Westshore Fires on All Fours

On a fine January morning, with sun peeking through brewing rain clouds, the CW Premier Women stepped on to their home turf for the first time in 2019 to play their rivals, Westshore. The game began with a “flubbed” kick-off to create the game’s first CW scrum, which saw a huge Westshore shunt indicating the physical challenge the game would entail. Westshore dominated possession for the first twenty minutes, but were challenged by feisty tackles by CW. Despite the effort it could not stop the Westshore scrum from driving over the line for the first try of the game. After three more unanswered tries by Westshore, CW shed the Christmas break rust and began to cause some havoc.

With pressure in lineouts, as well as defensive grit, CW gained territory entering the Westshore end. The use of the kicking game by Sya Trafford became a helpful tool for CW, keeping Westshore pinned in their own end. CW showed a slight line out advantage resulting in a stolen ball in Westshore territory. The steal seemed to fire the CW women and with some possession they made good ground. Lizzie Adams broke through the Westshore line placing the visitors on their back heal. With a team effort of forward and back play, CW finally entered the Westshore end zone and the ball was touched down by lock, Amy Hawkings. CW looked strong after the try with hawkeyed efficacy at the back of the scrums and rucks by #9, Lauren Sargent, leading the way. However, Westshore came back with two tries aided by CW penalties, closing out the first half, 34 - 5 for the visitors. A good home effort, but pretty much one-way traffic!

The second half began with CW bringing fresh legs onto the field. Pressure was put on the Westshore back line and strong kicking by Trafford began to show the potential of this CW team. Frelen Gorst entered the contest and other positional tweaks were made. CW’s backs’ speed and handling was on display with the ball reaching wing Danika Pedrick, who made a strong run. Play went back and forth without any tries scored for both teams for most of the second half with a stand-out performance in heart and effort by Maddy Graham, who made a strong poach causing a turnover, as well as a try saving tackle. The women finished the game digging into their pain caves with some fast taps off penalties and drive of the impact subs. Despite a better half by CW, Westshore finished with two more tries to make the final score 44 - 5.

The overall game did not go as planned for the CW women, however it created a strong base to grow and learn from. There were wonderful moments of individual tenacity and teamwork. Another positive was the movement of impact subs and the transition of players into different positions throughout the game. The CW forward of the game was #8, Lizzie Adams who ran with determination all game and made some excellent tackles. Back of the game was Julia Folk who started the game at #12 and ended at #9. Folk commented after the match; “It was a good game to get the nerves out for the start of the season. The team can now look forward to coming together to become a solid wall of strength on defence. The physicality and scrumming of today’s game will stand us in good stead for next week’s game against Burnaby who, like Westshore, have a strong forward pack.” Two hard practice sessions this week will prepare the ladies for their first ‘roadie’ to Burnaby Lake on Saturday, k.o. 12:45 p.m.

(Today's game report is from the keyboard of Jamie Beck, a new contributor to the site. Thank you and welcome, Jamie.  Ed. note - Thanks to Julianne Zussman - a fine job as W-i-M.)