Hastings & Bexhill 12 - 45 Hove Girls U14

The first game of the new year saw the return of winning ways for the U14s team as they went away with a new game plan and a full squad.

The first half saw a competitive battle, with Hove working for each try against a Hastings team boasting strong tacklers. After a slightly chaotic start, remembering the pace and plan, Hove opened their account with a well worked try, off a good set of hands and running lines, getting the ball under the posts. After that the tries trickled in steadily with some excellent variation of play on show - a catch and drive off a lineout was a real highlight. Molly’s boot was impeccable, converting tries and gaining ground for the team throughout the match - putting in a real Captain’s performance and earning her player of the match.

The second half saw a fight back from Hastings, testing the Hove defence and breaking through to score their first try. It wasn’t long before Hove returned the favour and scored a try of their own, turning strong defence into a quick turnover and making that ground against an unset defence. Strong running across the forwards kept punching through the defence, making space for the backs when the ball needed to travel wide.

The return of two of our players, Olivia and Alexa, brought a real lift for the team - both bringing their energy and talent to the pitch like they had never been away, each respectively earning forward and back of the match.

Hastings & Bexhill were excellent hosts and strong competition to test us in the first game of the second half of the waterfall, we look forward to joint training with them next week and building on the positives today to take into the next fixture.