Camp Hill given a scare

This away fixture to Camp Hill, 3 days before Christmas, was always going to be a struggle, but thanks to a couple of loan players from Sunderland, Novos were able to make the long journey to Camp Hill with a squad of 16. After a heavy defeat at home earlier in the season, Novos were looking to redress the balance, and with the wet conditions making handling difficult it was a fairly even opening 10 minutes. It was Novos who got on the scoreboard first, using turnover ball to go wide, drawing the full back to put winger Rachel Cooper into space to score. Camp Hill came back hard, but Novos defence was up to the task. Excellent tackling from the back row of Louise Smith, Janey Eccles and Fran Ronan meant Camp Hill were unable to break through despite the possession they had. Time and time again, Novos managed to make a turn over at crucial times and clear their lines. Unfortunately, with the very last play of the half, the Camp Hill winger managed to squeeze over in the corner, making the half time score 5-5.
Aware of how the game had slipped away from them last week, Novos were determined not to let that happen again, and although Camp Hill had the lions share of possession, a determined and aggressive defense from Novos didn’t give them any time on the ball and pressurised them into mistakes. Eventually the pressure told, and from a 5m scrum, Camp Hill managed to get a nudge forward. With the slippy conditions underfoot, Novos were unable to stop the drive, and their scrum half picked up from the base to score, converted by their hooker, to take the score to 12-5. The rest of the match was played in similar style, with Novos determined not to let another score in, but not quite able to make the break through to get a score of their own and the final whistle blew with no further score from either side. A much improved performance from Novos, the losing bonus point was well deserved, and went some way to make up for our home performance in the earlier encounter.

Forward of the match: Louise Smith
Back of the Match: Katie Allsopp