Horsham Women 1st XV v Tonbridge Juddians Ladies 1st XV

The afternoon started with a chill wind blowing. Nevertheless the stalwarts of the forwards girded their loins and came out to start warmups with a session on the scrummage machine, whilst the backs finished off their preparations in the warmth of luxury of the new changing rooms, appreciated by all who entered the inner sanctum.

Warmups commenced, then it was on to the AGP to run through the well-practiced drills the ladies 'enjoy' every Tuesday & Thursday. Hands being kept warm and spirits high, the ladies lined up to face an unknown opposition.

First score to Tonbridge, disappointing start by Horsham, maybe the chill wind blew and dulled their senses, a dire first half was endured by Horsham ladies peppered by indecision and mistakes which made the opposition look better than they performed. A converted try just before half time saw the hosts with a slender lead 12-10 and take the short break to regroup.

The coaches, wondering how to inspire the sleeping dragon that they knew existed, asked the ladies to play to the strengths they show in training week in, week out. An educated and inspired rotation by our Head Coach Timothy Smith saw our stalwart of the back row Wendy Shepherd (more of this dynamic and impressive player later) reluctantly came off the pitch along with our young scrum half Lois Martin, and one of our senior pros, Jody Morris. Each one of them having played their hearts out and performing as expected within the squad.

With the sky becoming leaden with clouds and the temperature dropping the coaches left the half time briefing in the capable hands of captain Grace Addison, her words of inspiration and reflection sinking deep into the psyche of the team, something clicked. The dynamism of the forwards came to the fore right from the start, direct running, driving forward over the rucks to protect their teammates and win ball to distribute to our cold but silky running, dangerous backs, where was this in the first half ? Maybe the heated brief from our captain defrosted the team and our functionality resurged?

A hat trick from our powerful and direct running centre Kacey Mathews ably supported by try’s from Georgia Pearce with her astounding acceleration and footwork , raw pace from Ellie Birch, a special mention to our captain for her sublime break down the touchline and several dummies and side steps earning her the new nickname of Grace “snakehips” Addison but our try (and assist) of the match has to go to Rachel Marcheson, who, from nowhere, was put through to score under the posts by our very own OAP Chloe Murray, the teasing delay of the offload causing complete disbelief that a second row could have hands that seemed to weave a spell over the opposition to simply offload to our dynamic wing to score easily under the posts – mesmerising!

A bonus point 43-10 win for the 1st XV, with a second half performace that showed their true abilities puts them into 2nd place in the league. A hard and well won victory for the team and a sad and reluctant goodbye to one of our stalwarts Wendy Shepherd. Thank you for everything you have undertaken for the good of Women’s rugby and your teammates at Horsham, you will be missed.

Our next instalment of entertaining and thrilling rugby can be seen this Sunday in our game against Canterbury Women.

If any women readers would like to join our journey, be it at 1st team or Lioness level, come along on a Tuesday or Thursday evening to see what it’s all about. Join the squad & enjoy yourself.

Scribed by Pete 'The Guvner' Softley