Bath Rugby Ladies began their second round of league matches last Sunday, welcoming local rivals Cheltenham Tigers Ladies to Lambridge.
With the November sun shining for them the home side began strongly, dominating territory in the opening quarter of the game. The visitors then opened the scoring with a penalty in front of the posts, which they successfully kicked to gain a 3-0 lead. The remainder of the continued as a stalemate, with both sides making inroads towards the opposition line, but both coming away unsuccessful.
The second half continued much as the first half had ended, with Bath and Cheltenham trading possession and territory, and the score still at 3-0. Despite a further handful of visits to the opposition 22, and stringing together strong runs in the forwards and some slick handling in the backs, the home side were denied the opportunity to score.
In the middle of the second half, with the home side reduced to 14 by a yellow card, the visitors began to capitalise on a tiring defence. With twenty minutes remaining, they chased up a kick to round the wing and score under the posts for their first try, which was converted.
This spurred Bath on, and they fought back with some promising possession and a number of turnovers at the scrum, but they were unable to make their mark on the scoreboard. Cheltenham then broke through for a second try on the wing, with the conversion going just wide, taking the score to 15-0.
In the final ten minutes, the visitors pulled further ahead, scoring a further two converted tries to bring the final score to 29-0.
The Bath Rugby Ladies squad will make the most of a short break in the schedule to build on the strengths the young side have shown so far this season, returning to face Hove Ladies away in Brighton on December 8th.
