Another delightful day at Wilkinson Way. Pitches looking great and the sun out you could have been in a different country compared to most of January.

The girls played a strong match in 2 parts.

Part 1:
Our first half performance rocked Basingstoke much as it did in the reverse fixture. Lara again going over for a hatric of tries within the first 20 minutes set a solid foundation that the team would later need. Good Line speed and pressure on Basingstoke stopped their ball carriers before getting any momentum, couple that with some tough work in the rucks and Farnham would win a lot of possession early on. Sadly the handling on such a fine day let us down and after drawing the Basingstoke defense in we couldn't quite find the hands to get the ball into the wide areas were the space was. The 3 times we did in the first 20 minutes Lara turned on the gas and stepped the last defenders. With Grace Price getting a conversion and Zara bursting through the tiring defence we went in to half time 27-0 up however we had taken 2 big knocks to key positions.

The start of the 2nd half and realizing Hattie our powerhouse No8 and try machine Lara sidelined for the rest of the game intensity dipped and on came wave after wave of attack from Basingstoke. The line speed and pressure in defense had disappeared completely allowing Basingstoke's strong ball carriers time and space to gather speed and momentum. At 27-21 Basingstoke believed in themselves and the most unlikely of come backs was on the cards....

Part 2:
Its at times like this you hope the experienced players dig deep and step up. With Charlotte at scrum half moving the ball quickly from the rucks, Phoebe, Zara, Gracie started to find our attacking game again. Finally Basingstoke were forced backwards and following wave after wave of strong running the momentum swung our way again, not a moment too soon. Break away runs from Farnham were repelled metres from the goal line but the support flooded forward and the Ettie's show started! Ettie Biggs was first at the breakdowns scoring twice scooping and grounding over the line, bringing her hatric up with a fabulous break away from the half way line dragging the last tackler about 22m before shaking free and grounding for an amazing recovery. Ettie Hardcastle, always sniping and on hand choosing her moments to join the line from full back sensed her opportunity and whilst everybody thought space out wide Ettie saw her own path and darted back through a drifting Basingstoke defence to score under the posts. Another conversion from Gracie and a job well done ..... in the most part.

Lots to work on in coming training sessions.

Player of the match: Gracie Price (voted by Basingstoke girls)
Farnham Coaches Player: Ettie Biggs
Also a mention for those girls supporting TREDS when playing for Basingstoke today. Every girl that we lend to the opposition always gives their all, we are so proud of you for it. It means we get to play full 15-a-side matches and also means we learn how difficult and infuriating it is to play against each other.
Thanks ref Martin top job and Claire for photos also top job!