Kingsbridge 17 – Withycombe 5

THE RFU’s team of the month for December, Kingsbridge Ladies, welcomed Withycombe to High House for the latest installment of their adventures in the National Leagues.

Withycombe were down on numbers and in typically sporting fashion, the Kingsbridge women pulled on opposition shirts to put on a show for a keen but chilly crowd. From the outset, this was a very tight match with few openings for either side.

Stout defence from both teams was necessary as they struggled to play with cohesion and structure.

Talismanic figure Hayley Hopkins exploded into action and finally breached the excellent Withycombe wall of defence. Her clever pass to a supporting Fi Hutchings saw the Greens over-stretched and Maddie crashing over to break a deadlocked game.

Half-time sounded and a slightly fractious and out-of-sorts looking team seemed to have calmed as numbers were changed and the game continue. That calm soon shifted to frustration as Withycombe scored an excellent try in their first move of the second half.

This galvanised the home side and with Connie Eastwood making her senior debut, the tide changed slightly and Kingsbridge’s more powerful pack started to make more inroads into a tiring Withycombe side.

Maddie showed that she can play creatively too with some lovely interplay with Hayley leading to a second try. With the return of the evergreen Tina Graham to the scrum, the loudest cheer of the day by far came when Connie crashed over the line for the final score of the match; another ringing endorsement for the amazing youth section at Kingsbridge and this diverse and inclusive team making inroads into the National Leagues. Lucy Harris deserves an honourable mention at number nine too.

With such a great club and story behind them, it’s no wonder the team’s latest accolade, Radio Devon’s Sports Team of the Week feels unlikely to be its last- keep it up team!