Thirsk 38 Albion 15
By Frank Stormont
April 17 2007
Ladies make the weekend of the trip and then have to travel a further 30 miles as the match had been moved.
Thirsk 38 Albion 15
The Albion squad had made the a full weekend of the trip to North Yorkshire. Leaving Plymouth Friday evening and spending Saturday at Alton Towers for some last minute training and team building.
Thirsk Ladies have moved clubs during the season and now play their home games at Darlington another 30 miles north. So when the squad turned up in plenty of time to prepare for the fixture they were informed of the venue. This meant the 30 mile dash disrupted their preparations and only gave them 35 minutes to prepare.
On a roasting pitch Albion were quickly caught on the hop as Sharks put on 19 points after 14 minutes.
Thirsk fly half ran in a try on the 7th minute but did not manage the conversion. and a minute later their right wing scored which this time was converted by their fly half. The Albion line was again breached by Sharks for a converted try.
For most of the rest of the half Albion played well and kept a good defence of their line.
With over 12 minutes of time added on played Sharks number three rubbed salt into the wounds and took the half time score to 26 - 0.
Replacement Beth Simmons converted a penalty in the 4th minute of the second half after Sharps were penalised in front of the posts for not rolling away.
15 minutes in saw Rachel Chidgey score her first try this season when she was on the end of a great move. With forwards in the line Rachel made use of the overlap to score in the corner.
10 minutes later the Sharks came back with a driving maul going over for their number 5 to score which their fly half to converted.
34 minutes into the second half with a well worked forward move before Terri Cormack broke the line and touched down under the posts with Beth Simmons adding the extras.
Sharks increased the lead again with just two minutes on the clock with an unconverted try.
Albion had played well in the second half and had won the half and if had not been for the 7 minute scoring spree things might have been different.
When you consider that Albion were without many of their first choice players and they had a last minute rush to the match Albion played well on the pitch.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Diff | B Pts | Pts |
| wClifton | 15 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 779 | 49 | 730 | 11 | 71 |
| wThirsk | 15 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 467 | 170 | 297 | 8 | 52 |
| wSaracens II | 17 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 405 | 307 | 98 | 8 | 52 |
| wRichmond II | 17 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 296 | 259 | 37 | 8 | 44 |
| wWaterloo | 18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 207 | 346 | -139 | 6 | 40 |
| wPlymouth A | 18 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 244 | 353 | -109 | 5 | 39 |
| wOld Albanians | 16 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 198 | 236 | -38 | 6 | 36 |
| wLeos | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 183 | 266 | -83 | 7 | 31 |
| wWasps II | 17 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 234 | 534 | -300 | 5 | 25 |
| wRosslyn Park | 15 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 78 | 571 | -493 | 3 | 5 |
Albion finish in 5th place although teams below have matches in hand.
Team: Verity Waters, Claire Crowther, Anna Shepard, Kim Davey, Rachel Chidgey, Sonia Clatworthy, Georgina Rozario, Sam Bunyan, Jo Holden, Vee Thompson, Melanie Box, Megan Higgins, Jo Richards, Rachel Tucker, Terri Cormack Replacements: Beth Simmons(used), Hayley Wilson(used), Camilla Smallwood, Kathy Shaw, Barbara Jensen(used), Tracy Serruys(used)
Scorers :- Tries Rachel Chidgey Terri Cormack Penalties Beth Simmons Conversions Beth Simmons