Match Report – Women’s 7s Round 3 – Royal Park Launceston
Leading up to Easts’ 1st roadtrip for the season things were looking fairly bleak due to work commitments and injuries. But in true Rooster style we pulled it together and had 7 players to take the field.
Game 1 v University
With Pres Kristi pulling on the boots for the first time this year, Coach KT thinking she should have registered as a player for the whole season instead of thinking playing R1 was a one off and Aeriel nursing a bad back hoping to stay on the bench, we gratefully accepted a couple of Emu girls to bolster our numbers. Having a couple of extra experienced players in our midst really lifted our game and helped us dig deep. Chicken kept pace with them and with some good passing helped one of them find the space to run over the line for a try.
It was great to see Sarah find her mojo and launch some devastating tackles again. Leitchy also loves a good tackle and didn’t let breaking a finger in the first few minutes slow her down – nothing some tape can’t fix! Aeriel found herself off the bench for most of the game and gave her all without complaint. Caroline, in just her 3rd ever game showed improved confidence and didn’t hesitate to get involved at any opportunity.
Final score was 45 – 5
Game 2 v Harlequeens
Once the adrenaline wore off and the pain kicked in Leitchy was off to hospital. UNI kindly lent us 2 girls. Aeriel’s kiwi friend Alice had come along for a look and the stirring of distant memories inspired her to pull on some boots and join us. Within moments she belied her claims of forgetting how to play as ball in hand she burst her way through the opposition. Mason did what she does best and chased down the breakaways. KT enjoyed getting in a few tackles and running the ball up from a penalty before collapsing back on the bench.
Chicken made a great break down the left and went over the line for a great try which she also converted. One of the Uni girls also scored one for us but moment of the match came from the ball coming out of the pack to Aeriel who, despite not often finding herself in this position, realised it was within her to push through the opposition to score between the posts! Not bad for an injured player in just her second season! The trusty boot of Chicken was able to convert that one also.
Final score 34 – 19
Our final game was against Launceston. We manned up without any assistance this time but within a couple of minutes poor Alice hit the ground with what turned out to be a ruptured Achilles tendon then Sarah suffered an acute injury to her elbow. Coach KT checked in with her team and made the decision to forfeit the game to avoid any further injury.
Everyone was rightfully proud of their efforts and their coach even more so.
Player voted 3-2-1…
1 vote to Kristi Leitch
2 votes to Winona ‘Chicken’ Harvey
3 votes to both Sarah Double ‘Trouble’ and Aeriel Kiker
Cock of the Day – Aeriel Kiker