Trailfinders Women were beaten 38-19 by Exeter Chiefs in a thrilling encounter at Sandy Park.
Tries from Abby Dow, Carys Cox and Kate Zackary contributed to a strong showing for the away side against last year’s league finalists.
This result leaves Trailfinders Women 5th in the table, heading into a massive doubleheader at TFSC next weekend as Ealing Trailfinders take on Caldy and Trailfinders Women face off reigning champions Gloucester-Hartpury.
The first half was by far the more one-sided of the two terms, and it started with an Exeter score. Hope Rogers crashing over after a Brooke Bradley break for the Chiefs.
Claudia MacDonald and Danielle Preece would cross the whitewash quickly to leave the scores 17-0 with 20 minutes gone.
Trailfinders were not deterred, though, and battled well for the following 15 minutes, with defensive pressure forcing multiple Exeter handling errors, only for a Gabby Cantorna try to move the scoreboard to 24-0 35 minutes in.
The away side would then open their account through Dow. The Red Rose broke through four tacklers to muscle over the line from short range.
That would take the game into halftime, with Ellie Green’s conversion leaving the score at 24-7.
The second term opened with a yellow card for Tighthead Sara Seye after repeated infringements at the lineout.
Chiefs’ Cliodhna Moloney at the back of a rolling maul immediately followed from the resulting lineout.
Again, Trailfinders replied with more defensive pressure, only for Taz Bracknell to widen the gap to 38-7 with 57 minutes gone.
This would be the home side’s last score, and Trailfinders battled back brilliantly, narrowly missing out on a bonus point try.
Cox scored after a magic 50m break left the Sandy Park crowd stunned. The Welsh International, playing at fullback today, beat five players in a mazy run that Director of Rugby Giselle Mather said: “Had shades of Van Der Merwe.”
The away side weren’t done, though. Zackary would cross in the corner untouched after some sumptuous phase play fed the Number Eight in against her old club.
That try left the final score 38-19, with Trailfinders Women 5th in the league after six games.
