Fixture

On Sunday the 15^th January the Lady Blacks were determined to start their first game of the new year in style as they welcomed undefeated league leaders Blaina to the Memorial Park. After a number of weeks of hard training, the squad were ready for the challenge that was to come and produced a fine game of rugby.

Burry Port came out of the blocks racing and found themselves close to the Blaina try line almost immediately. After some ugly scenes the referee called both team captains together and instructed them to calm their teams down. Burry Port received a penalty about 10 yards out and some hard ball carrying saw a number of the players come close to scoring, only to be denied by a good defensive structure of Blaina. Openside flanker Alana Borthwick took on the defence and headed over the line but the referee deemed it to be knocked forward which saw Blaina escape without conceding.

The game carried on for a long period with both teams throwing everything at each other and as it opened up a bit, Blaina scored first when their Number 8 bundled over.

There was a long pause in the game after a scrum in the Blaina half led to their loosehead prop staying down in what seemed to be a bad injury. The game resumed after she was stretchered off and an ambulance was called. (later found out the injured player had whiplash and is now recovering at home)

Minutes before half time, Blaina once again crossed the whitewash to make the half time score Burry Port 0 – 10 Blaina.

After the interval, Burry Port knew they needed to score the next points to keep the pressure on Blaina and did so after about 10 minutes when home team scrum half Keely Evans made a quick dart from a ruck near the try line and showed good strength as she bundled her way over. The conversion attempt went just wide.

The next twenty minutes or so saw both teams once again try to out wit each others defences but both sides held strong. After winning a penalty Burry Port opted to kick for touch in the visitors 22 and won the lineout but later lost the ball due to handling errors. The pack knew how important the resulting scrum was and worked together as a unit to completely push Blaina off their own ball and after some more phases of play, captain Llinos Rees powered her way over to make the score 10 – 10 with not long left to play. The conversion attempt went agonisingly wide.

The remainder of the game saw the Lady Blacks camped in the Blaina half as they worked extremely hard to get a winning score. They came close a number of times but ultimately the visitors held strong to take a share of the spoils.

The coaches were very proud of how the team played and how they responded to being down at half time. They were particularly pleased with the scrum and defence that the girls showed, as well as their determination throughout the game. Getting a draw against the undefeated Blaina team will have certainly sent a huge message out to the rest of the teams in the league, and even those in higher leagues.

The Lady Blacks next home fixture is on the 29^th of January as they welcome Bonymaen to the park. Kick off is at 2.30pm and the squad hope to see another big vocal crowd to cheer them on as it really lifts them and their performance on the field.

Forward of the match: Alana Borthwick

Back of the match: Keely Evans

Player of the match: Keely Evans