Burnfield leaves it late to break Firwood hearts

IN THE dying seconds of the game, Richmond’s Rowena Burnfield battled over the line to steal a win from Firwood Waterloo who had led for the majority of the game.

Starting in windy conditions Richmond pushed hard, pressurising the home side from the kickoff, which resulted in an early try for the visitors. A kick down field was quickly collected by Kirsty Lee Griffiths and and she ran back up the pitch for the first try of the game and a 50 lead.

Much of the first half followed a similar pattern as Firwood fought hard against a strong Richmond defence before Waterloo centre Vanessa Temple broke clear down the middle and outpaced the covering Richmond defence to go over.

The score was adeptly converted by Beth Stott and half-time saw Firwood Waterloo leading 7-5.

Both teams came out fighting on the resumption but possession continued to yo-yo between the two sides as knock-ons and penalties affected play. The hosts stretched their lead when Danielle Wiseman powered up the wing, taking the score to 12-5 after 44 minutes.

Missed opportunities and handling errors kept the hosts out as well as a strong defence from Richmond as the half wore on.

And the visitors’ forward work on the try-line brought the score closer after an unconverted try from Burnfield.

Firwood were clinging on at 12-10 but in the closing moments they gave away three consecutive penalties and Richmond pushed over from close range for Burnfield’s second to snatch victory.