Dursley Ladies 56 Banbury Ladies 7

DURSLEY Ladies got their league season off to a perfect start with a 56-7 demolition of Banbury.

This was thanks to fantastic defensive work, combined with patience and strong finishing.

Julianne Thomson opened the scoring after just three minutes, after a patient build-up through the forwards.

The following 20 minutes were all Dursley, as hard work from the forwards and pace from the backs threatened to undo the visitors at every turn. Handling, however, was more of an issue, and Dursley were let down several times by knock-ons and forward passes.

They couldn’t be kept out forever though, and after the ball went through the hands from one side of the pitch to the other, Thompson broke through a tackle to score her second try.

Dursley’s third came after a long injury break, the ball was ripped from a Banbury hand and Durley worked it wide to an overlap on the right-wing, for Maz Highlands to score the third try and take the score to 21-0.

Thompson’s hat-trick came straight from the restart, as she broke two tackles and beat the fullback on the outside to run round under the posts. On the stroke of half-time, Vicky Mansell ran through a hole in the Banbury defence to leave Dursley 35-0 up at the break.

The second half started much like the first, with Thompson running away for her fourth try.

A fantastic chip and chase put Jess Miller in for Dursley’s seventh. Discipline was beginning to be a problem for Dursley though, and repeated infringements within five metres of their own line led to Alison Hayward being sin-binned for a high tackle.

Alice Hammersley took advantage of the defensive hole to ensure that Banbury would not return to Oxfordshire empty-handed. Normal service was soon resumed, however, with Katie Thompson breaking through to run in the final try right on full time.

Vicky Mansell had a good day with the boot, converting all eight tries.