Welcome to the Week 4 Match Reports by YSC Interns and YSC Guest bloggers! Thanks again for the match reports and keep up the good work everyone. I am still waiting for two match reports but will update as soon as I receive them.

On a windy day on their home pitch, the Washington Furies nearly upset Keystone, but dropped the close match, 24-19. They did not trail until the final five minutes of the game.

The wind’s impact was apparent from the start, with Keystone kicking into a strong headwind. The teams traded lineouts and the first scrum of the match made clear that Keystone’s pack vastly outweighed the Furies, who made quick adjustments to account for the difference.

The Furies pressed deeper into Keystone territory, helped by four early penalties on the visitors. A smart decision by Keystone to call fair catch inside the 22 gave the team an opportunity to clear the ball, but the Furies brought it back down. Flyhalf Mere Baker used a deceptive fake on the left side in the 13th minute to flash between Keystone defenders and dish to outside center Beth Noto for the first try of the match. Fullback Emily Miller made the conversion to give the Furies an early 7-0 lead.

Keystone responded with a furious, pounding attack into Furies territory, using packs of large-bodied forwards to advance the ball and punish the Furies’ defense. Two penalties on the Furies pushed them back even further, but Keystone was called for holding on inside the 5-meter line, giving the Furies a little more breathing room. In the 25th minute, Keystone flyhalf Ines Rodriguez found a gap in the Furies’ defense, darting through space and finally offloading to flanker Alison Worman for the un-touched try. The conversion was no good, with wind a constant problem, and the Furies maintained a precious 7-5 lead.

And soon the lead would grow. The Furies struck back within three minutes, when Baker created a hole up the right side and Miller touched the ball down for a try in the far-right corner of the try zone. The conversion was no good, bringing the score to 12-5.

Keystone pounded the ball back down to a scrum at the Furies five-meter line, but the Furies defense held. In the 35th minute, Keystone poached the ball off a Furies scrum and Devon Boyle got the try up the left side. Ines Rodriguez made the conversion, bringing the match to a 12-12 tie.

The Furies would get one more good look before the half, but Baker’s looping kick to the far right side of the try zone bounced out the end before the pursuing backs could chase it down.

Keystone took advantage of the wind at the start of the second half, sending their kicks sailing into Furies territory, but sloppy play by the backs—dropped passes and knock ons—gave the Furies the opportunity to clear the ball. The Furies kept up the pressure, tackling Keystone players behind the gain line and forcing them into errors. Starting with a kick by lock Liz Hirschhorn, the Furies moved the ball downfield with team support and would be first to strike in the second half. In the 54th minute, Noto broke free to score the try and Miller made the conversion to put the Furies out in front again, 19-12.

Keystone responded. The visitors moved the ball for the long series of phases at the try line and were held up in the try zone. In the 65th minute, Farrah Douglas scored on the right side off the scrum, but Keystone missed the conversion and trailed the Furies, 19-17, with 15 minutes left in the match.

The closing minutes were fast and furious. A brilliant kick by Keystone rolled into touch just outside the Furies’ try line. The Furies successfully defended twice before Keystone’s Kim Magrini scored off the back of the scrum in the 76th minute, putting her team ahead for the first time that day. Rodriguez kicked the conversion and Keystone led, 24-19.

It was all they would need. The Furies pushed hard in the final minutes, but Keystone’s defense held for the win.

“We definitely played more aggressively, but I think the biggest difference was that we started to believe as a team that we could play at that level,” Furies head coach Nancy Fitz said. “I think that we’ve definitely turned a corner…People started to believe that, yeah, I can beat that person and we can beat that team. And from an execution point of view, we made fewer mistakes and we did a better job capitalizing on theirs.”

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