Three on the spin as Bristol defeat Valkyries

BRISTOL Bears women made it three successive Premier 15s victories with a 34-5 bonus point win over Worcester Valkyries at Shaftesbury Park.

The hosts opened the scoring through captain Clara Nielson, who found herself at the tail of a surging maul which gave the hooker a simple finish.

The Bears soon crossed for a second, when Becky Hughes intercepted a Valkyries pass and slide over the whitewash with Lucy Attwood converting.

The home side went through the gears deep in the Worcester half and caught the visitors offguard with Lucy Burgess finishing well under pressure in the corner.

Worcester responded and managed to get themselves over the line midway through the first half as Megan Goddard’s floated pass found Lauren Leatherhead, who ducked through the attempted tackles from the Bears to dot down for the visitors.

Vicky Foxwell’s miscued clearance fell into the arms of Burgess, who seized the opportunity and turned on the after-burners to race away from the oncoming defenders and score.

Lucy Attwood duly converted and Burgess’ second sealed the try bonus point before half-time.

The driving maul was a dangerous weapon that the Bears utilised well throughout the afternoon and Nielson was again the beneficiary as the hosts powered their way over the line after the restart.

Esme Bird capped a dominant performance for the Bears as the hosts set up yet another driving lineout from which the back-rower dived over the whitewash to seal a 34-5 victory.