Report: DMP Durham Sharks 3-50 Bristol Bears Women

What happened?

The West Country outfit started with a bang in the North East as Courtney Keight opened her account for the Bears finishing a sweeping backs move in the third minute.

No less than ten minutes later the visitors doubled their lead. No slick handling this time from the Bears, just brute force as Alisha Butchers burrowed her way over the line under a pile of bodies.

Despite DMP’s best efforts, the Bears came to play. They had their third score in the 23^rd minute via a sublime solo effort from Phoebe Murray as the centre fended off a tackle in the midfield and hurtled for the line to cross in the corner.

Lucy Burgess wrapped up the try-bonus point inside half an hour, running a sublime support line to cross on her return to the starting XV.

The Bears picked up where they let off at the start of the second half as Phoebe Murray secured her brace. Bears’ backline worked their magic yet again as they swiftly moved the ball through the hands to find a gap for the centre to ghost through.

Soon after, it was Alisha Butchers turn to bag her second. The athletic back rower demonstrated her ability in the loose as she burst through the DMP defence to round the full-back and finish from distance.

In the blink of an eye the Bears had their sixth. Simi Pam fulfilled all front rower’s dreams as she demonstrated serious wheels to sprint in from near halfway and chalk up her second try of the campaign.

Kayleigh Powell rounded off the scoring at the Northern Echo Arena as the full-back found an edge to race down the touchline and finish expertly in the corner.

DMP did get off the mark via a late penalty from the boot of Beth Blacklock to make the final score 50-3 to Bristol Bears Women.

Teams & Scorers: 

Bristol Bears Women: 15. Kayleigh Powell, 14. Courtney Keight, 13. Phoebe Murray 12. Lucie Skuse, 11. Jaz Joyce, 10. Elinor Snowsill, 9. Lucy Burgess; 1. Simi Pam, 2. Clara Nielson, 3. Ellie Mulhearn, 4. Hollie Cunningham, 5. Natalia John, 6. Alisha Butchers, 7. Manon Johnes, 8. Rownita Marston

Impact Players: 16. Alice Lockwood, 17. Sophie Phillips, 18. Stef Evans, 19. Marlo Boyd, 20. Jenny Herring, 21. Lauren Smyth, 22. Lily Stoeger, 23. Serena Settembri

Scorers: Keight 3’ (TRY), Butchers 17’, 46’  (TRY), Murray 24’, 38’ (TRY), Burgess 27’ (TRY), Pam 48’ (TRY), Powell 50’ (TRY), Snowsill 3’, 17’, 27’, 46’, 48’ (CON)

DMP Durham Sharks: 15. Evie Tonkin, 14. Holly Thorpe, 13. Abi Evans, 12. Beth Blacklock, 11. Fiona Blacklock, 10. Cara Cookland, 9. Chloe Brrom; 1. Emily Hunter, 2. Alana Bainbridge, 3. Sam Herrick, 4. Jess Wiesheu, 5. Amy Orrow, 6. Saskia Janzen, 7. Tiana Gordon, 8. Imo Keirl

Replacements: 16. Nic Haynes, 17. Lauren Hart, 18. Meg Gardner, 19. Caitlin Simpson, 20. Orla McCallion

Scorers: Blacklock 57' (PEN)

Key Moment: Lucy Burgess

Bears blew the Sharks out of the water inside thirty minutes securing a try-bonus point before heading into the sheds for the half-time break.

Lucy Burgess finished a fast break from the Bears running a trademark inside line from a scrum-half to dive over the chalk on her return to the starting line-up.

Clinical.

Player of the match: Alisha Butchers

The all-action back rower was at the heart of everything good for the Bears this afternoon putting in a huge shift across the seventy minutes.

She dominated the tackle area hitting well above her weight and wreaking havoc at the breakdown.

Not to mention the small feat of two tries. The first saw her flex her muscles and power of from short range and the second via an outstanding finish from distance.

Dynamite.