Oulton Raidettes 20 Salford Red Devils 22 Match Report
A moment of sheer brilliance from fullback, Anna Dennis, a mere two and a half minutes from the end of this absorbing, extremely important, and most intense encounter between two evenly matched sides, was the determining factor in its eventual successful outcome for the Salford Red Devils women’s team, at the final whistle.
Dennis has been a highly significant figure in virtually every game in which she has donned her shirt this season, both scoring tries of her own, and setting them up for others, to put Salford in the mix for a possible place in the end-of- season play-offs, but none of them has been as crucial, nor as breath-taking, as the one she instigated in yesterday’s vital win, on their trip into Yorkshire.
With the Red Devils penned in their own thirty metre area, four points adrift at 20-16, and time rapidly running down, she took the game by the scruff of the neck, and secure in the knowledge that clean breaks had definitely been at a premium all match, lured the defence into advancing towards her, but then put in the most cleanly executed chip and chase one could ever hope to see, cutting between opposing players to retake the ball and set off down the left flank.
With defenders coming at her along the way she beat one after the other, until there was one too many standing in her way.
Good as it is in itself, a clean break is only as good as the support it gets from others, and the great experience of stand-off, Louise Fellingham, had her at the fullback’s shoulder the very moment she was needed, to take the fine pass she was sent, before handing it on to centre, Lauren Ellison to go over between the posts, for the equalising score.
There was still, however, the little matter of the conversion, and Dennis had not had the happiest of days with the boot, in this respect, having failed to convert a single attempt, primarily because all, bar one, had been from the touchline.
A lesser player might, therefore, have had qualms at taking this one, but not so Anna Dennis, as she firmly and confidently, slotted it over the bar and between the uprights.
The quite substantial slope on the field, from end-to-end, had played a most evident part in the way the game had unfolded, with the home side having the advantage of it in the first half, although it took them up to ten minutes to actually use it.
For that ten minutes, it was Salford, who dominated both possession and field position, setting up several attacks on the Raidettes’ line.
Success dually came on seven minutes. Initially, it was hooker and skipper, Taz Corcoran, who surged forward, from dummy half, towards the line, only to be held up short, at which time the Oulton players thought they had discouraged any further such attempts.
Not so, as the following time it was prop, Megan Bragg, who has had an outstanding run of performances recently, whose extra strength and power got her through the line and over the try line, to be able to ground the ball cleanly.
The four-point lead this established lasted four minutes, when after Oulton started to take command, with their big, powerful forwards charging up, one at a time, taking them from one end of the field to the other in a single set, with one player hit-ups, which, with a number of repeat sets, saw them camped in the Salford twenty-metre area for much of the remainder of the half.
Magnificently as the Red Devils defended, the pressure was inevitably going to tell and the equalising try came on 13 mins, when, after three back-to-back sets had worn down the defence, the Raidettes forced an overlap on their left and crossed in the corner.
The pressure which then followed was unrelenting, and consequently, two further tries close to the posts gave the home side a significant twelve-point lead, which had they managed to hold onto, would have given Salford what would probably have proven to be an insurmountable deficit to overcome.
As it was, some relief, in the form of a couple of penalties enabled them to establish a foothold near to the opposition’s line, and a superb little round-the-back pass, on 39 mins, by scrum half, Ellie Costello, put Dennis through for a four-pointer, which was to prove crucial for their second half, with the 16-8, half-time scoreline.
The Red Devils’ confidence was given an early boost, upon the restart, when, on 46 mins, wonderfully slick hands on the right edge put winger and debutant, Grace Barrett in at the corner, and suddenly, Salford were back in the contest.
The beauty of having had the slope in your favour during the first half is that you are still pretty fresh at the start, and for much of the opening fifteen or so minutes, of the second half, whilst your opponents have had the half time interval only, in which to regather some energy.
This was certainly something of which Oulton players were fully aware, as they set to re-establish their command, and they restored more of their lead, on 59 mins, with an unconverted try.
The arm wrestles, which dominated so much of the game throughout, were punctuated by some quite remarkable defence, and outstanding one-on-one tackles.
As late as the 70th minute, a gang tackle took one of the Raidettes back over their own line, thereby forcing a goal-line drop-out, substitute, Lydia Egan, effected a magnificent upending of an opponent, in the 72nd minute, fullback, Dennis, twice made try-savers, on 30 and 56 mins, but the tackle of the match came in the 62nd minute from Bragg, with one almighty hit that must have shaken her target to the bone.
The stage, for that quite sensational ending, however, was finally set on 67 mins, when Fellingham put Caitlin Washington in at the left corner, to then leave the Dennis, Fellingham, Ellison trio to wreak the devastation of their hosts, who themselves had contributed so much to this thrilling encounter.
With one more league game to complete – an away visit to Cardiff in a fortnight’s time – the players now have the comfort of knowing their fate is in their own hands.
SALFORD
Anna Dennis, Grace Barrett, Lauren Ellison, Alex Simpson, Bethany Cox, Louise Fellingham, Ellie Costello, Kayleigh Bradshaw, Taz Corcoran, Megan Bragg, Caitlin Washington, Steph Gray, Maddison Price.
Interchanges
Holly Waddington, Yasmin Parton-Sotomayor, Lydia Egan, Emily Carlisle.
18th Player: Emily Bagguley
