This Sunday was the the first home game of 2022 for Hull Ionians Women against Scunthorpe Women.
Hull Ionians were switched on from the beginning, hoping to pull it back after such a close loss against York RI last weekend.

Within 2 minutes of the game, early pressure from Hull Ionians Women saw the Sammy Temple (14) kicking the first penalty kick of the match, bringing the score up to an early 3-0.
It was clear from the off that Hull Ionians were back in business. With some fantastic scrummaging from the pack and seeing the likes of Kay Lusby (8) picking and going, just falling short of the try line.

Following a high tackle from Scunthorpe, a penalty was awarded to Hull Ionians, giving Kat Turner (7) the opportunity to run the ball into the Scunthorpe forwards, and allow prop Jess Whittaker (4) to drive it over the try line.
No conversion was made and the score stood at 8-0.

With Scunthorpe now piling on the pressure, a few errors from Hull Ionians Women put them close to their own try line for a nail-biting 10 minutes. Following a pick and go from Scunthorpes number 8, flanker Bronwen Hall (6) put in a cracking tackle to stop her in her tracks.
Hull Ionians defence continued to stand solid and finally, after some quick thinking from the forwards, the ball was back in Ionians possession.

Following quick play from the backs, Alice Ayres (13) received the ball and dodged a series of tackles before sprinting the length of the pitch, to delight of the crowd.
15-0 to Hull Ionians Women after a fantastic conversion from Sammy Temple (14).

After another stunning show in defence, the backs showed put their training into action, shipping the ball out to Sammy Temple (14) who took the ball down the wing with Chloe Brocklebank on her shoulder.
A fantastic offload to Chloe Brocklebank (10) took the ball over the line for Hull Ionians Women’s 3rd try of the game. A conversion from Sammy Temple (14) brought the score to 22-0 at half time.

An early knock on from kick off saw Hull Ionians Women setting up for a Scunthorpe scrum, but with fantastic Hull Ionians defence, Captain Kat Turner (7) was able to turn the ball over.
With some quick play, Emily Wheal (9) was able to ship the ball out to the back line, seeing it travel the full length before Sammy Temple ran it over the line for Hull Ionians Women’s 4th try.
A missed conversion left the score at 27-0

Not long after the restart, some fantastic play from all 15 gave the momentum to flanker Philly Irvin (18) who was able to run the ball in hard, smash through the gain line and take the score to 34-0, after another conversion from Sammy Temple.

The next restart saw a great performance from Scunthorpes quick thinking full-back, who managed to slide through the gap.
With a missed conversion, the opposition finally added points to the board to make the score 34-5.

With time running out, Hull Ionians Women retaliated with some spectacular forward play, hammering Scunthorpe’s line with a series of hard hits before Kat Turner (7) was able to pop the ball up to Lorna McKinlay (23) who steam rolled her way to the try line for the final try of the match.

The game ended on a fantastic 39-5 win and leaving Hull Ionians Women undefeated at home.

Forward of the match was awarded to Jess Whittaker, back of the match to Alice Ayers and oppositions player to Sammy Temple.
Another fantastic demonstration of teamwork and sportsmanship that made for a highly entertaining game.

We’d also like to wish our inside centre Katy McConville and outside centre Alice Ayres all the best and a speedy recovery.
We can’t wait to see you both on the side lines soon and sign your casts!