Hurricanes Ladies Descend on Doha.
The Hurricanes ladies descended on Doha for the second tournament in the local Ladies league this weekend. The Hurricanes had a point to make after a narrowly missing a finals spot last tournament to the reining champs Abu Dhabi. That meant that after the first tournament Hurricanes were third on the table and it was team decision that this position would be rectified this tournament with a must win attitude adopted from all players. The team was dealt an early blow with key players ruled out from injury and visa issues the week before. Natasha Harradine our scrum half was out with a case of severe shin splints so she adopted a new role as coach as our normal coach Red had to watch from the crowd due to a suspension in one of his club games. The team was also missing Lilly Bell, Anu Isacks and Candy Fanucci due to passport dramas. So it was time for the new girls to step up and they did not disappoint. The girls were exceptional and fitted into the team well completing planned moves and set phases. One of the stand outs was Clem Charles which one debut scored 2 tries. The travelling team was as follows – The oldies – Yon Smith, Jennie Thompson, Bridie Johnson, Sarah Bennett, Sam McGhie, Elke Vinck, Frankie Foley and Bernie Bray. The new comers – Sarah Nash, Clem Charles, Sasha-Rey Texiera, Danielle Jantzi, Emi Beregudo, Alisha McNeven and, new to the Hurrcicanes coming from Exiles, young one Holly Myers. The 2 early matches proved easy for the girls with easy wins over Kuwait and Sharjah however the defense from the Canes was strong with some punishing tackles put in by Bridie Johnson. Then came the last game in the round against Toa. A win in this game would see the Hurricanes meet arch rivals Abu Dhabi in the final to play off for first and second. The game was a tough and a step up from the previous 2 matches but last minute try put Hurricanes in a delicate postion. Jennie Thompson had a 40 meter chase down, saving Canes from another Toa try but breaking her nose in the tackle. This saw Hurricanes win 19-10 thus booking a place in the final. The final – Hurricanes v Abu Dhabi !!!!!! This game saw the return of Sarah Bennett who was earlier taken to hospital with a suspected broken sternum or rib. After a shot of pain killers she was back and thank goodness as she opened the scoring through a blind side 75 meter dash for the first points under the sticks. Yon Smith didn’t fail to make it 7-nil with her boot to convert. After spewing up blood from nose and mouth due to earlier smash up, Jennie rallied herself to add points to the board as she sliced through 3 players to tear up the middle to make it 12 – nil and again Yonny didn’t disappoint to make it 14 – 0. The second half was a massive defensive effort for the Canes as at one stage they played with 6 when Jennie left the field with blood streaming from her face. As Abu Dhabi continued to pelt the defensive line Abu Dhabi’s Stella nipped through with one of her 2 tries to put the score at 10-14. It was 30 seconds to go and the girls could feel victory. They held on against 3 phases of play until eventually getting the ball from Abu Dhabi and kicking it out. It was a brilliant team effort that saw the Hurricanes girls come out on top and creep closer to the top of the table which is where they belong.
28/10/2009
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