West Norfolk Women maintain unbeaten start

The first game of 2025 saw West Norfolk’s Women travel to Diss following an eight-week break.Diss struggled to get a full team sheet, so West loaned two players to ensure the match went ahead.Wintery conditions and a waterlogged pitch meant that the game was slow to get going and the West back line saw little of the ball.After several disallowed tries, West Norfolk’s top point scorer Jade Nicholson converted a penalty to start the scoreboard ticking over.West had most of the possession during the opening quarter, but handling errors and lots of stoppages meant the score remained static for both sides until Rosie Lingham took advantage from the back of a ruck and quickly recycled the ball on the five-metre line to dive over for the first try.Visiting West Norfolk upped the pace, moving the ball better and pushing back Diss with line breaks, culminating in fly-half Sarah Hodgson scoring another try to make it 13-0 at half-time.From the restart, West were like different players. They continued to turn over every Diss scrum and steal the ball at the breakdown and whilst the conditions didn’t allow for the normal free-flowing play that West love, they still had brilliant runs from forwards Cora Hunter and Ella Fuller-Saunders, alongside centre Jess Milnes.Poppy Wakefield – who returned at Number 8 – and second-row Ruth Denham were bouncing Diss players out of their way to drive the play forward, with the visiting backs getting involved at the breakdown to keep the play flowing.The dominant scrums paid off in the third quarter when West pushed Diss backwards, Wakefield picked up the ball at the base of the scrum, bounced two defending players off and ran in a great individual try out wide. Nicholson and the other West backline repeatedly crashed into the Diss defence, driving them backwards. Nicholson quickly scored and converted her own try.West Norfolk refused to let Diss out of their half, with every attack being turned over, showing the strength of their gameplay. Soon after, another forward try came from repeated attacking phases by West on the Diss five-metre line, battering the home side and Fuller-Saunders carried three defenders over the line to score, with Nicholson neatly converting.One final try came for Nicholson, giving her 17 points for the day and West started their centenary year with a win and 37 points against Diss. Coach James Burroughs said: “We’ve got players out of position; many suffering from illnesses and Diss have greatly improved since we last played then, but our team showed their commitment to each other and kept another clean sheet. I’m proud of them.”Forward of the Match: Rosie Lingham sponsored by Fendick’s Fisheries.Back of the Match: Meg Burroughs, sponsored by The Foot Fairy.West Norfolk Women’s next game is at home on Sunday, January 19 (2pm).