READING Abbey Nuns produced a much-improved display to overturn a 38-0 drubbing at the hands of Blackheath earlier in the season into a 7-3 losing bonus-point performance.

With the score 0-0 at the interval, it had been the Nuns who had had the upper hand in the first half, dealing with a fierce wind well and asserting themselves on the game.

Centre Louisa Marion was in fine form, testing Blackheath’s defence with several angular runs, and the Nuns were unlucky to not gain anything from sustained pressure in Blackheath’s 22.

Abbey’s forward pack dealt well with the pressure from Blackheath, forcing several errors in the line-out and scrum, while props Hollie King and Jess Potter worked well off scrum-half Ellie Rice to find gaps in Blackheath’s defence.

Abbey’s own guard of their line was equally as impressive – Hayley Matthews and Gabriella Millard working tirelessly in defence to keep them at bay.

A bout of immense defence right on the stroke of half time to keep the score tied at 0-0 gave the Nuns a good platform for the second half.

It was the Nuns who chalked up the first points of the afternoon, after a series of Blackheath infringements allowed fly-half Alice Denton to slot a penalty kick between the posts with ease.

Storming runs from flanker Annabel Hawkins consistently put the Nuns on the front foot again and again, although missed opportunities to convert the pressure into points allowed Blackheath to escape each time unscathed.

After full-back Annette Tomas, who had been heavily involved in the contest all game, saw yellow after what the referee deemed a no-arms tackle, Blackheath regrouped and started playing their best phases of rugby all afternoon.

Eventually their centre Lyndsay Whitley, a threatening runner, broke the line and scored and converted the only try of the afternoon despite a heroic scrambled defensive effort from the Nuns.

The final five minutes was not without drama after another fine break from Hawkins brought the Nuns within metres of the Blackheath line.

Unfortunately for them, Blackheath resisted wave after wave of attack until the referee called time on the game, Blackheath winning by the narrowest of margins.

Speaking after the game, coach Jack Reynolds credited the Nuns’ efforts at training: ‘Blackheath gave us the hardest game of the season at their place, but they felt the response from this Abbey side at Rosehill.

“We are happy with the performance and the valuable bonus point, but we are sending messages to the top teams in this league that on another day we could have taken all the points and they will have to perform to the best of their ability to beat Abbey Ladies."