Mixed fortunes on a rainy afternonn at NK
North Kesteven Under 14 and Under 17 Girls teams hosted their combined Burton/Tamworth/Litchfield ( Staffordshire ) counterparts on a dismal wet afternoon at North Hykeham.
The Under 14's played first and quickly got into their stride with winger Tanya Bird running in two early tries to settle any nerves. NK were by far the better of the two sides and the scoreboard continued to tick over with further scores before half time from Laura Ware, Rachel Jones, Bethany White and Katie Smith. With two of the tries being converted by Smith, NK took a 34 - 0 lead into the interval.
Sportingly, NK loaned East Midlands Players Carla Clubb, Emma Orrey and Paula Smith to the opposition to even the second half up. This had the desired effect with strong forward drives by Smith and Orrey providing a foundation off which the Staffordshire backs could play. They scored four tries to NK's one in the second half with the home team finally ending up as deserved winners by 39 points to 20.
The Under 17 side were unable to emulate the junior side and despite taking an early lead through a try by Charlotte Wild were unable to deal with the strength and power of the opposition pack. The visitors responded to the early set back by scoring three tries before half time with one conversion to lead 17 - 5. Although NK upped their game in the second half they were unable to breach a resolute defence and to add salt to the wound Staffs scored a final try from the last play of the game scoring in the right hand corner following a scrum deep in the NK 22. The match ended in a 22 - 5 defeat for NK who now have three weeks to re - group before their next game away at Buxton on the 25th March.
