On the 9th March, the Portsmouth Destroyers
hosted the first women’s contact tournament of the year. The event was classed
as an open development day, inviting teams down to try out the sport.
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| The RHUL Bears took part in the day |
The current champions, the Hertfordshire Tornadoes and the
Southampton Stags were to play Portsmouth in a round-robin style tournament
whilst the RHUL Bears came down and played a flagged game whilst wearing kit.
The day kicked off with Portsmouth playing Hertfordshire and
the Destroyers got off to a quick start with a first down pass from Marcelle
Levine to Afia Law. Both teams’ defences then stepped up with interceptions by
both and soon a bad snap by Portsmouth resulted in a safety for Hertfordshire’s
first points of the day.
Hertfordshire then pushed their way down to the three yard
line before passing it into the endzone. The PAT failed but Hertfordshire were
now leading 8-0. It wasn’t long before Afia then intercepted a ball, putting
Portsmouth on offense and she was able to run the ball into the endzone, the
PAT failed meaning the score was 8-6 to Hertfordshire.
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| Destroyers' Afia scores their first points of the day |
After a quick break for half-time, Hertfordshire’s Amanda
Casey made her way into the endzone on their first drive, the PAT failed once
more. Soon enough Amanda ran the ball down to the ½ yard line but Portsmouth’s
defence stepped up and put the pressure on and they failed to convert on fourth
down.
Portsmouth responded strongly with running back Francisca de
Tรกvora and centre Amy Dyfan gaining yards to then enable Afia to
get her second touchdown of the day. The score was now at 14-12 to
Hertfordshire with mere minutes left on the clock.
Hertfordshire’s offense answered with a huge run by Amy
Schiller down the field and into the endzone and a one point conversion gave
the Tornadoes a 21-12 lead. Portsmouth’s
offense were failing to make it through Hertfordshire’s defence and in the last
10 seconds, the Tornadoes intercepted the ball and with four seconds left on
the clock Schiller made her way into the endzone for the last points of the
game. The final score was 27-12.
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| Lauren Hackney scores for the Stags |
After a short break, Portsmouth were back on the field for
their Varsity fixture against the Southampton Stag. The Destroyers’ defence intercepted the ball
but couldn’t make anything of it and when the ball was turned over, Lauren
Hackney ran the ball into the endzone for Southampton’s first points of the
game.
When Portsmouth’s offense were back on, Afia went to run the
ball with the endzone in her sight but Laura Hill stripped the ball from her
hands and ran it for a further six points. The PAT failed but Southampton were
leading 12-0.
Destroyers’ centre Amy Dyfan then gained Portsmouth a first
down but the effort was wasted as two plays later they fumbled the ball away
for Southampton to recover.
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| As hard as they tried, Portsmouth couldn't stop the Stags |
Southampton then made the most of the opportunity with a run
from Lauren again into the endzone who then also put another point on the
board. After a turnover of downs, they were in the endzone again for another 7
points. With the whistle being blown for
half-time, the Stags were leading 29-0.
After the break, Portsmouth managed to get their first
points of the game after centre Amy Dyfan blocked a path for Afia for her third
touchdown of the day. The PAT failed but shortly after, a bad snap from
Southampton resulted in a safety and the score was 29-8 to Southampton.
Southampton’s defence then responded strongly, intercepting
the ball and running it for a touchdown and a one point conversion gave them a
28 point lead over the Destroyers.
Portsmouth’s offense failed to convert on fourth down and the ball was
turned over to Southampton who were quick to get into the endzone once more.
When the Destroyers’ had their offense on, the ball was
passed to Afia but once more the Stags’ Laura Hill stripped the ball from her
hands and ran it for another touchdown. This soon became a standard move for
Laura as she did it once more for yet another touchdown.
The final whistle blew and Southampton had the game in the
bag with a 55-8 win.
With the sun going down and time running out, the final game
of the day between Southampton and Hertfordshire could only be played for ten
minutes. The game started with turnovers by both teams and soon Hertfordshire’s
Amy Schiller ran for her third touchdown of the game. Steen Miles added a one
point conversion.
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| Herts' Amy makes her way to the endzone |
On the next play, Southampton were pushed into their own
endzone, adding two more points for Hertfordshire. The Tornadoes’ offense were
strong once more and the Stags were lacking due to the fact that they only had
four players for the day.
Both teams failed to convert on fourth down and at 10
minutes into the game, the final whistle was blown and Hertfordshire had yet
another tournament win in the bag.
The next tournament will take place on the 20th
April (place TBC)
PHOTOS CAN BE FOUND HERE
