Bluebirds off to a winning start in 2024

East London: 5 - Bluebirds: 38

After 4 weeks off (due to the Christmas break and flooded training pitches), the Bluebirds made their way to East London to dust off the Christmas cobwebs. The cold conditions meant a few wobbles for both teams in the first part of the game, but the Bluebirds fought hard to take the first try with an excellent drive from front row Victoria Boyd, bursting through the opposition defence to dot the ball down for the Bluebirds first try of 2024.

The Bluebirds continued to dominate the first half, with the backs working the ball well off of some excellent forward play, in defence the girls showing lots of commitment at the breakdown and getting a number of turnovers in their own 22. In the latter stages of the first half, the backs then worked their magic again with some skilful moves and determination with the centre pairing of Lillie Barnett and Marcys 'MJ' Jackowska both scoring before the break, with a conversation from Captain Jess Matthews to make it 17-0 lead to Chelmsford Ladies at half time.

The Bluebirds came out hard again at the start of the second half, with a second (and the bonus point) try for MJ coming off a fantastic line and switch move, duly converted by Jess Matthews, followed by a signature weaving try from Ellie Lawther, again converted by Jess Matthews to give our ladies a 31-0 lead. However, East London Vixens came back strongly and despite some resolute defending in the Bluebirds 22, East London’s strong forward pack pulled one back with a well earned try from 5 meters out, unconverted, to cut the lead to 5-31.

The Bluebirds weren't finished though and after some more dominance from the Chelmsford pack, East London were penalised a meter out for collapsing the maul and a penalty try awarded taking Chelmsford to a 38-5 lead, and despite a couple of late yellows for the away side, closed the game out for an excellent win on the road and 5 points to kick start 2024.

This win moves the Bluebirds into 4th place in NC1 South East (North).

NEXT MATCH! ?️
The Bluebirds ? take on Wasps FC Amateur Women ? in their first home match of the year on Sunday 14th January.
2pm KO - Be sure to get yourselves down to Coronation Park for what will be a great game!

Tries: Victoria Boyd, Marcys Jackowska 2, Lillie Barnett, Ellie Lawther, Penalty Try
Conv: Jess Matthews 3

Photo Credit: Lee Wainwright