LICHFIELD 07 | 12 OLD ALBANIANS SAINTS IIs
LADIES 1st XV – PAPA JOHN’S INTERMEDIATE CUP FINAL AT TWICKENHAM

Having led from the fifth minute, Lichfield were denied victory in the 77th minute by Old Albanians’ (OAs) second try on a swelteringly hot afternoon at Twickenham on Sunday. There was certainly no disgrace in defeat for the ‘’Red’’ team, as the collective effort was immense, especially in defence, where the tackle count went through the roof with very few missed.
If you are able to watch the game (again) in its entirety on the RFU’s Youtube stream, the Lichfield team played even better than they appeared to at first hand. As the commentator said at one stage in the second half, ‘’Old Albanians have the lion’s share of possession and the lion’s share of territory’’. Given that, it is incredible that victory was only achieved in that 77th minute and it required two pieces of class to break through the Lichfield rearguard during the game.
OAs, as a club, have a close tie with Saracens on and off the pitch and this is even more prevalent in the women’s set up and in the end it showed and just made the telling difference. They are well coached and have some talented players, who can not even make their first team – and there is a feeder system in and out of the Saracens Premiership squad. As is often the case, OAs had three or four players, who were able to put their stamp on the game. Their half backs, Bloomfield and Eves, controlled their plentiful possession well with Lawford-Wilby, at centre, and Staniford, in the pack, being their most impactful runners, especially late on as legs tired in the heat.
Lichfield were soon able to register points on the two giant scoreboards at either end of the vast stadium. Udall had a couple of early runs for ‘’Lich’’ and from the second she was able to give Roberts a scoring pass for a try near to the posts, giving Udall an easier conversion. Lichfield knocked on the resultant kick off – coaches’ curse or nightmare – and put themselves under pressure for the next ten minutes, as a result. They survived with gritty defence from numbers 1 to 15. Eves missed a penalty shot from inside the Lichfield 22 and the city side comfortably survived a yellow card period approaching half time for a high tackle. So, they turned around at 7-0.
The pattern of the game did not alter noticeably in the second half. Most of the possession was going the OAs way and Lichfield were consequently always under pressure whenever they had the ball, but there was no panic or breakdown in systems. In the 55th minute, Eves at last found a way to bypass the Lichfield defensive system, as she kick passed to replacement left wing, Vaughan-Johncey, who was able to escape Udall in the corner, but there was no conversion from Eves (7-5).
If Lichfield were going to win, there were two potentially significant moments in the next ten minutes, which might just have been of real significance. Darlison had been introduced into the back three for them and she made a couple of lung bursting runs into the heart of the OAs’ defence and one of these was rewarded with a penalty right under the posts. The option was taken to run it and it came to nothing. Soon after, a pass was adjudged to be forward by a well positioned and excellent referee, but it may well have come off an OA’s hand instead and stopped a very promising attack in its tracks.
As the game went into the dying few minutes, Lawford-Wilby and Staniford got their hands on the ball more and more and OAs were now camped near the Lichfield try line. They tried to smash their way over, but were repelled every time until Lawford-Wilby very cleverly ran around, on the loop, the back of a ruck and it gave her just enough momentum to outwit the two Lichfield defenders on the line. Eves converted this to give them some margin for them to manage the last few seconds of a final, which was a credit to both sides and the officials.
It was a wonderful experience for all those from Lichfield at HQ and the club can be proud of all the female players in both its 1s and 2s for an unbeaten league season and hence two promotions. There is definite potential coming through from the junior ranks, both the 12s and 14s had tournament success the previous week and the club is adding an under 18s to its talent pool.
Finally, a big ‘’thank you’’ to all the supporters, who made their way to west London on Sunday and still had a great day out despite defeat. This club carries on its commitment to try and offer players, coaches, members and families the chance to have occasions like Sunday.

Report c/o Dave Lewis