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Match Report -National Shield Competition
Jess Butler3 Mar 2023 - 21:15
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Inverness Craig Dunain RFC Women v Shetland Valkyries
”Shetland is always an important game for us, it’s a tough loss but one we’ll learn from and take into our next game."
- Hannah Chisholm, Captain
Ourselves and the Shetland Women know each other well, having both been present at the inauguration of the Women’s North League several years ago and our games are always hotly contested and exciting.
This fixture certainly lived up to that expectation with end-to-end action and possession switching back and forth between the two evenly matched teams, providing an entertaining game of rugby for the spectators in attendance.
Shetland scored first but Inverness soon hit back with a try of their own through the powerful running of Captain Hannah Chisholm. Then followed a patch of play where tries were scored by both teams, with lock, Sharon Brotherton spotting a gap from the back of a ruck through which she charged to score unchallenged under the posts for Inverness. Fly half Kaylan Grainger duly converted.
Inverness had been working on their physicality and this bore fruit in the game, with the players breaking the gain line continually when in attack and pushing up strongly into the Shetland lasses’ faces in defence and forcing knock ons and putting the visitors under all sorts of pressure. During the second half some lovely passing by the Inverness women saw an overlap created and this put winger Madison Clay -Shewan through to score another try for ICD. Shetland also scored again leaving the teams tied on 17 points apiece.
As the game progressed, every scrum, lineout and breakdown was fiercely contested. Inverness had a run of successful mauls resulting in scrums in their favour and spent significant periods of time in their opponent’s 22, but ultimately it was a game that despite the pressure exerted by the Inverness women, ended as one of missed chances, small errors and try scoring opportunities lost, with a player held up over the try line and a ball lost forward over the whitewash.
In the end, it came down to the last 10 minutes of the game when a small gap appeared in the Inverness defence. This was exploited by Shetland and they took full advantage, sneaking through for a final try to take them 5 points clear. Despite a spirited attacking effort on the final restart by Inverness, that was the last score as time ticked away, and the match ended 17-22 to the visitors.
The effort put in by the Inverness women who were playing with a depleted squad through injury and work, and players stepping up to fill new positions was immense. Everyone played with heart, resilience and determination and as usual left nothing on the pitch. Huge thanks to Vega Ouyang and Lizzie Nuttall from our neighbours at Moray RFC for joining us again for the game.
Try Scorers: Hannah Chisholm , Sharon Brotherton, Madison Clay-Shewan
Conversions: Kaylan Grainger (1)
Forward of the Match: Donna MacKenzie
Back of the Match: Jenna Woods
Player of the Match ( as picked by Shetland): Hannah Chisholm
DOTD: Jess Butler
This fixture certainly lived up to that expectation with end-to-end action and possession switching back and forth between the two evenly matched teams, providing an entertaining game of rugby for the spectators in attendance.
Shetland scored first but Inverness soon hit back with a try of their own through the powerful running of Captain Hannah Chisholm. Then followed a patch of play where tries were scored by both teams, with lock, Sharon Brotherton spotting a gap from the back of a ruck through which she charged to score unchallenged under the posts for Inverness. Fly half Kaylan Grainger duly converted.
Inverness had been working on their physicality and this bore fruit in the game, with the players breaking the gain line continually when in attack and pushing up strongly into the Shetland lasses’ faces in defence and forcing knock ons and putting the visitors under all sorts of pressure. During the second half some lovely passing by the Inverness women saw an overlap created and this put winger Madison Clay -Shewan through to score another try for ICD. Shetland also scored again leaving the teams tied on 17 points apiece.
As the game progressed, every scrum, lineout and breakdown was fiercely contested. Inverness had a run of successful mauls resulting in scrums in their favour and spent significant periods of time in their opponent’s 22, but ultimately it was a game that despite the pressure exerted by the Inverness women, ended as one of missed chances, small errors and try scoring opportunities lost, with a player held up over the try line and a ball lost forward over the whitewash.
In the end, it came down to the last 10 minutes of the game when a small gap appeared in the Inverness defence. This was exploited by Shetland and they took full advantage, sneaking through for a final try to take them 5 points clear. Despite a spirited attacking effort on the final restart by Inverness, that was the last score as time ticked away, and the match ended 17-22 to the visitors.
The effort put in by the Inverness women who were playing with a depleted squad through injury and work, and players stepping up to fill new positions was immense. Everyone played with heart, resilience and determination and as usual left nothing on the pitch. Huge thanks to Vega Ouyang and Lizzie Nuttall from our neighbours at Moray RFC for joining us again for the game.
Try Scorers: Hannah Chisholm , Sharon Brotherton, Madison Clay-Shewan
Conversions: Kaylan Grainger (1)
Forward of the Match: Donna MacKenzie
Back of the Match: Jenna Woods
Player of the Match ( as picked by Shetland): Hannah Chisholm
DOTD: Jess Butler
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