Henley Hawks 21-10 Bath Ladies

By Lisa Tavinor

Henley Hawks Women put the disappointment of the last few weeks behind them to come away from their clash with Bath Ladies with an excellent 21-10 victory at Dry Leas on Sunday.

From the outset of the game, Henley Women were determined to get a win, putting pressure on the visiting Bath side and saw the opening stages of the game being played in the Bath’s half.  Some impressive link up play from the Henley centres managing to get the ball out to the wing creating space in the middle for Ellie Smales to power her way through for a try, converted by the returning Rachel Humpreys. Henley’s second try soon came about off the back of a strong scrum, the ball was quickly passed into the hands of Lauren Muller who sprinted her way through Bath’s back line, converted by Humphreys taking the score to 14-0.

The remainder of the first half was a busy time for the Henley pack with scrums and lineouts all over the pitch. A will-drilled Bath lineout enabled them to drive Henley back in the maul several metres, this was followed by a quick tap and go penalty which gave Bath the space they needed to score, taking the score at half time to 14-5.

The second half of the games was just as thrilling as the first with both teams battling it out and not given each other an inch. Henley were awarded a penalty in the Bath 22 after a scrum which was quickly taken and the ball swiftly moved to the other side of the pitch, and into the hands of Kat Robinson, who was not going to be stopped. Her try converted by Humphreys taking the score to 21-5.

Bath never gave up and their persistence paid off, after a scrum they managed to find space out on the wing for their second try, which again was not converted. Final score Henley 21-10 Bath.

Next Sunday Henley hope to continue this wining way as they travel to in-form Richmond.

Players' player of the match was Pip Robinson and Coaches player was Ellie Smales, both of whom were at the forefront of the Henley defence as well as making ground when in attack.

Match photos courtesy of Andrew Turner available here.