Hill must have gone to Rachael Bennet’s school of catching as they were unable to take their chances. They did however earn a penalty and after the French rogue Fanny Fouin tried to charge it down it was converted to make it 7-3. Novos still looking to play positive rugby were dominating the game and at 15 minutes ‘The Wrecking Ball’ burst through and beat the full back to score yet another try this season. Nichol added the extra 2 once again. It was only minutes after this that the Camp Hill starting fly half was forced off the pitch with an knee injury and we wish her all the best in her recovery. Novos were really starting to turn the screw and strong breakdown work from second row Sarah Kilby gave us the quick ball we needed as Emma Nichol broke the line but with no one supporting took contact. Quick ball from the break down saw captain Amelia Neagle score on her return. Another excellent kick from Emma Nichol saw Novos take a 21-3 lead.

Novos gathered the kick off and again sent the strong running Fran Mockford and Sarah Kilby up the pitch. Things slowed down for Novos so Emma Nichol showed her experience and put leather to pig skin with a great strike off her left foot. You have to feel sorry for both the Camp Hill winger and fullback who were beaten by the bounce and enabled Rachel Flem/Bass to score. Emma Nichol should give Helen Kane some tips as she made it 4/4 off the tee. Camp Hill decided it was there turn not to tackle as full back Emily Oliver and winger Fanny Fouin glided past them on the wide right. The only thing Camp Hill could do to avoid conceding again was to concede a penalty; this gave them little respite as flanker Janey Eccles took our first effective quick tap of the year to score in the corner. Nichol was unable to convert from the touchline.

Camp Hill gained a rare patch of dominance as we struggled to contain their strong midfield runners, but as for the whole game they were unable to put the final 2 passes together and Novos went by unscathed. It took Chrissy Miller to reignite the Novos attack throwing a dummy that even Struth would be proud of to go through a gap, unfortunately the covering defence got her and the move came to nothing. It was time for Maiden Castle to see its best ever rugby (not hard as only Durham uni play there) as a series of offloads put Amelia Neagle though into space who was then able to beat the full back with an offload to Caitlin ‘The General of Flares’ Sedgeworth to score under posts. This proves that she does do more than just organise the forwards, which can be a big job with space cadets such as Elle Bloor on the pitch. Nichol converted to make it 40-3 at half time.

Novos were very confident in the half time huddle with the bonus point in the bag and a beautiful sunset on the horizon. Amelia Neagle was replaced by Jen Meagher and Helen Kane was replaced by Capucine ‘KP’ Auger for her last game for Novos.

Novos started the second half well when all the forwards led by the experienced Rachel Hayes and Jess Richards powering up the pitch. This gave the backs the perfect platform and KP cut a line, that made the sun stay up for just a bit longer, as she then danced around the full back to score her final try in Novos colours. Nichol made it 6/7 and the score 47-3. 5 minutes into the second half and all the subs came on, Katy ‘Bleed Black’ Chamberlain who was suffering from a cold, despite actually being English. Elle Bloor, on for Chrissy Miller, who after her dummy had nothing left to achieve. Cathy Foster for flatmate Fanny Fouin (to be continued) and Rachel Flem/Bass came off for her sidekick Laura Armstrong who was rumoured to have been seen without a gilet on.

The game loosened up a bit allow Janey Eccles to score a typical Janey try stepping inside countless defenders to score, Nichol missed only her second kick of the day. Camp Hill got something to celebrate on the bus as some hard forward work payed off with some good offloads to score in the corner. Unfortunately at this point Jen Meaghs broke her collar bone; we wish her a speedy recovery. A series of head injury assessments saw both Helen Kane and Fanny Fouin return to the field, just as Emily Oliver broke to gather a loose kick and looked certain to score under the posts. Not one for the spotlight Oliver slowed down just enough to get caught, but great support play saw quick ball go out to Fanny Fouin to score. After scoring Fouin decided this rugby stuff was too easy and the head injury substitution was reversed after Laura ‘only Robin’ Armstrong was deemed fit to play. The Camp Hill midfield never really grasped the idea of tackling the 10 or defending as a line and allowed Struth to make either a break herself or give great balls to Nichol to march up the pitch.

However, there was time for Camp Hill to have the final say in the game and an awful clearing box kick for ‘The General of Flares’ straight to a powerful looking front row (she had been taking positional lessons from our own Sal obviously). Sedgeworth, desperate to make up for her mistake, flew up to tackle the prop… was however forced to taste the rubber crumb as she was sat down by a powerful handoff. She was told to take a number and wait a while. Camp Hill wanting to finish on a high scored a nice try to finish the match.
The final score of 59-13 fully reflects how dominant Novos were and all the hard work over the Christmas break had obviously paid off. Ruth Scott was awarded player of the match and Fran Mockford forward of the match. This puts us third in the league with 3 games to go, with West B away next week. Our next home game is the cup last 16 with a chance to get revenge over Eccles on the 7th of Feb. We hope you can all get down to Sutherland park to support us.