Reading Abbey RFC

A superb response to last week's heavy defeat to Belast week's heavy defeat saw seven different try scorers in an 11-try 0-67 thriller away to Supermarine, with in-form centre Alice Denton-Rice bagging five for herself, as well as six conversions.

Annette Bevan, Tori Kiff, Claire Stevens, Ellie Denton-Rice and Hollie King along also crossed the whitewash, as did Keni Lenton on her 1st team debut. Although the conditions were trying, Abbey Women still managed to produce an exciting, free-flowing spectacle where forwards and backs interlinked well to rack up the impressive score line.

Abbey looked the more dominant side from the start, with strong carries from the returning Fern Edgar, as well as debutant Lenton testing the Swindon outfit's defence. Good defensive pressure ensured Abbey were never too long without the ball in hand and it wasn't long before a gap opened up for Bevan to junk through.

Alice Denton-Rice enjoyed the good platform the forwards provided in the scrum, bagging a first-half hat-trick with ease, as her powerful running proved too much for the Supermarine defence to handle. Hooker Stevens also capitalised on and finished another breakaway run from Edgar, while Kiff ran a timely line off Bevan to cross beneath the posts.

Defensively, Abbey always seemed in control. Huge hits from Alice Lawrence and Joey Fowler kept the momentum high, while the backs were marshaled well by Hayley Matthews, who gave a trademark excellent defensive performance. 

In the second half, the game really opened up for the visitors. Debutant Lenton, having made several breakaway runs throughout the match, was rewarded with a try, while the back three of Lou Pullan, Olivia Grane and Nat Bow worked well together to consistently threaten the wings. Alice Denton-Rice grabbed two more, not before Ellie Denton-Rice, ever the selfless playmaker, was rewarded with the most deserved try of the match, if not the season, for her performances thus far. It wasn't long before proceedings were rounded off with a good break from substitute Meg Parks, which ended in prop King crashing over from short range.

All credit to Supermarine, they battled until the final whistle and never stopped playing. Debuting an impressive number of new players from their development team, they played bravely; a nod must also go to their fullback, Sarah Humphries, who was superb in the back field, thwarting Abbey of a few more scores.

Photo credit to Your Sport Swindon

Alice Denton-Rice scored 5 tries

Joey Fowler tackles the Supermarine fly half

Forward of the match Fern Edgar puts Alice Denton-Rice through a gap