MINEHEAD Ladies recorded their first win on Saturday with a 14-10 success away to Cheddar Ladies in a tense game.

Although the playing surface was ideal, the conditions were anything but for Minehead’s fast and expansive style of play, and they clearly favoured the home side’s forwards-led game.

But from the outset, Mineheads’ pack established themselves and play went to and fro as the two teams adapted to each other.

Minehead began to dominate the scrum, and from one on the half-way line, their pack drove their opposition back with intent, and although the ball spilled out to the Cheddar scrume half, Lucy Kidner tackled her like a freight train.

The ball was scooped up by Hannah Pawson, who offloaded to Claire Woods on the ten-metre line and she sidestepped two players to run in for a try almost under the posts which Dionne Jones converted.

Cheddar then piled on some pressure, and when a disjointed lineout fell in their favour, they quickly moved the ball wide to run in an unconverted try.

The pressure continued and in the closing minute of the first half they scored a second try. A determined Holly Arkell forced the scorer out to the edge of the playing area, resutling in a difficult conversion which was missed to leave Cheddar 10-7 up at the break.

Minehead made changes to their pack for the second half and they took a few minutes to settle, giving the Cheddar forwards the advantage, but gradually Minehead began to assert themselves.

The pitch became a very small space for the Cheddar players and they were now constantly on the back foot.

The last 15 minutes saw Emily Ahern storm through from full back to be stopped just short of the line, and minutes later Annabel Cottrell powered through from a pick-up at the back of the scrum to again be stopped just short.

A confident penalty play led to a crash ball by Rachael Parkins which resulted in four players on top of her, leading to a knock on, and Holly Arkell and Lucy Hastings linked up on the wing to attack at pace but were again stopped just short.

With ten minutes to go, Cheddar resist valiantly at a scrum on their own five-metre line and manage to clear with a long kick down field, but the ball fell straight into the arms of Ahern, who began to pick her way through the now broken defence.

With players hanging onto her, she managed to put the ball down for a try five metres outside the posts and then kicked the conversion to put Minehead 14-10 ahead.

Cheddar launched a blistering attack for the last five minutes but Minehead were equal to the task, driving them back again and again to clinch victory.

Player of the match was Dionne Jones.

Minehead Ladies: Georgina Perkins, Jess Lewis, Lisa Needle-Haller, Lorna White, Sam Pike, Lexy Floyd, Hannah Pawson, Holly Exley, Rachael Parkins, Annabel Cottrell, Claire Godfrey, Lucy Kidner, Dionne Jones, Lucy Hastings, Callie Mayne, Claire Woods, Holly Arkell, Amy Ahern, Emily Ahern.