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Millwall Venus XV
Match Report Opposition:
Basingstoke Click here to return to the Match Report Index page. Report written by:
Alison ‘North' Snape, Jodie Botha, Claire Rimmer, Toni Cummings, Laura Masi, Rachel Dipper, Emma-Louise Emery, Trudie Clarke, Andrea (something foreign), Louise Norris. Venus Tries – Emery, Masi
Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves.
The prospect of a match so soon after last week's carnage where the Venus side was decimated in huge numbers was less than appetising to say the least. Sadly my plan for myself and Rachel to run away early in the morning was not going to be doable as our other housemate Claire Rimmer had organised the friendly with her old team. Had we run away we would probably have to had to keep running as we would no longer be welcome at Venus cottage.
We managed to dredge up ten players and bent shilling piece from the fatty Venus piggy bank and piled into Kev the ref's car to journey to Vicky Park. After the previous day at the Llama's game where a lot of spectators looked to be converting to Islam with some unusual head wrappings to keep out the vile wind, I was not optimistic about the weather. For once my pessimism disappointed as the wind had managed to downgrade from hurricane force to overly blustery, still a close forwards game seemed to be in the cards.
Basingstoke arrived with an army of supporters, various children and a sizeable pack that clearly would relish scrumming (two weeks contesting on the trot, amazing). Fortunately Rimmer as captain made up for the general lack of enthusiasm – aided by a pro plus induced buzzing high directly at odds with my diazepam induced coma and rashly agreed to thirty minute halves (twenty minutes might have been better given the overall lack of fitness in the squad). We chose to receive into the wind and made a very strong start, getting over the line twice early on to be denied twice by the ref (one for an alleged double movement by North and the other to do with a complicated off side thingy from a kick).
No matter, not to be put off with a denied try Emma-Louise, managed to score a brilliant try after Toni sidestepped and ran around the oppositions forwards, off loading to an ever ready Rachel who passed on to a coming on-at-pace-and-depth Emma-Louise circling around the wing.
Sadly though, Basingstoke realised soon after that our chief weakness is out wide and began running tries in from the wing. A further definite disadvantage was losing Trudie “the tackler” early on. Basingstoke kindly lent us a player though.
Half time arrived eventually, just as we were all running out of breath chasing their very nippy scrum half. Certainly as a pack we had worked extremely hard, especially in the scrums. North being irritated by the opposite prop's futile efforts to pull her down and I'm definitely going to have to invest in some shin pads after the beasting my right shin took contesting for the ball. But we managed to hold our own anyway.
The second half started with them running in a couple more tries down the wing and some frustration from scrum half Rachel and Laura feeling down at their lack of tackles. Rachel managed to make up for this with a monster tackle, the impact of which was felt around for miles (I believe the met office registered an earth tremor at about 3 on the Richter scale) around, and Laura remedied her deficit by scoring her first try for the club. It was a superb fatty Venus moment with a penalty awarded near the line, not so much a “dumb prop” move as dumb ass as we all looked for someone to take the lead. Following my amazingly technical advice “come on fat knacker venus, we know what to do here” and pushing the nearest weighty lass to take it, Rimmer (I think), passed it to North who crashed it in, I cleared out and Rachel took the ball on, off loading to Laura at the last moment who grounded the try delicately in the corner, hardly believing her luck. Fortunately a rallying cry of “Team America , Fuck yeah” brought her back to earth.
The second half brought horror for the pack in the form of a rejuvenated Basingstoke pack who suddenly decided to get lower than a champion limbo dancer. This paid dividends for them as they managed to put on some powerful drives, really managing to make a difference in what was a fierce fight from myself and my opposite number for the ball. On the other hand, we were able to utilise line-outs more effectively than we have all season, despite the wuthering, it was an effective tool in our arsenal and one which I have high hopes to develop in future.
Our backs continue to grow in confidence but still need to learn the basics of defence. Partly overcompensating for the packs slight delay in getting to the initial breakdowns, they still drift in and leave the outside unmarked. Having said this they are probably just doing what they were badly advised to do by a previous coach can and will learn to improve on this in time. Some enthusiastic tackling by Emma-Louise and optimistic Andrea was notable in the backs defence and I would certainly be excited at the prospect of these two playing a centre partnership sometime in the future. Toni did well in her debut at second row but is unlikely to repeat the performance, it is certainly a waste tying her so tightly into the scrum when we need her seek and destroy ability given free reign.
After our Basingstoke volunteer got a nose bleed in the last five minutes the match was wrapped up quicker than the first half of England against Scotland . A very happy Venus side galloped to the changing room, relieved to finally have worked out how to score try's. Next Season looks to be promising at the rate we are developing but next weeks game against East Grinstead is also a tasty prospect. Having had our breakthrough game as a team at the home fixture, the replay away with them surely out for revenge is going to be an exciting game for sure. Click here to return to the Match Report Index page. Visit our Gallery of team and individual photos - click here.
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