Cambridge Select Ladies  7-34  Shelford Ladies

SHELS’ GIRLS FINALLY CHALK UP LEAGUE WIN

Shelford Ladies sealed their first win of the season in a convincing display against local rivals Cambridge Select on Sunday. The game marked the end of a tough couple of months for Shelford who, having suffered a frustrating and often baffling series of defeats since October, made the refreshingly short trip to Cambridge desperate to turn things around in the final match before the Christmas break. They were also no doubt eager to make amends for the previous encounter between the two sides, when the university team irritatingly took advantage of their youthful fitness to accelerate away from Shels in the last quarter and put away a 31-22 win in record-breaking 30C October temperatures.
With the conditions on this chilly December afternoon considerably less Mediterranean, mid-table Cambridge came out confidently, but – for perhaps the first time this season – Shelford were firing right from the whistle. Maybe it was the the shiny new sponsored warm-up shirts, perhaps it was the coaching duo of Might Mouse Yeoman and Fluffy Hutchinson, or maybe it was lingering resentment stirred up by Potty-mouth Tebbit’s rant about soap-dodging students living off tax payers’ money… who knows, but whatever it was there were no early slip ups from the Shelford girls, and no careless try conceded in the first five minutes – or even the first half.

After a fruitless initial assault from Cambridge, Shelford put together a period of sustained pressure and possession. Great rucking and phase play saw plenty of movement and effective ball carries from Lizell, Jen, Foodie and Tebbit, but Shels weren’t able to get over the line just yet and errors began to creep in. As the referee pinged Shelford time and again at the breakdown Cambridge were able to put together another period of attack, but nothing was getting through the well-organised Shelford defence, with Bertie and Charlie putting in some especially noticeable first-up tackles. Eventually, however, the ref’s patience at Shelford’s infringements tired and he awarded Cambridge a penalty right in front of the posts – which they inexplicably missed.  With the scores still nil all, Cambridge managed to spend much of the rest of the first quarter in the Shels’ half but got nothing for their efforts. All those defensive drills at training really looked to be paying off through fearless tackles from Lynne, Angry Claire and an equally angry (but still chic) Bertie.

Since Cambridge were going nowhere it was only a matter of time before Shelford came out on top. A rather poorly Elisa (having heroically managed to stop throwing up long enough to get on the pitch) turned Cambridge over, and soon after Juggernaut Lizell broke their line, carving a path through their startled-looking defence. Once again Shelford employed well-structured phase play so that fly-half Jen was able to make the most of this momentum to race over for a try, putting Shelford 0-5 ahead at twenty-five minutes in.

Cambridge seemed to be getting flustered by Shelford’s physicality, repeatedly being driven back at scrums and taking hit after hit from a committed defence. Their continued failure to score took the edge off their usual confidence and errors increasingly began to creep into their game, which Shelford scrummie Charlie took typical advantage of by using a swift tap-and-go to send Lizell off on another break. This time it was Foodie who took the ball on for a flawless try (complete with a hand-off that left Cambridge supporters wincing on the sidelines), putting Shelford ten points ahead with five minutes until the break.

There was still yet more to come from Shels in the first half, with Katy Craddock taking advantage of a Cambridge moment of indecision at a lineout to snatch the ball back for another Shelford assault. Once again Lizell terrorised the Cambridge defence, this time outpacing four of them to bag her own try by the right post. Topping this off with a successful conversion, a very happy Shelford found themselves on the right side of an unfamiliar but confidence-boosting 0-17 lead at the break.

After half time both teams came out looking lively and determined. Cambridge immediately launched a sustained attack but found no complacency in their opposition, with the Shelford defence continuing to look organised and committed, noticeable hits on the students coming from Daniele, Foodie, Craddock and Kidders to name but a few. However, as before, discipline at the breakdown proved a problem and Shelford were unable to win back the ball since they were continually on the wrong end of the ref’s whistle. Cambridge eventually managed to take advantage of this by sending their miniature blindside flanker over for a try almost unnoticed, which they then converted, bringing them to within ten points.
From this Shelford again found themselves under a bit of pressure in their half. Attempted clearance kicks refused to find the line, (one of Lizell’s efforts being charged down by a particularly committed – or perhaps inattentive – Cambridge player using her face). Nevertheless, Shelford kept up their response to the Cambridge attack, with Snowdon and Charlie in particular putting in great first-up tackles on players who were making runs with little support from their team and so came to nothing. By contrast, Shelford possession was again marked by excellent support play. Good work by the forwards at the breakdown enabled clean ball to the backs, leading to another score by Lizell under the posts that she converted to take Shelford 7-24 ahead as the match entered the final quarter.

As if to prove that this is the game that marks the turning point for the season, after not conceding an early try, neither did Shelford let their heads drop or get complacent at the end. The ladies continued to make excellent use of their back line, spreading the ball wide and then back again in order to stretch the Cambridge defence. As the end of the match drew tantalisingly near the Shelford pack tried to get in on the try-scoring glory that the backs had been revelling in, but with limited success. After their second attempt was held up over the line there were stern instructions from the coaching team on the sideline to return to the working formula of using the backline effectively, very strongly echoed by the chic one on the pitch with her cry of “zey are not ****ing listening!”
But then listen they did, with skipper Lynne ensuring that Shelford didn’t make the same mistake again by barrelling over the line herself with five minutes to go. Lizell missed the conversion, leaving the score at 7-29, but immediately atoned by sprinting the length of the pitch after almost eighty minutes of play, only being brought down yards from the try line by a Cambridge player.  Even that was still not all that Shelford had in the tank, with one final try coming from Foodie right at the death leaving
Shelford elated over a much-deserved victory of 7-34.

It seems that the hard work at training, not to mention the commitment to recent off-the-pitch bonding sessions, has paid dividends. Only time will tell whether Tebbit’s ecstatic post-match proclamation that Shelford are “going to win this mother-****ing league” will indeed come to fruition, but either way the ladies look as though their days as the league’s whipping girls are behind them.

Tries: Jen Worth; Steph Foode (x 2); Lizell Heather (x 2); Lynne Pilbeam.
Conversions: Lizell Heather (x 2)
Forward of the match: Lara Chuter
Back of the match: Jen Worth
Opposition’s choice: Lizell Heather