Bath Ladies – Cheltenham Ladies

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Cheltenham go down to Bath in local derby

Cheltenham Tigers made the short trip to Bath in the 4th match of the Championship South season. Tigers have made a positive start at home, but unfortunately their away form has left a lot to be desired, and Sunday was no different.

Tigers started to show their attacking intent from the first whistle however the strong Bath defence kept them pinned into their own half. That is where the Tigers stayed for the majority of the first half. It wasn’t long until Bath realised the dominance they had at the scrum and at every opportunity looked to make the Tigers pack down. Then after a series of scum penalties, Bath capitalised with their number 8 scoring a converted try from the base of the scrum.

From the restart, Cheltenham again found it difficult to get any sort of possession or territory and it wasn’t long before they found themselves scrummaging on the 5 metre line again. Bath this time drove forward and the 8 picked and passed to the winger who scored out wide. They were unable to add the extras. Becky Wilson was also shown a yellow card for persistent scrum penalties.

Cheltenham showed some good attacking intent in the last 5 minutes of the half but were just unable to convert that pressure into points. However considering the forward dominance and lack of territory and possession, they did well to only be 12-0 down at half time.

Tigers came out with much more attacking intent and flair in the second half and started to put pressure on the Bath defence. A few opportunities were missed, but a great move from set piece saw Bee Mocellin throw an excellent miss pass for wing Maisie Jerrim-Wyse to run on to and beat the full back to score in the corner.

Bath looked dangerous at times in attack out wide, but full back Meg Youdan was always there with outstanding defence at the back. Tigers did have more opportunities to score but they were just unable to deliver the killer blow, which in the end cost them dear.
An unforced error in our own half saw Bath score an easy try and with less than 10 minutes left the score was 17-5. A few minutes later Bath fly half Sarah Holloway well and truly made sure the game was out of reach with a well taken drop goal. The game finished with a penalty to Bath who again were able to convert, taking the final score to 23-5.

Cheltenham are back at home this week and will be keen to ensure their home form is still consistent.