READING Abbey Nuns captain Joey Fowler has urged her side to make the most of their attacking game when they do battle with Newbury this weekend, writes Fiona Tomas.

Abbey welcome their Berkshire rivals to Rose Hill on Sunday where a win would see them overtake the Blues at the top of Championship South West Two.

In a showdown between Berkshire’s best, Abbey will be targeting nothing but a victory in a bid to overturn the 18-5 defeat they suffered to Newbury at Monks Lane last October.

Both sides head into the encounter having lost one league game apiece this season and Fowler insists Abbey must be clinical going forward.

“This is our biggest game of the season – and it’s going to be defence heavy,” said the lock.

“Our teams are really quite similar this season, the points we’ve scored and our defence records are so similar.

“When you’ve got two teams defending well, try-scoring opportunities can be few and far between, so you’ve really got to capitalise when it matters.”

Abbey are second in Championship South West Two, three points behind their rivals with a game in hand.

And with almost identical points differences in their first championship season together, Fowler insists there’ll be no special preparation in a bid to get one over their old foes.

“We’ve been in leagues together for years now, so our teams know each other, we’ve played against each other many times now and it’s always an intense, physical battle,” she said.

“They’ve got a tough ask on their hands to grip onto their spot at the moment, whereas we’ve got the opportunity to unseat them.

“We’ll keep things the same and go through the motions. We’ve had a big week of training leading up to the match, where we’ve solidified all the basics to get games like this won.”

Kick-off is at 2pm.