Worthing lose away to Jersey

After a long journey, Worthing had little time to prepare on arrival and the visitors had a tough start.

Jersey pinned them in their own half immediately and Worthing’s defence was fully tested for the first quarter.

Big tackles from Lauren Sandford and Cathy O’Reilly kept Jersey off the try line, before they eventually went over for a converted try.

Worthing began to settle and gain confidence in their set pieces. Hooker Catherine Kennedy did well in windy conditions to hit the hands in attacking line-outs.

Pushing into the Jersey half, number eight Jess Lovenbury picked the ball up at the base of the scrum and tore a hole in the home side’s defence. Further runs from Giorgia Palethorpe and Danielle Hand looked promising, but Jersey quickly shut down the attack and took play back to the halfway line.

Jersey were stronger throughout at keeping possession and held the score at 7-0 as the half-time whistle blew.

The second half began with more improvements from Worthing, fly-half Kelly Marchi at the helm made a great impact in organising the attack.

The play seemed to be going Worthing’s way as Jersey conceded several penalties under pressure.

However, Worthing picked up some injuries and their momentum seemed to stall, which opened up a gap for a well-drilled Jersey to score a second time.

Alice Duckworth, Worthing’s chairman of ladies rugby, said: “It was a new experience for the team to travel to Jersey. The team played with great composure and gave it 100 per cent for the whole game.

“There are some real positives for us to take away from the game and the team should be proud of their performance.”

Worthing welcome new players to join the club. Contact information can be found at www.worthingrfc.com