A game of IF ONLYs

After the long journey to deepest Essex we were faced with bright sunshine, no wind and a rock hard pitch - hardly what we're used to!

The passing and off-loading component of the warm-up was encouraging and fortunately this transferred to the game with only a few knock-ons. Another bugbear of the team over the past few matches has been our penalty count but this component was also greatly reduced with no more than 8 against us despite not always seeing eye-to-eye with the referee.

Chelmsford didn't get their hands on the ball for the first 5 minutes but we were unable to gain any territory and after being pushed back we gave away a penalty in the middle of the our half. The result was a soft converted try ...and a wake-up call.

For the next 15 minutes we dominated both possession and the scrum and after sustained pressure J Fisher powered over the line for our first try which Emily converted to tie things up.

As is often the case in rugby, teams are often most vulnerable after they score. We were and a minute after the restart their 15 ran a sublime line to score the first of her two tries.

End to end stuff as we then took back control and eventually, after winning a scrum against the head in their 22, Marj scooped up the ball up at No.8 and headed for the corner off-loading to Sav who dotted down the ball. We continued the pressure from the restart and were looking likely to score again but, much to the relief of the Chelmsford coaching team, the half time whistle was blown.

14-12 against at half time.

Chelmsford came out of the blocks on fire and we had to defend in our 22 initially before breaking out and after loads of possession, a series of phases and some great handling eventually Masha scored in the corner. But yet again we momentarily lost our focus and momentum - probably not helped by the 10 or so stoppages for physio attended injuries for the Chelmsford girls - and their 15 again split our defence in half and ran in another impressive try under the post which was duly converted.

With our constant pressure and possession in their half there seemed to be ample time to get the inevitable try but we were surprised by the final whistle coming when it did! IF ONLY we had another 5 minutes.

Great passion from all our girls especially with no subs and a hot day against a full bench but IF ONLY we could have got the ball out wide a few more times I am certain we could have scored at least one more try.

Forward of the Match was Emily who defender aggressively and had a few piercing runs using her hand-off and step to great effect. Alex was our Back of the Match for her marshalling of the back three, her defence and also for her straight running and hands. But our front 5 have to be congratulated for their prowess in the scrum as well as Ellie, in only her second league match, who is growing with confidence.

The loss hurt despite the consolation of a losing bonus point - IF ONLY...