LINCOLN LADIES 61
SCUNTHORPE WOMEN 0
BY JOSEPH VERNEY
PHOTO CREDIT: CASSIE MILESTONE AND MIKE LINCOLN
Lucy Ellis crossed for a hat-trick of tries as Lincoln Ladies produced a great team performance to win their first pre-season fixture 61-0 against a determined Scunthorpe Women.
Debutant Shannon Pasotti, who played outside centre, grabbed a brace of tries. Emily Hird, India Lyall, Lara Warman and Lynne Brooker-Brown, also scored tries for Lincoln with the latter successfully slotting over three conversions.
Lincoln’s remaining points came via the boot of prop Emily Nelson who kicked five conversions.
Full-back Rowena Cattell, inside centre Izzy Atkinson and winger Primrose Jenner also made their debuts for Lincoln.
Scunthorpe showed great heart throughout and battled hard until the very end, including determined debuts from second row Stephanie Booth and prop Hach Tomlinson.
Lincoln opened the scoring after consecutive penalties led to Pasotti crashing over for a try five metres to the left of the posts. Nelson added the extras.
Scunthorpe tried to get out of their 22 with a penalty, but it didn’t make touch and was gathered by Claire HC, who passed it onto Jade Morgan.
Morgan then set up Cattell, who broke the line and tipped it on for Hird to crash over for a try, which Nelson converted.
It wasn’t long before Lincoln were in again. Hird made a great line break before being stopped by a last-ditch tackle. Repetitive sets by Lincoln followed before Warman and Hird were tackled just short.
Morgan then popped the ball out for Ellis to crash over for her first try of the afternoon.
Line break by Hird tackled last minute, repetitive sets in 22 lorna got close and Hird close Lucy ellis crashed over after pop out by Jade
Just before the mid-point in the first half, Lincoln produced some great phase play and Nelson made a strong break down the pitch.
A lovely offload then set up Atkinson who crashed down the right-hand side before the ball came back left. Ellis found space in the defence to power through for her second try of the match and Nelson added the extras.
Continuous pressure and crash balls by Lincoln then saw Warman crash over for a try, which Nelson converted.
Atkinson, who was enjoying an impressive debut, ran 40 metres down the left-hand side of the pitch and, as she was tackled, she managed to offload to set up a try for Lyall. Nelson added the extras.
Lincoln found time for one more try before half-time. After winning a scrum against the head, and a flowing backs move, Brooker-Brown ran in for a try 10 metres to the right of the posts.
Brooker-Brown also successfully slotted over the conversion to give Lincoln a commanding 49-0 lead going in at the break.
The first half also saw Sharon Lockett roll back the years to make her return to the side after several years out of the game, and she put in a solid performance.
Credit to Scunthorpe who did not give up throughout and put their bodies on the line to restrict Lincoln to just two tries in the second half.
The first came after Lincoln reacted quickest to a knock-on and Brooker-Brown carried the ball through. She then offloaded the ball to Pasotti who crashed over for her second try of the afternoon and Brooker-Brown added the extras.
A good backs move down the right-hand side set up Ellis to crash over for her hat-trick to complete the scoring for Lincoln, who were led by new captain Midge Kelley.
After the match Pasotti and Deanna Clarke were named as Lincoln’s back and forward of the match respectively. Jade Morgan was chosen as Lincoln’s best player by Scunthorpe.
Georgina Wotherspoon and Dawn Moody were chosen as Scunthorpe’s back and forward of the match, while Ella Nutbrown was selected as their best player by Lincoln.
POST MATCH COMMENTS
After the match Lincoln Ladies Head Coach Dale Smith said: “It was a good opening test of the season against a strong, physical Scunthorpe side.
“The ladies have put in a great amount of effort during pre-season which was reflected in the score.
“It was great to see new combinations working well which will cause me some selection headaches.”
New captain Midge Kelley said: “I am so excited for this season. We have some amazing new players joining us this year and we’re blessed to keep most of our already outstanding players from last year.
“We’ve been looking at our structure in our training and we saw it in action (against Scunthorpe). It’s super exciting.
“I want to thank the team for putting me into this new role and I hope I’ll do them all proud.”
On the return of Sharon Lockett, she added: “Her scrumming and rucking were like she had never been away.”
Scunthorpe Women captain Becky Clark said: “It was a tough day at the office, but we battled until the final whistle.
“It was a good way to try a few things out on the day and introduce two new women to the sport.”
