Beckenham Ladies 2XV made the 10 minute trip to local rivals Beccehamians for a cold and blustery afternoon at Sparrow's Den. Having had to surrender some of the more experienced 2s players to the first team (exactly what this team is designed to do), numbers were tighter than normal but enough to get the game on.

The front row sported two Olivias (Roberts-Adamson and Kelly) with Lilly Turnbull-Jones in the unfamiliar spot as hooker, due to uncontested scrums. Captain Katie Skelly partnered the ever improving Laura Harvey in the second row and there was a welcome return for Aimee “Sharkey” Finn in the back row. Maria Hearne took over the scrum half duties and Steph “Dave” Mills was the director at 10. It was a first return to her old club for Hannah Martin who partnered Toni “Tinky Winky” West in the centres, with Scarlett Reynolds on the wing and Suzie Groves at full back.

It was a scrappy start, both teams gathering the ball, ripping and stealing possession from each other in the tackle and maul. Dave put some monster kicks to space, which were chased down resulting in Beckenham throw-ins at the lineout. The lineout functioned well, the lifters firing Skelly high in the air and Sharkey throwing in, hit the target with remarkable precision. The link provided by Maria at 9 allowed Dave the time to get those kicks away.

Beccs had a potent midfield combination who made use of their possession but the Beckenham ladies fought valiantly in defence. A penalty 5 metres out was taken as a crash ball and the hosts got their first try which they converted. 7-0

Shortly after kick off, the home team set up their attack and released one of their players on the far side of the pitch. She was over the line but Suzie was determined to keep her out wide to make the kick difficult to convert and she was rewarded for those efforts: 12-0.

Beckenham stole the ball and wised up to their strengths out wide. Scarlett raced up the right wing but was caught, captain Skelly recycled the ball and it was spun across the other side of the pitch where Hannah scorched over to get a try out wide. It was a big ask for Dave as her hamstring was tight and she was unable to convert. 12-5

The penny had dropped and Beckenham realised that they needed to use their speedsters out wide. It took a little while for the next move which started with an attack by Maria, feeding Skelly and out to Scarlett out to the right hand side of the pitch and over for Beckenham’s second try. 12-10

At the end of the half Beccehamians ran another under the posts which was converted to take the score to 19-10 at the break.

The second half was similar insofar as the Beckenham ladies attacked but couldn’t quite get across the line. Then after some good turnovers from Sharkey, Skelly and Tinky Winky Toni, the latter seized her opportunity bursting through a gap and sprinting to the line leaving a trail in her wake. Unfortunately, she was not able to convert her own try. 19-15.

There were some moments of brilliance from all of the players, both Olivias bursting through rucks with power and determination. Hannah and Suzie both put in some fine tackles. The ladies couldn’t quite replicate the phases which had been so successful earlier in the game, tying in defenders and then skirting round.

Sharkey Finn picked up at the base of the scrum and made some valuable metres sucking in defenders and it was great to see her return from the injuries she suffered. The rest of the pack fought to support and put in a huge shift amongst a much larger pack. It was pleasing to see all the ladies making tackles and no high tackle penalties which creep in when players are tired.

The home team took some late tries and their kicker slotted the conversions, adding to the scoreline which was not indicative of the effort and determination that was put in by the 2s. One thing is for sure, these players are learning and learning fast, not once did they give up and they stuck to the defence heroically at times and should be proud of their efforts. Final score Beccehamians 38 Beckenham 2s 15.

Forward of the match: Aimee “Sharkey” Finn
Back of the match: Hannah Martin