Rugby Union: Burnley 39 – 46 Littleborough Ladies

A special try from Summer Harris at the end of extra time secured the most dramatic of victories for Littleborough Ladies against Burnley in the Cup on Sunday (28 October).

Travelling to Holden Road always represents a hard afternoons' graft and none so more than Sunday, as a war of attrition saw the game and passage into the next round go to right to the wire.

Littleborough got off to the start they dreamed for with the opening score by Harriet Caroline Victoria Widdup; the prop collecting her second try in successive games.

However, uncharacteristic errors littered their first half performance, gifting the home side possession, field position and opportunities, which they duly took advantage of.

With the slope and the wind in their favour, Burnley established further control of the game and built what appeared to be a healthy 24-12 lead.

A superb break from Sarah Jane Whittles lead to Summer Harris scoring the first of her 2 in the game. Claire Sutcliffe added the all-important extras to reduce the lead to 5.

Littleborough closed the gap further just before half time with a much-needed score by fly half Megan Dickinson.

With the momentum well and truly on their side – and with a fiery half time talk – Littleborough scored within minutes of the restart as had been demanded at half time through Samantha Brazier, who powered through the line and beat three players in the process.

A lack of concentration, leading to further errors as it had done in the first half, haunted the visitors again and allowed Burnley to reply in kind.

It was turning into a war of attrition, with both sides picking up injuries within their ranks as the game was fought out ferociously.

Tries were scored by Olivia Turner who celebrated her 19th birthday this week and a second Meg Dickinson try in this period gave the Pink Warriors a slender 5 points lead.

However, just before the final whistle, it was a picture of pain for the visitors as Burnley scored under the posts.

This looked likely to be the winning score as the centre lined up to take the conversion. She opted to drop kick her attempt and sliced it wide take the tie into extra time: Littleborough had their reprieve.

Burnley started down the slope and scored the opening try of extra time.

Injuries to the impressive props Harriet and Sharon Pearson forced the switch to uncontested scrums. In players such as Claire Sutcliffe Jones, Turner, Brazier and Whittles, Littleborough still had plenty of firepower in the pack to take the team forward.

They laid the platform for the game’s next talking point as Dickinson crossed for her hat trick score to level the tie once again. Megan made it a perfect day for the Dickinson family as she followed in her younger brother Harrison's footsteps in scoring a hat trick that day.

In the second period of extra time, Chloe Mansell was relishing her battle with the impressive Burnley centre, and was outstanding with ball in hand, swatting off players as she carried the ball forward aggressively.

But it was the pace and guile of Summer Harris that eventually broke Burnley hearts, as she cut through and beat four players to score from 40m out to record the match winning score that Claire Sutcliffe converted.

Strong and tenacious defending followed in the final few moments to keep Burnley out and take Littleborough through with a slender 46-39 scoreline.