Cumbria Ladies 41

Cheshire Ladies 0

VANESSA Temple ran in four tries as Cumbria made it two wins out of two in the latest round of county fixtures following a dominated demolish of Cheshire.

Having beaten Lancashire for the first time last week, Cumbria were in confident but focused mood as Cheshire came to Carlisle Rugby Club.

From the outset Cumbria took charge of the game up front and captain, Lucy Meadley, followed up her match winning try against Lancashire with another rampaging touchdown.

After a period of Cheshire pressure, which Cumbria soaked up, the hosts added another try from a well rehearsed back line strike move which saw Temple hit the line from fullback and have the strength to power over right under the posts.

Hannah Sherlock added the extras and Cumbria opened up a 12-0 ahead.

After the break, Cumbria lost No.8 Sue Bird to injury and with a pack reshuffle seemed to be much more settled in their own set pieces.

From here, building territory and possession. Temple sprinted clear for her second try before completing her hat-trick in the 51st minute to stretch the lead to 22-0.

A rolling maul unlocked the Cheshire defensive structure and from such an opportunity back row Holly Freestone crashed over for Cumbria's fourth try but once again the conversion was missed.

Cumbria went on to score a further two tries in the remaining quarter. First it was Temple again who broke the line after some excellent support play to touch down for her fourth which was converted by Abby Bland.

The final score was a complete team try when winger Emily Knowles was given the ball in space she made a break up the right. Some great support play and a quick carry by second row Jocelyn Hurcombe kept Cheshire retreating towards their own line. Quickly recycled ball the possession was distributed to the far left wing where Hayley Hodgson skated round the outside of the remaining Cheshire defence to score under the posts.

Bland added the conversion to complete the scoring.

Coach Ally Ratcliffe said: “With a number of players succumbing to injury prior to today and throughout the game, this has given the opportunity to other players who certainly all stepped up and took their place and the team performance never dropped throughout.”

The team look forward to their final fixture of the 2015 county programme next Saturday at Kingston Park where Cumbria take on Northumberland.

1. Lucy Meadley, 2. Charlotte Sellers, 3. Sam Meakin, 4. Jocelyn Hurcombe, 5. Kathryn Chestney, 6. Rachelle Malette , 7. Holly Freestone, 8. Sue Bird, 9. Tanya Bushell, 10. Bethan Lloyd, 11. Hayley Hodgson, 12. Kelly McCoullough, 13. Hannah Sherlock, 14. Sarah Simpson, 15. Vanessa Temple

16. Kerry Procter, 17. Aimee Sharp, 18. Dawn Nixon, 19. Amy Beard, 20. Phillipa Chadwick, 21. Abby Bland, 22. Emily Knowles, 23. Zoe Livingstone