Onwards & Upwards for Manchester Ladies

Report by Suzi Hobday, Ladies Captain

Since the last update Manchester defeated Birkenhead 17-10 with tries from Hattie Gaunt, Pam Hallworth and Hannah Goddard in a fiercely fought match. It was clear to see the improvement in the squad since the away fixture.

Manchester then faced both the 2nd and 3rd in the league, Darlington and Kendal respectively, narrowly losing both matches 10-5 and 29-10. Both opposition captains were surprised at how much Manchester Ladies had improved their playing style and commended the whole team on this.

The last three games of the season were at home to Sunderland, Preston and Kendal. In one of the muddiest fixtures of the season Manchester hosted Sunderland ladies in early March. There were two very different styles of play with Sunderland hammering the guard channel and Manchester making use of the wide pitch and spreading the Sunderland defence. With some of the best plays of rugby from Manchester all season, tries from Bea Hopkins, Amy Lees, Hattie Gaunt and Suzi Hobday secured a win of 34-22 and a winning bonus point. Sunderland did not make it an easy game for Manchester with 4 tries from them securing them a losing bonus point.

Manchester welcomed Preston Grasshoppers to Grove Park for the penultimate game of the season. This was a closer game than the ladies had hoped with only 10 points between both sides at the final whistle. A strongly fought team try by Hannah Goddard ensured that the home team managed to get some points on the board albeit finishing the game with an unfortunate loss of 17-7.

Kendal travelled to Grove Park for Manchester’s final game of the season with hopes of securing a double win over Manchester for the season. However, Manchester pulled it out of the bag making Kendal use the game as ‘tackle practise’. Tries from Jane Wells, Chrissie Leahy, Hattie Gaunt Jess Pugh, Kate Bailey, Mel Dalrymple, Kate Barker and Laura Dudbridge secured a 55-0 win. What a way to end the season!

James Armstrong, new Head Coach of Manchester Ladies, should take the credit for fully developing the squad this season with innovative training techniques and a motivation to succeed. Manchester Ladies have improved this season as can be seen from a comparison of statistics from this season to last:

Special mention to our top try scorer of this season…Hattie Gaunt with 14 tries!

Thank you to all members of the squad for a fantastic season. Pre-season training will start at the beginning of July 2017, open to all all Ladies, including new players of any ability and experience!