Trailfinders Women defeat Gloucester-Hartpury to secure their place in the PWR play-offs for the first time in the team’s history.
Round Seventeen opened with a midfield contest until Trailfinders drew an early penalty. Meg Jones went for touch and gained Trailfinders territory. Another penalty for Trailfinders in the visitors’ 22 meant that Jones opted for the corner. A lineout into the driving maul saw Trailfinders go over for their first score on the fourth minute by Georgia Ponsonby. Niamh Gallagher added the conversion.
The visitors looked to respond and they did so through the hands of Emma Sing. Gloucester-Hartpury attacked to get themselves into the 22. The edge was on and Emma Sing soared through the gap for the visitors’ first score.
After the restart, Gloucester-Hartpury let slip another penalty near the halfway line. Jones kicked the ball down field for Ponsonby to throw the lineout. The women in green went left then back towards the centre. Abi Burton carried on the right edge until the visitors conceded yet another penalty. Gloucester-Hartpury did a solid job of defending the driving maul and short range attack. A second penalty saw Trailfinders go from short range again but a held up ball gave the visitors a goal line dropout.
A kick-chase down field saw Gloucester-Hartpury draw a penalty of their own and come away victorious with a second try from the hands of Kelsey Jones.
The visitors looked to have the upper hand near the end of the first quarter but an intercept from Ella Amory gave Trailfinders another attacking platform. But a grubber through was gathered by the Gloucester-Hartpury back three. The visitors went out to the right to Mia Venner who averted Trailfinders defenders to score Gloucester-Hartpury’s third try.
The women in green were determined to respond to the visitors’ calls. Back in the visitors’ 22, Trailfinders went through the phases. But once again Glouceser-Hartpury held the ball up over the tryline.
Trailfinders held firm in defence against another Glouceter-Hartpury attacking wave. A loose ball from the visitors saw Carys Cox kick and chase, taking Trailfinders into the 22. Gloucester-Hartpury leaked another penalty that reset the attack for Trailfinders. The women in green opted for the tap and go. They came away victorious with a try from the hands of Alivia Leatherman.
With three minutes left on the clock, Trailfinders won a penalty for a collapsed scrum. Meg Jones booted the ball into touch for another Ponsonby lineout. Trailfinders opted for width for the visitors managed to secure possession after a stripped ball. But Burton stripped the ball back a few phases later and the referee awarded Trailfinders a penalty for Gloucester-Hartpury’s hands in the ruck.
Penalties came from both sides left, right, and centre with still no cards being shown. A Trailfinders penalty followed by a Gloucester-Hartpury penalty gave Trailfinders the attacking edge as the clock dwindled towards half-time.
Trailfinders committed to the driving maul from the linout after Alana Borland gathered in the air. Trailfinders players piled into the maul to push forward with great success. Haidee Head scored Trailfinders’ third try to take the home side into the lead at half-time.
Half-time: Trailfinders Women 17-15 Gloucester-Hartpury
Trailfinders skipper Kate Zackary gathered the second-half kick-off and drew another penalty. Meg Jones saw the opportunity for a chip and chase which came off perfectly. Ella Amory was on Jones’ outside and Jones opted for the pass to the scrum-half. Amory soared over for Trailfinders’ bonus-point score. N. Gallagher converted.
Gloucester-Hartpury responded two minutes later. Huge carries from their forwards eventually saw Bethan Lewis force her way through to the tryline to narrow the scoreline. Sing converted.
The following five minutes saw a tit for tat contest on the ball with Trailfinders coming away victorious from the kicking competition. Claire Gallagher put boot to ball for a 50-22 to set Trailfinders up in Gloucester-Hartpury’s half.
Abi Pritchard was sent to the sin bin after the visitors continued to leak penalties. With the numerical advantage in Gloucester’s 22, Trailfinders sought the tryline once again.
Trailfinders hit another driving maul from Ponsonby’s lineout. Isla Norman-Bell took the ball out of the maul and sent the ball inside to Jones who made metres then offloaded to Emma Uren who scored under the posts. Rosie Inman converted the extras.
Hannah Dallavalle was shown a yellow card for pulling Zackary on the floor. Gloucester-Hartpury were down to thirteen players.
Making the most of the numerical advantage, Trailfinders hunted for a sixth try. Carys Cox was the recipient of the try who finished the score on the wing. Rosie Inman slotted the conversion from the wide angle.
Bethan Lewis secured a second try of the evening after Gloucester-Hartpury made the most of chaos on the field in broken play. The visitors re-asserted their systems for Lewis to storm over the tryline.
Trailfinders looked to extend the scoreline after they were awarded another penalty. Inman’s boot was good and took the score past the 40-point mark.
Trailfinders remained fierce in defence, determined to secure their play-off place in style.
Yet, Gloucester-Hartpury were not done and sought the try-line once more from the hands of Neve Jones.
A missed-thrown Gloucester-Hartpury lineout saw Cris Blanco gather. Trailfinders held onto the ball, looking to run the clock down. But a knock-on saw a scrum as the clock tipped into eighty minutes. The visitors drew a penalty at the scrum and made metres as Trailfinders were defending on their try-line. A cross-field kick to Pritchard saw the visitors go over for try number seven.
Trailfinders held on to the lead and with fantastic game management, they defeated Gloucester-Hartpury. They are the first team to beat the cherry and whites since November 2024 and the win secures them a play-off spot for the first time in the team’s history.
Full-time: Trailfinders Women 41-39 Gloucester-Hartpury
Trailfinders Women:
Tries: Georgia Ponsonby 4, Alivia Leatherman 33, Haidee Head 40, Ella Amory 41, Emma Uren 52, Carys Cox 60
Conversions: Niamh Gallagher 5 41, Rosie Inman 53 61
Penalties: Rosie Inman 70
Gloucester-Hartpury:
Tries: Emma Sing 9, Kelsey Jones 18, Mia Venner 21, Bethan Lewis 43 64, Neve Jones 76
Conversions: Emma Sing 44
Yellow Card: Abi Pritchard 50, Hannah Dallavalle 55
