Panthers defeated
Simon Brodie
THE OXFORD PANTHERS were torn apart by bursts of flair from a rogue Harlequin in the Cambridge side on Sunday of ninth week. In a classic encounter, they went down fighting by 25 points to 15 at the Christ Church pitch.
Oxford started the brighter of the two sides, and Miriam Ireland scored an early try following a clever set-piece from a lineout on the left wing.
The Panthers' impressive forward and back line moves dominated the game, until about 10 minutes from the end of the first half when the Cambridge number 11 broke down the Oxford right, evading a number of chasing Panthers, and touched down successfully.
This opened the floodgates, and in the space either side of half time the same Cambridge player, a Harlequin, added three further tries in exactly the same fashion.
But the Oxford side were not demoralised, and continued to press forward doggedly. Unfortunately, and somewhat unluckily, this was to no avail.
Although Anna Warren and Helen Barnes added two further tries for Oxford, and most of Cambridge's conversion attempts dribbled feebly along the ground, the Panthers were unable to capitalise.
The one weakness in Oxford's game was their tendency to be drawn into the centre of the pitch by rugged Cambridge forward moves, allowing Cambridge continually to have a man over on their left in the form of the number 11.
Nevertheless, there were many fine performances from Oxford players. In particular Rachel Thomas was very effective at fly-half, feeding the ball out well, and Anna Warren made many powerful breaks. Anya Saunders and Mary Stewart also put in some determined defending in midfield.
The spirited Panthers side can take heart from this performance, the final score not being a fair reflection of the balance of play. A disappointing end to the season, but there is a great deal of talent to build on for next year.
Oxford: V. Cooper, H. Cooper, Mace, Dance, Brindley, Galley, Lohman, Warren, Landells, Thomas, Barnes, Saunders, Stewart, Olive(c), Ireland
27th Apr 2000