It was a very blustery but sunny day as we headed off to a Festival being held at Old Richians. The girls squad was a little short of players this week due to injury and unavailability, but they were all in high spirits and as they were the most experienced players were feeling positive.

The first game was against the hosts Old Richians and 6-a-side.
Straight from the off Old Richians broke through the Kingswood defence and scored a try which wasn’t the start Kingswood were hoping for!
Kingswood tapped off and with great support and presenting of the ball, ground was quickly made. Kingswood were in the scoring end of the pitch when possession was lost and a speedy run by Old Richians saw them score the second try of the game. Kingswood got back on track and after fighting their way through the Old Richians defence the first try for Kingswood was scored by Tia Witcombe right on the half time whistle.
The second half started with Old Richians in control of the ball. A great tackle by Grace Veitch forced Old R’s to lose possession which was quickly retrieved by Maizie Davis and off loaded to Tia. Tia powered almost the whole length of the pitch to score her second try of the game. From the restart Old R’s navigated their way through the defence scoring a try. With Kingswood now in control of the ball there was some great handling from Katy Hodge and Maizie Davis. The ball finally found its way into the hands of Lottie Marsden who looked as though she may score but was pushed into touch just short of the try line. Great defending by Kingswood saw the Old R player pushed out of play by Lottie and Tia. Kingswood now in possession were rewarded by Katy powering over the try line scoring more kingswood points. Great ball handing by Grace,Tia and Katy with brilliant supporting play from Maizie, Lottie and Amy followed with all playing brilliantly as a team. Tia turned over the possession of the ball and after several passes between the players it was expertly received by Grace at pace, who ran through the remaining defence to score a try. In return, Old R’s ran through the defence to score a try, again levelling the score. Nearly out of time, Kingswood were under pressure and the ball was turned over by Old R’s. Even after some great tackling from the Hodge sisters and Kingswood getting close to gaining possession of the ball, it wasn’t enough and Old R’s scored a further try, now putting them in the lead. The ref advised that there was one more play of the ball. The girls all lined up knew what they had to do. The ball was passed among the team eventually ending up in the possession of Grace who broke through the Old R’s defence scoring the final try. The final score was Kingswood 5- Old Richians 5

Drybrook Vs Kingswood
Katy put Drybrook straight under pressure from the start by charging at them and putting in a great tackle. Drybrook faught on making ground towards the tryline but Kingswood weren’t giving them much room and constantly applied the pressure with great tackling from Maizie, Tia, Grace and Lottie. Kingwood gained possession and passed the ball to Amy who powered down the wing but was forced into touch before a try could be scored. Drybrook managed to force their way through the Kingswood defensive line and scored, putting them 1-0 up. The ball was passed to Lottie who also had a good run before being pushed into touch. Still at the right end of the pitch but no longer in possession the girls defended brilliantly. A great turn over of the ball from Katy, put her in possession and running through the defenders scoring a levelling try. From the re-start Drybrook scored a try but this was returned by kingswood doing the same straight afterwards with Grace scoring another levelling try. Drybook did the same, with them once again in the lead. Kingswood needed to level the score again before half time and following a speedy run by Amy down the wing, Kingswood thought they’d managed it, however, it wasn’t meant to be and Drybrook were awarded a scrum after a Kingswood Knock-on. Drybrook had a great run, nearly the whole length of the field to score a try just before half time. Half time score Drybrook 4 – Kingswood 2.
The second half started and Kingswood showed great determination. Their tackling, support play and passing was brilliant, keeping them in possession of the ball and fighting their way towards the try line. Kingswood won a scrum and passed the ball to Amy who had a great run down the wing but was forced into touch not far from the try line. Drybrook now in possession of the ball managed to pick their way through the Kingswood defence to score another try. From the re-start Grace had a great run, passed the ball to Tia, who scored. Drybrook then did the same and scored. Kingswood responded, this time with Grace scoring. Drybrook then did the same and scored. Drybrook were now leading 7 – 4 and nearly out of time Kingswood gave it their all. As the Kingswood players were being tackled the ball was being excellently presented and picked up by fellow players. The support by team mates and short bursts of running was making ground but Kingswood couldn’t find a way through the defence. Drybrook turned the ball over right as Kingswood were about to score. Kingswood instantly applied pressure, causing Drybrook to run backwards and drop the ball. With the ball in open play, right on the try-line, it was an instant scrabble to score. Lottie supported Tia to make this happen and Tia scored the last try of the game. Final Score Drybrook 7 – Kingswood 5

Final Game
The final game was against Old Bristolians (Old B’s) who had a very large squad. So with two borrowed players an 8 a-side game started. Right from the off Kingswood scored first. Great ball handling got the ball to one of the borrowed players who scored for Kingswood. Lottie turned over an Old B’s ball and popped it to Maizie. It was nearly another try but Maizie was just pushed into touch, right on the try-line. Kingwood turned the ball over again, this time with Amy nearly scoring, but due to losing possession of the ball right on the tryline it wasn’t to be. The next person to try and score was Grace who succeeded taking the score to 2-0. Great defending by Lottie and Tia kept Old B’s from scoring . Brilliant tackling from Grace and Katy did the same. When Kingswood did finally turn the ball over it was passed to Amy who scored a try putting Kingswood 3-0 up at half time.
It looked like Old B’s were going to score from the off but a great tackle from Grace stopped them in their tracks. The Kingswood girls re-grouped and even though there were more great tackles from Grace,Tia, Maizie and Katy Old B’s scored their first try. From the tap Maizie had a great run passing the ball to Lottie once tackled. Lottie passed to Kat who scored. From the re-start Kingswood turned the ball over this time getting it to Amy who scored putting Kingswood well in the lead. Old B’s speedily made their way up the pitch. A Brilliant tackle by Amy and Tia slowed them down but they managed to get the ball to one of their players and scored. Old B’s started to defend the game well and made it harder for Kingswood to break through the defence. Excellent drive, passing and well executed ball handling saw Kingswood maintain possession and battle their way through for Grace to score a try. With time nearly up Kingswood turned over another ball and Amy scored the final try. The final score of the game was Kingswood 7- Old Bristolians 2