Chris Teale documents a crushing win 60-5 victory over Nottingham Trent that eases their relegation worries.
Women’s Rugby ran in ten tries as they thrashed Nottingham Trent I 60-5 in a one-sided contest at Colney Lane. The team were looking to keep up the pressure on Warwick I, who are just above UEA and outside the relegation zone on points difference. The team’s large margin of victory more than halved the difference between themselves and Warwick in Midlands Division 1A of the BUCS league.
UEA began the game showing greater attacking intent, and scored their first try after just two minutes. Forcing a turnover from a Trent ruck, Nina Crowther ran in a superb solo effort, which was converted to give the home side an early 7-0 lead. Crowther followed this early success with two more tries inside the first 10 minutes, to complete a stunning hat-trick and give UEA an early 20-0 lead. The home side were exerting incredible pressure on the Trent defence, and were dominant in lineouts and scrums. Despite a few responses from the away side, handling errors and strong UEA defence meant they were unable to hold possession for any length of time.
Despite their constant attacking threat and a lack of any reciprocal threat from Trent, it took UEA until the half hour mark to extend their advantage, again through another try from Crowther after good work by the forwards in a scrum. Then, almost straight after the kick-off, another superb passing move saw Crowther cut swathes through the Trent defence and score her fifth try of the opening period.
This period of domination was brought to a close by a sixth try of the half, meaning that at half-time, UEA were in a seemingly unassailable position with a lead of 40-0, and the away side struggling to find any response. The second half saw a definite change in the pattern of play, as Trent began to attack with more intensity, and gave UEA’s defence a thorough examination. Trent spent nearly 20 minutes almost exclusively attacking, but the home side’s defensive rear-guard held firm.
After a period of attrition, in which both sides struggled to gain any momentum, a superb breakaway UEA move saw the ball make its way to Crowther once again, who came through for yet another try, her sixth and final one of the game. This seemed to galvanise UEA’s attacking play, with three more tries being registered in the final 15 minutes, two of which were scored by winger Steph Creasey.
This took the scoreline to 60-0 in favour of the home side, but to their credit, Trent kept driving forward, and eventually scored a consolation try of their own, which at least gave them something to celebrate on the long journey back to Nottingham. The final score was 60-5, and with this victory UEA ensured that they maintained the pressure on Warwick I, who are directly above them in Midlands Division 1A.
Photo by Greg Mann.