NC East 1 Lakenham Hewitt 5 Woodbridge Amazons 44 Sitting third in the league prior to this weekend, a mouth-watering trip to bottom placed Lakenham Hewitt meant the Woodbridge Amazons could keep the pressure up on the two sides above them, writes Ian Girling.
With some notable absentees, the side from Hatchley Barn were forced into a reshuffle, particularly in the backs. Anna Dewberry stepped into the flyhalf role, vacated by skipper Claire Brickley who dropped into the fullback position.
Number 8 Carmel Leak moved to outside centre, and debutant Helen Self came in outside Dewberry, with Julie Tyler and Kat Meade on the wings.
Self showed her worth immediately with a huge charge early on, setting up captain Brickley for the first of her hat-trick on the day.
A line-out steal and run from Beth Kinlan, supported by Leak and Vicky Watts was judged to be held up over the line as the Amazons begun in total control.
Brickley scored her second when she angled into the back-line at pace, revelling in her freedom in the 15 jersey. Watts converted for a 12 point cushion.
Moments later Leak made a great break before giving a scoring pass to Meade out wide and the 17 point margin was looking comfortable already.
The hosts weren’t ready to give up without a fight however, and pressure led to a deserved try from Sonia Knowles.
In the second half the power of the Amazons pack took over. Kinlan, Toni Bell and a patched up Victoria Felstein – battling a broken nose – drove into the heart of Lakenham’s defence.
Some excellent handling worked out to the left saw Tyler angling back in from her left wing position, for try number four. Watts converted.
Then simple hands from another solid scrum saw Leak ghost through for a try, as the Amazons looked capable of scoring from anywhere now.
Brickley grabbed her third when Leak again burst through the midfield, the skipper on her shoulder, ever ready for more and it was 34-5.
Tyler, now full of confidence, outstripped everybody from 40 metres for her brace, but the try of the day ended the scoring in the late stages and epitomised the Amazons’ dominance.
Morvern McAlpine started it, then Dewberry to Self, who fed Leak who tore into a tiring Lakenham defence. As she edged closer, Leak unselfishly offloaded to Meade to put the icing on the cake – simply wonderful stuff.
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