Lismore Ladies embarked upon their Road to Murrayfield with their opening tie in the Group Stages of the National Cup competition at home to Premier League side Kirkcaldy.  The match, originally schedule for the Fife capital, was moved to Wardie and with the tropical 9 degree temperatures beating down on the infamous slope, the chances of a Cup upset was very much on the cards.

Top Female referee Alex Pratt, who was the Woman in the Middle for stablemates Broughton in their clash against Penicuik earlier in the season, wasn’t keen on the similarity of strips on display and a quick hunt around in the changing rooms saw the Lismore side don the BATS S2’s jerseys for the game!!

The match started at a frantic pace with Lismore using the hill to their advantage, coming out the traps and at their loftier opponents with true fight and determinate that showed why they were recently awarded the Rugby World Club of the Month title.  Such was the audacity of the underdogs, missing Captain Lyth and playmaker Appleby who were in France on International duty, they prevented Kirkcaldy from venturing out of the own half for the opening quarter of the game and were unlucky not to take the lead when Foley set out on a one-woman mission to beat down the tourists defence.  The Kiwi rampaged through the middle of the park and was eventually thwarted 5 metres from the whitewash.  Such was her determination and drive, the rest of the chasing pack of forwards was left behind and ‘Feral’ was isolated and had to surrender possession.

There was a lot of huffing and puffing from the Lismore players but they just couldn’t break down the resolute defence despite Foley, Patrick and Neary all coming close with scintillating flashes of individual brilliance.

A collective nose-bleed almost occurred on the pitch on the half-hour as Kirkcaldy made it over the half-way line but even that didn’t bring any luck as the plucky Simmonite bundled her opposite number into touch shy of the Lismore 10 metre line.

With the half coming to a close and the teams akin to your writers ears – nothing between them – Kirkcaldy seized their opportunity to score on their first serious raid on the Lismore line.  With the home side defending well, a stray hand caused the ball to move forward and it was a scrum just 10 metres out to the tourists.  From the base of the scrum the ball broke out and the visiting scrum-half managed to squeeze in to the corner for a try despite the close attentions and efforts of Lynn.  0-5.

Lismore Coach McClure asked his players for more of the same in the second half and with only one try separating the sides, everything was to play for. 

The Kirkcaldy players were clearly bemused by the tenacity of the Lismore tackling and the fact that they hadn’t killed of lesser competition in the opening 40 minutes and they came out for the second half no doubt with strong words from their coach ringing in their ears.

It seemed to pay off and within 5 minutes of the restart they doubled their lead with a try.  The forwards set up a ruck deep inside the Lismore 22 and from that platform they pushed the ball out wide leaving Lynn the misfortune of deciding whether to stay out on her wing to cover her player or to drift inside to prevent the No.12 from scoring.  If ever there was a crueller 50/50 decision to make then this was it.  Sadly for Lynn, she was cruelly exposed and the numerical advantage left her with no real chance to prevent the score.  0-10.

Calloghan saved a clear try scoring opportunity for the Kirkcaldy winger as she waited to Swiss timing precision before making her tackle but her efforts were in vain as the ball went back inside the line for the lively centre to run in for a try. 0-15.

A carbon copy score on the hour put paid to the match as a contest at 0-20 however the Lismore players were determined not to let their heads go down and allow themselves to be bullied into submission.  Neary showed the kind of dynamic running that earned her a call-up to the Academy side alongside team-mate Roche, travelling some 30 yards before being halted 5 metres out.  Lynn was in support but a ninja-esque swinging arm crudely thwarted her progress towards the line.  A tired Lismore pack lost possession from the resultant penalty and the ball was eventually cleared much to the relief of the Kirkcaldy side.

As the game headed towards it final stages, Kinghorn saved a certain try as she looked light on her loafers on the sticky surface, racing back and bringing the Kirkcaldy winger down to earth with a bang.

A final try for Kirkcaldy put the icing on the cake in the 71st minute in what can only be a useful experience for the Lismore team who hope to join their opponents in the top league next season.

The match ended in slightly un-easy circumstances as Kinghorn lay on the turf after trying to prevent the try and with thanks to ‘Doc’ from Kirkcaldy and Megan & Ruth, they ensured that the winger was kept still after appearing to suffer a neck injury.  After a trip to the RIE in the ambulance and a check-up, the news is good from Camp Kinghorn who was released later than evening without any treatment required.

Lismore Player of the Match was Molly Patrick who also won the award from the opposition.  The nominated drinker of the second pint was Hannah Foley who was in close contention for the award also.

One final mention and perhaps a retrospective dirty pint next week was for Nadine’s admission that she had burnt her new training jacket by not only ironing it, but ironing over the transferred letters!!!

Final score: Lismore WRFC 0 – 27 Kirkcaldy WRFC