Hartlepool Ladies went into the game after 2 recent away wins, which meant the home team had momentum going into the game.

Jade Rawlings and Rachel Holliday had recently came back from a 10s tournament in Bangkok, and they both came into the starting pack of forwards.

The game started with high intensity, which was on display through the whole afternoon. Durham put high pressure on Pool, with great handling and turnover rates through the first half.

Hartlepool did well to defend, but it seemed that for the first half Hartlepool struggled to get out of their own half. Emily Cramer made a breakaway and made good ground to get into Durham's 22. But Hartlepool could not manage to finish this off.

After some held up tries and knock ons, Hartlepool went into half time up by two tries both scored my Emily Carroll. The hosts knew that Durham would be keeping the determination and high pressure into the second half, so there was going to be a big defensive drive needed.

The wind conditions helped Durham in the second half, with the visitors skillful fly half kicking the ball back to Pool, which gave players like Andrea Perez and Abi Hall room to run the ball back into Durham’s half.

Anneka Aspland carried with high intent, gaining yards for Emily Carroll to support and feed the ball to Imogen Farrell, running from Hartlepool's half to score her first try of the day. Durham fought back and scored a try from a 5 metre scrum, with the visiting Number 8 pick and barrel through Pools defence.

Durham's try overall was very well deserved from the effort they put in through the entire match.

Hartlepool went into the last 15 minutes with the intention of scoring one more try, to secure the bonus point. After numerous phases and a whole team effort to get up to the visitors try line, Tink Fox with persistent work rate hit Imogen Farrell who saw the gap in Durhams defence to secure the bonus point win, with the match finishing 24-7 to Hartlepool. A result deserved for Hartlepool, in which every single player worked unbelievably hard through out the game.

Credit must be given to Durham, who were a tough and intense team, aswell as displaying numerous passing capabilities and defensive turnover speed. Thank you to Derek English for refereeing the game, aswell as the supporters who came to cheer on our Hartlepool Ladies.