LESSONS TO LEARN FOR IMPERIAL WOMEN'S AFTER A LOSS TO LSE

Match 1 – Imperial vs. Birmingham

A fiery start to the first ever women’s Nationals! Having watched Birmingham play LSE all the girls were feeling the adrenaline of ‘smooshing’ them. The game started with a raid from Shivani and this really got the momentum going. The raiders from Birmingham were definitely caught off-guard by Atisha’s and Sravani’s tackles and we managed to keep most of the raiders from getting a point.

By half time we definitely knew we were up and all the girls were confident. We say spectacular raids from Amee, Shivani and Atisha. The defence proved that good formation and tactic wins. Sravani made a beautiful tackle taking out their captain. By the end of the match the girls were hyped and ready to take on the next game.

Match 2 – Imperial vs. LSE

Needless to say, this was the big match for us. Having lost to the historical rivals at London Zone, we watched endless footage, analysed individual LSE players’ strengths and weaknesses and worked up an appetite for revenge.

Following a motivational speech from our coach Prajesh Jadeja, (which I kid you not, had us all close to tears) we were raring to go. We started off the match strong with a steady stream of raid points and a solid defence which was moving well. Consecutive LSE touches from Atisha and Shivani saw us creep ahead, with Anisha making a solid corner tackle on the LSE number 9. However despite our strength in raiding, our defensive focus began to drop resulting in a couple of mistimed tackles and slow support.

The second half unfortunately showed no comeback. We were down to three players and the LSE number 3 was up to raid. Positioning errors meant an unsuccessful tackle from the right corner, which also meant our center was touched in the process. With Amee left as the only player on the pitch to raid, this saw another all-out and LSE continued to climb.

The fresh start allowed us to regain our momentum. Two consecutive tackles by Atisha were successful due to Sravani’s rapid support. The next few raids however saw our main raiders get touched and before we knew it, we were down to two players on the pitch again. A strong attempt at a tackle from Nandi failed against LSE’s strongest player Thalya, who managed to touch Bhagyata on her way out. The second IC all-out of the half also marked the end of the match. The final score was 26-16 to LSE.

All in all, we had a strong start. The strength in our raiding was proof of the work we had put into perfecting footwork and increasing awareness during training. What let us down were the attempted tackles which were mistimed or suffering in technique.

But what got us down will only make us stronger. Watch the girls train harder than ever in the following weeks. Watch us get low, drive through and get ready to knock those girls right off the pitch.