Burnaby Lake Women Win Again

Ladies chalk up a big win despite losing Key Players to National Duties

With the day dawning to a rather wet welcome as the west coast monsoon season made it’s presence felt, November 7th saw Burnaby Lake at home to an always tough Meraloma squad.
Both teams were missing key players due to the upcoming Canada tour, giving others a chance to step up and perform in the premier arena. Again players were asked to play in unfamiliar roles, with no one stepping up more than Kary Steele at Tight Head Prop. The backline also had an unfamiliar look to it with Suelyn Wirth at 10, Tanya Hamilton at 12, and Deb Capps at 14.
The opening 10 minutes found Burnaby very much on the back foot as the Lomas asserted themselves in the scrums, constantly driving Burnaby backwards at the breakdown. That was however until the ball got inside the Burnaby 22. The Burnaby defence tightened up and the defensive pressure started. The Lomas tried to spin the ball wide hoping to get their young back three the ball in space, but for four consecutive phases Burnaby tackled the Lomas backs behind the gain line, and eventually, the Lomas conceded a penalty for not releasing.
The game see-sawed for the next 15 minutes with neither team making a decisive break. Eventually sustained pressure inside the Lomas 22 resulted in a Burnaby scrum with a 20 meter blind side. The Vancouver Police Department’s own Marley Harris took the ball from the base of the scrum and ran up the blind side ducking through a tackle to open the scoring with the games first try.
With Anna Schnell off on Canada duty, Suelyn Wirth was running the backline at FH and 2 minutes after the first score, Suey orchestrated the next try with a deft chip kick that was miss-handled by the Lomas young right wing. Tanya Hamilton provided the pressure which then gave Becky Querido an opportunity to show that she knows her way to in goal. Becky gratefully accepted the ball, got away from the pursuing winger, then ran a very nice inside outside line to buy herself the time and space to dot the ball down for the second try. Score 10-0 for Burnaby.
Burnaby kept up the pressure, and kept the Lomas hemmed inside their half, eventually being rewarded with a penalty at the Lomas 5m line. A quick tap later and Brenna Glover dove over the line. 15 – 0 for Burnaby.
The second half saw the inevitable as the Lomas increased their intensity, dominating the scrums, stringing together phases and generally upping the pressure. After successfully working the ball to the 22, one of the Lomas found a gap in the Burnaby defensive line and darted through to score.
Burnaby tried to string together a few phases over the next 5 minutes with limited success as the Lomas kept up the pressure. Eventually a flat miss pass was intercepted by an alert Lomas centre who gratefully scampered down the pitch to score under the posts. The try was converted bringing the score to Burnaby 15 – Lomas 12.
Sensing that this was a key moment in the match the Burnaby back row of captain Katie Larsen, Marley Harris and Laura Harmse, upped the work rate and tackled anything that moved. Laura was everywhere she needed to be (and a few places she shouldn’t have been according to the ref), Marley made a monster hit that made me think that Kary Steele had made the tackle. Katie carried the ball effectively and tidied up the base of the scrum. And as she had in the first half, Kary Steele started exploring the fringes of the rucks, consistently battling to get the first few yards to get us moving forward.
Increased Burnaby pressure was rewarded with a penalty inside the Lomas 22, and 2 passes after a quick tap later Mel Miyazaki struck, finding a gap in the Loma defence. Impeccable timing indeed! Burnaby 22 – Lomas 12.
Burnaby rounded out the day with a fifth try late in the match. Suelyn taking the ball blind to find Mel Miyazaki, who in turn straightened the angle to preserve space and passed to fullback Lindsay Bernrot who side stepped the cover to score in the corner.

Final Score Burnaby 27 – Lomas 12

A great effort by all players to battle through adversity and find a way to win, with special mention given to Laura Harmse who had an outstanding match.

Posted by Roko at November 7, 2009 11:36 PM