Lionesses on Track for SM Finals Qualification
The third of four SM 7s 2014 qualification rounds saw our ladies head down to Trelleborg to compete in the tougher of the two groups against Kalmar, Pingvin and Vänersborg. Despite some early travel issues when Malin’s car decided it needed a new axel, the girls arrived on time and ready to enjoy the rugby as well as the scorching sun.
Having talked about starting fast in the trainings leading up to the weekend, the girls not only achieved this, but put Kalmar to the sword in the process with a huge score of 39-0. Despite the Kalmar side being a bit weaker than the one we lost to 7-0 in the Gota Series, it’s doubtful the result would have been any different if they were at full strength with the way our ladies dominated the match from start to finish. Martina Vivlund scored early and often as she was the beneficiary of some great teamwork as well as using some of her own individual skill to score five trys in the game.
After a little time off, the girls prepared to take on the hosts, a young side who have been coming on leaps and bounds recently and had beaten the other group competitor, Vänersborg, 21-10 in their first game of the day. The scoreline when all was said and done was a disappointing 39-0 to Pingvin, but on reflection it was a fairly even contest in the first half before the second became a whitewash. The first half was very tight with our girls competing well and only a couple of defensive mistakes letting the home side finish the half 12-0 ahead. Despite our earlier scoring capability, the team just couldn’t find the holes in the Pingvin defence, and combined with a lack of fitness weakening our defensive efforts, lead to the home team really asserting their authority and running away with things in the second half.
All the days images can be found here.
Our final game of the day came against a team that has traditionally been somewhat of a bogey side for the ladies, Vänersborg, who play a somewhat more “physical” style of rugby. However, this was not the Lugi team of days past where a crushing defeat the match before would lead to subsequent poor performances. Instead, the ladies put on a very good performance, being stingy in defence as well more structured in attack, never giving Vänersborg a sniff of hope and seeing us run out winners 22-5. The highlight of this game was our final score of the contest, a lineout move straight from the training ground, which whilst it may not have gone the legal five metres, was pleasing to watch as Mican romped 40 metres down the pitch before offloading to her support runner Ana who dotted it down over the line.
Overall it was a pleasing day with two very convincing performances, but it also highlighted some areas that need to be worked upon in the upcoming weeks before the second round of the Gota Series as well as the next round of qualification games.
The results on the day now leave the ladies lying in second position in the SM South qualification series, with only four teams qualifying for the finals in Borås. The final round of the qualification series takes place in Växjö on the 31st of May where a respectable result should see the ladies qualify for the finals.
Game 1 vs. Kalmar
Game 2 vs. Pingvin
