Report by Ian Lodge
Thanet Wanderers RUFC Ladies 60 Beccehamian RFC Ladies 0
Thanet Wanderers Ladies kicked off their 2024/25 campaign with a resounding 60-0 victory against Beccehamian ladies at St. Peter’s Rec.
With a rejig of the NC2 leagues this was the first meeting between the two sides, both sides having finished second in their respective leagues last year.
Beccs started with the ball and a ran through 10 phases being pushed back by a stern Thanet defence. Then after less than 5 minutes and a turnover, the ball found its way to Keira Leigh-Gallup who went over in the corner from 40 metres out.
New joint pack leaders Holly Thurman-Newell and Georgia Elks were making inroads into the defence and some quick ball saw the new centre pairing of Rachael Austerberry and Tabs Raymonde run riot.
Raymonde on her league debut went in for a double before last year’s NC2 top tryscorer Austerberry also got a brace of tries before half time. Fly half Alex White marshalled attack and defence and added two conversions for a 31-0 half time lead.
The second half saw two debutants enter the contest with Rebecca Hewitt in the front row and Daisy Osborn on the wing. The squad is growing nicely with more and more players stepping up to fill gaps left by last year’s leavers.
In a period of the game where Thanet should have been turning the screw some sloppy attack, forcing offloads when they probably weren’t on and some white line fever allowed Beccs some possession and back in the game.
Defence was strong the whole 80 minutes though and even after they camped on the Thanet line, tough defence eventually saw a turnover ball and a chance to clear their lines.
The final 30 minutes saw a flurry of tries with Austerberry grabbing another 4 tries and a Lia Armstrong, another league debutant get on the scoresheet. Two further conversions from White and the game ended up at 60-0.
Thanet 1st XV now hit the road with back to back fixtures at Ashford RFC; the first in an early top of the table league clash followed by the first round of the RFU National Junior Cup. Thanet got to the quarter finals last year and are looking to go even better.
The squad are always looking to grow so if you want to try women’s rugby, training takes place Tuesday and Thursday at 6.30pm at St. Peter’s Rec.
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