Emeralds loose out on a deserved win V Havant in the last minutes of the game

Playing a strong Havant team at home was always going to be a challenge however the Emeralds shone and proved they were a very worthy opponent. 18-19 to Irish with 2 minutes left on the clock.

Havant played physical and well-disciplined rugby but the Emeralds scrum was formidable. The first half saw Havant score twice and a single conversion. The Emeralds answered with minutes to go in the first half with a stylish try from Niamh NicCraith and with a neatly dropped conversion by Jemma Smith. The half time score at 12-7 and there was everything to play for in the second half.

The Emeralds made an early dominant start to the second half and it felt as if they had the game for the taking. With 2 successive tries from Niamh NcCraith and Hari McCormack and another accurate conversion from Jemma Smith, the scoreboard swung in the Emeralds favour showing 18-19 to Irish. Irish bedded down to play a defensive game for the last minutes of the game but a Havant injury stoppage allowed the Oppo to reorganise 15 yards from our line and they ran an opportunistic try across the whitewash. An unconverted try left the scoreboard at 23-19 with 2 minutes to go . Havant got the final whistle blow as they kicked the ball into touch and 23-19 was the result of an equally challenged game. The Emeralds prevented a winning bonus point for Havant but secured themselves a valuable losing bonus point.

We look forward to our next home game on Super Saturday October 12th.
We welcome Guernsey Raiders to Hazelwood for a double header, the Emeralds v Guernsey KO @ 12.30PM, Club Lunch @ 2PM and the Wild Geese V Guernsey Raiders @ 3PM.

Team:
1 Tao Warburton 2 Ellie Smales 3 Vicky Leigh 4 Jemma Smith 5 Emily Attwood 6 Sarah Gayle 7 Chloe Nash 8 Hari McCormack 9 Phoebe Macwhinnie 10 Sophie Messem (c) 11 Nikki Watson 12 Allie Nelkon 13 Niamh McGrath 14 Hannah Weiss 15 Katie Kitchen

Replacements: Beth Statham, Anne Murphy, Eimear McQuillan, Grace Donovan

Try scorers: Niamh NicCraith 2 tries @ 3.30 and 4.05PM, Hari McCormack @ 3.45PM, Jemma Smith 2 Conversions