Off to a flyer in NC1 North

Newly-promoted Crewe and Nantwich RUFC Ladies made a strong statement in the National Challenge 1 North league with a win against Doncaster Demons on Sunday.
Doncaster Demons, who finished runners-up in the higher league last year presented a daunting prospect for the CNRUFC Ladies who travelled away for their opening game of the season. Doncaster are a well-established team, boasting several Yorkshire qualified players and showed quickly why with some powerful rugby from the kick-off. Several pick and drives around the fringes of the pack stretched the Crewe defence, with crucial turnovers by Katie Heirene and Helena Crook slowing the Doncaster momentum.
Doncaster continued to dominate both possession and territory for much of the first half, however they struggled to cope with the rucking work of Phoebe Jay from fly-half, in addition to Mollie Latham and Laura Hollinshead when the Doncaster ball was shipped into the midfield; several promising attacks were turned-over or slowed down by the speed and aggression of the Crewe players.
Doncaster came close to scoring three times, initially down the right wing from a blind-side move, then through the flank before their 10 took an excellent angle back inside from an offload. On each occasion, the Crewe back three made their presence felt, with Steph Farrar making an excellent tackle on her own goal-line, keeping the Doncaster player from touching down when a try seemed certain. Debutante Jodie Leigh Wilson sent a clear message to anyone taking her on in the tackle with a ‘back of the match’ performance, poleaxing her opposite number twice, her try-saving tackle on the Doncaster 10, seemingly clean through for the score drew gasps from the watching crowd.
With half-time approaching, it looked like Crewe were going to break the deadlock with some characteristic sharp hands from centres Simone Christopher and Laura Hollinshead giving debutante Hannah Thornhill a vital bit of space. Hannah rode 2 tackles before breaking away to score, only to be pulled back with a foot in touch.
With the half-time score at 0-0, Crewe’s confidence was riding high. A kick-off gave the ladies crucial field position, and several probing runs from Jodie Wilson, Simone Christopher and Debs Sayer finally stretched the Doncaster defence enough to give Hannah Thornhill some vital time and space, her try in the left corner rewarding some hard work from the tight five.
As the game progressed it became clear that fitness would decide the outcome of the game; whilst Doncaster worked hard at the set piece and put the Crewe scrum under occasional pressure, they were unable to gain any territory on foot through their backs; Katie Heirene yet again proving her pedigree with her speed and aggression at the breakdown, Mercedes Lyons’s strength also proved a handful for Doncaster. Crewe quickly got a second chance of building the score from a sharp switch pass from Phoebe Jay, again releasing Hannah Thornhill down the blindside win. Although she was tackled, the Doncaster pack were penalised for not rolling away, Crewe scoring from a quickly recycled penalty, with Christy Roberts capping off a fine ‘forward of the match’ performance with a powerful clear-out with Louise Reade to give scrumhalf Sally Cox enough time to pop a ball away to Hannah who hit the ball at speed to score in the corner again.
Although the conversion was missed, it seemed highly unlikely that Doncaster would find a way back into the game. Cat Baker-Wood came on for her first cap and made an immediate impression in the scrum, with Kerry-Ann Princess Dynan showing her versatility by moving to the loosehead position. By this point in the game, Crewe had ascendancy in both scrum and line-out, Debs Sayer and Chelsea Hobbs preventing the big Doncaster forwards from making any real in-roads so it is to Doncaster’s credit that they engineered a score in open play against the run of the game; their 12 shrugging off 2 tackles before changing direction and crashing over in the corner.
With the conversion missed and 18 minutes still to play, it was vital for the Crewe players to regroup and keep Doncaster in their own half. A kick-off chased by Simone Christopher, Hannah Thornhill and Katie Heirene very nearly resulted in a try; Doncaster doing well to keep hold of possession. With the clock ticking down, the only real danger point came from a Doncaster rolling maul, with an overlap beckoning on the blindside. A typically crunching tackle from Phoebe Jay stopped the attack dead with a vital turnover from Jordan Morris returning possession to Crewe.
As the game played out, neither team gained the clean possession necessary to score, with the only Crewe chance coming through Hannah Thornhill again, sadly knocking on from the pass when she was clean through to score; the final whistle provoking scenes of jubilation from the team and supporters.
Crewe and Nantwich Ladies take on Halifax at home on Sunday confident that they can compete effectively in this league.