Last season's Captain, Alice Middleton, continued her fine attacking form from fullback
The CURUFC women were defeated by a very powerful Durham side yesterday afternoon. To a degree, the final score flattered the visitors, who were kept at bay by some outstanding defensive work from the CURUFC women for long stretches of the match, although ultimately there was no doubt about the deserving victors.
Throughout the game the Durham centres showed pace, power and some excellent offloading skills, with Beth Blacklock in particular proving a constant threat. Indeed it was Blacklock who scored the first try of the game after barely a minute, duly converting the kick herself.
However, former CURUFC Captain Alice Middleton responded almost immediately, with an outstanding try created by the footwork of flyhalf Kate Marks and some deft handling from current Captain and outside centre Lara Gibson.
The next section of the game was extremely competitive, with Durham stretching their lead again (14-7), before Cambridge inside centre Mary Coleman forced her way over the Durham line (14-12). At this stage, Durham moved up a gear, scoring three unanswered tries in quick succession (29-12).
Cambridge did manage to pull a try back on the stroke of halftime, with left wing Bluebell Nichols spotting an opportunity to intercept a loose Durham pass and racing to the line (31-17), although this good news was tempered by disruptive injuries to scrumhalf Lydie Thorn and fullback Alice Middleton, neither of whom emerged for the second half.
The Cambridge defence proved to be significantly tighter in the second half, with Durham battering at the Cambridge line only to be repelled for long periods. However, Cambridge also struggled to get their own hands on the ball and eventually the Durham pressure took its toll. There were a couple of good tries scored by Durham in the closing minutes to leave the final score at 48-17.
For their second match of the season, the Cambridge women played very well and, whilst disappointed with the result, seemed to enjoy the challenge of playing a University side currently competing at the very top of the BUCS Premiership. Both teams deserve great credit for producing a physical, skilful and entertaining match and we very much hope that this fixture will become the first of many between the two Universities.