Hallam started the brighter of the two sides, maintaining possession well in the opening couple of minutes – despite losing their captain to injury prior to kickoff.
Hallam loosehead prop Faye Burnhill was withdrawn through injury within the opening five minutes and her absence was acutely felt by the ‘home’ side for the remainder of the half.
The University of Sheffield, backed by their swathes of supporters, soon took control. In the sixth minute, captain Olivia Mulvey drove forward well before offloading to scrum half Carys Jones who duly went over for the first try.
There was a brief scare for Hallam’s Imogen Blythe as she sustained a head injury, although thankfully she was ok to continue.
Two minutes later, UoS extended their advantage. Daisy Roberts fed the ball to Elena Dijkhuis who swiftly offloaded to Carys Jones who rounded off a superb team move to score again – making it 10-0 after as many minutes.
Hong Kong starlet Taylor Coates weaved gracefully past Hallam challenges to score a third try to the left of the posts. On the third time of asking, Mulvey converted the remaining points leaving Uni with a seemingly unassailable lead of 17-0.
Effective central work from Mel Milsom and Flo Bale recycled possession well for Uni Of, who increased the margin when outside centre Naomi Whitehead went over for an easy try after a fluid team move.
Daisy Roberts’ surging run earned the black and golds 20 yards which resulted in a try on the third time of asking.
The scoreline of 29-0 at the interval was arguably harsh on Hallam, who themselves contributed to a fantastic spectacle under the floodlights.
Imogen Blythe was once again struggling with injury early into the second half, this time to her head – leading to her eventual withdrawal.
An almighty scandal produced another try for University of Sheffield soon after the break to make the score 34-0. The scramble was so almighty, in fact, the scorer remains unknown.
Coates scored again when she squeezed over for another try in the 51st minute, proving why she has amassed upwards of 50 appearances for SUWRFC.
Hallam’s day was summed up by a great series of advancements being unluckily knocked on by their #16.
Nia Kirwan-Thomas reduced the deficit with a try that Hallam’s second half efforts really did warrant. After excellent build-up play from Izzy Flora, Kirwan-Thomas sidestepped the advancing defenders before going over the try line.
Olivia Mulvey dropped off a deft offload to Abbie Laws. The 5”6 inside forward jinked inside three maroon shirts before diving over the line to the delight of the crowd who had braved rapidly decreasing temperatures to attend.
Amy Vollans added to Hallam’s bad luck on the day through sustaining an ankle injury after a nasty tangle of bodies.
Uni of Sheffield eased out the remaining minutes to record a stunning 46-5 victory to retain the bragging rights of the Steel City.
