Image Credit: Hayley Mooney
By Lee Clow and Harrison Kidd
23 October 2019 | Women's Western Tier 1
A LAST-GASP try from Amy Evans earned the University of South Wales a dramatic 20-15 victory over the University of Gloucestershire.
Second-half tries from Emily Pratt, Lauren Read and match-winner Amy Evans overturned a 12-point deficit to defeat the South Western English side.
Gloucester started off the brighter and following a good defensive block, Daisy French was able to score the first try of the game. Avy Devgun successfully kicked her conversion to make for a positive start for the visitors.
Emily Pratt proved to be a threat for USW in the first half as she created the first try for USW by a positive run then off-loading it to Amy Evans who scored the first try for USW in the 31 st minute.
Devgun dealt Mark Hutton’s side a late first-half blow as she assisted left-wing Vanessa Longdon-Hughes in Gloucestershire restoring their lead. The outside-half ran towards 40 meters, after intercepting a pass on halfway before off-loading it to Longdon-Hughes.
Gloucestershire extended their lead early in the second-half Gemma Schrader scored a try to make it 5-17 after good build-up play down the right-hand side. The visitors failed from their conversion, allowing USW a slight chance of a comeback.
Following Scharder’s try, USW began to mount attacks as they began their revival. Emily Pratt, who was the home sides brightest spark in the first half, continued to showcase her quality.
Pratt broke through the visitor’s defensive line to score to provide hope for USW as an immediate response to Scharder’s effort.
The Gloucestershire defence that had been so strong for much of the game, began to show signs of weakness late in the second half as USW began piling on huge pressure.
USW’s continuous pressure soon became too much as Lauren Read, bundled the ball over the try line to make it reduce the deficit to two after failing to level from the conversion.
With the clock ticking, it looked like USW were going to just fall short as Gloucestershire tightened up at the back making it harder for the home side to mount a late push.
However, after good desire and determination, Amy Evans managed to breakthrough and forced the ball over the line in the final minute to score her second try of the game and complete USW’s heroic comeback.
A victory and a fantastic second-half performance by USW will certainly give them huge confidence for their next game when they host Bournemouth at the Sport Park.
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