CHESTER DEVASTATED AS SOUTHPORT HIT HIGH NOTES

Sunday saw Southport Ladies kick off the new season against Chester Devas at Waterloo Road.

The weather drew a good crowd and the ladies were keen to show how hard they have been working at training over the summer and give Chester a good game. Both sides started as they meant to go one and it was Devas winger who broke through the Southport defence to score the first try. Unperturbed, Southport pressed on and after some good phases of play, the ball was pushed out to the backs. Rachel Porter started a mazy run before offloading to Zoe Corfield who made a strong run towards the line, she then passed to centre Emma Barisio who powered over the line for Southports first try.

Southport started the second half determined to continue their great first half play and soon after the restart the ball found Emma Barisio who, again, made a powerful run breaking through the devas defence before being brought down. Gemma Hurst picked the ball from the base of the ruck and ran for the try line only to be held up just short. Some quick thinking from hooker Helen Shaw saw her pick the ball and dive over the line for her first try for the club.

Some excellent scrummaging saw Southport steal Devas put ins on several occasions and the forwards support play during the game shows how much the team has improved from last season.However a slight lapse in concentration saw Devas backs pass the ball down the line to score their second try of the game and make the conversion taking the score to 10-12.

Not ready to be beaten on home turf, Southport pressed on and following some great runs from the forwards but there was deemed to be a knock on and a scrum was given to Devas just 10 metres from the try line. Hooker Helen Shaw made the steal and the ball flew out of the back of the Southport pack where scrum half, Faye Dagnall picked the ball up and dodged her way over the line for Southport's third try. Katie Hussey converted taking the final score to 17-12.

Player of the match was deservedly given to Emma Barisio for her strong running and her overall team play.