Ladies edged out in mudbath battle
LITTLEBOROUGH Pink Warriors Ladies suffered their second league defeat of the season at the hands of local rivals Burnley Ladies.
What could only be described as swamp like conditions that were not conducive for fast open rugby saw a close thought match go right to the wire.
The game started in a feisty fashion which the referee managed well with his actions, showing he was in control.
Following his intervention, the sides settled down to playing Rugby. It proved to be a physical battle for both sides with the heavy conditions playing its part.
Littleborough opened the scoring when the ball was moved out wide to Jess Chadwick who had space in front of her and the speed to take advantage of it.
Visiting Burnley responded with a converted try to take a 7-5 lead not long after.
Littleborough then began to take charge with their forwards with Jess Elizabeth, Sarah Jane Whittles, Lauren Parker, and Keeley Mosoph being strong and aggressive in contact.
With Claire Sutcliffe kicking effectively, Littleborough took control of field position and possession and were rewarded with unconverted tries by Summer Harris and Megan Dickinson.
This gave Littleborough a 12 points advantage at half time.
In the second half Burnley fought back with the slope advantage, and what must have been tricky conditions for the referee, with regards identifying players, benefiting from some decisions.
Burnley closed the gap with a converted try before skipper; Olivia Turner crossed the line for a deserved score to see the score sit at 24-14.
A clearing kick went down the throat of the Burnley full back, she evaded one tackle, to then find space in front of her to score unchallenged.
The game swung this way and that as the likes of Jess Frain and Georgina Quinn put in performances that stood out in the deluge.
Unfortunately for the home side Burnley crossed again with another converted try to take a narrow two point lead.
There was still time and opportunities for Littleborough to snatch a win, but errors and poor decision making proved to be costly as Littleborough finished on the wrong end of a 24-26 result.