Trailfinders Women vs Leicester Tigers

Match Report

Trailfinders Women emerged victorious for the first time ever as an elite outfit in their inaugural season, beating fellow PWR newcomers Leicester Tigers Women 36-7 at TFSC.

Trailfinders ran in six tries in windy conditions, with scores from Liz Crake (2), Vicky Laflin, Megan Barwick, Abby Dow and Kate Zackary securing a well-deserved victory.

The home side took full advantage of having the wind behind them in the first half, as Crake opened the scoring in the second minute, bundling over the whitewash after sustained pressure in the Leicester half. Ellie Green converted the extra points.

Trailfinders then added to their lead with a great finish from Laflin, who was fed in by a brilliant offload from Rosie Inman down the wing to score the second try of the day. Green missed the conversion.

Tigers hit back with a try of their own not long after, as Elis Martin scored off the rolling maul to put the away side on the board. Meg Jones nailed the conversion to make the score 12-7.

Trailfinders answered strongly to conceding, as Crake scored her second try of the day to swing the momentum back in their favour. Similar to her first, she crashed over the tryline after successive carries in the redzone to extend the lead. Green was unable to convert in tough conditions.

What came next was absolutely bizarre. Trailfinders’ Julia Schell drilled the ball downfield, and with the wind behind it, the ball bounced over the try-line and kindly in the favour of Barwick, who gratefully dived on the ball to score. Green converted excellently, and the sides went into halftime with the score 24-7.

The second half was a more fluid affair, and with a solid score advantage, Trailfinders began to put on a show for their spectators with some brilliant rugby.

Abby Dow further extended the lead for Trailfinders, with a try that began on their own 5 metre line. With offloads galore, Dow found herself bursting down the wing to finish excellently. Green was unable to convert.

Zackary capped off a brilliant day for Trailfinders Women in the last play of the game. Once again the rugby was excellent, with Elisa Riffonneau slicing through the Tigers defence, and Zackary was able to effectively walk it over the try-line. Green nailed the conversion to end the game 36-7.