Match report by Nick Marsh
At a windswept Hammerpond Lane, Horsham Ladies embarked upon their latest preseason friendly against Aylesford Bulls, a team with a rich history within Ladies Rugby, notably being the winners of 2017 Women’s Premiership, before the team was taken over and became Harlequins Ladies. Whilst this is a new reincarnation of the club, they showed a level of discipline, line speed and ball handling, which the Horsham team would do well to aspire to.
Horsham, short of numbers, always looked susceptible to the much larger visitor’s pack and aggressive running of the Aylesford ball carriers. It was not long before the Horsham defence was breached. A pattern of play was then set, with Aylesford running strongly at the resolute Horsham defence, but persistence told against the Horsham defence and the visitors had crossed Horsham’s try line five times by the time the referee blew for half time.
The second half followed the same pattern as the first, with Horsham battling to contain their opponents. More composure with ball in hand would have enabled the home team to test their visitors more.
With a final score of 52-0 to the visitors, Horsham Ladies were beaten but not disgraced and there were strong performances from Jade, Charlie & Wendy.