13 woman Black Panthers hold Thunderbirds to a draw

Black Panthers took on Thunderbirds yesterday in Entebbe in a curtain raiser game for the Super Cup. There was a lot of drama before we finally took to the pitch at 2.30pm. First off we had to do without the services of Yogi our first choice 8th man as her basketball team was in the finals of the basketball competition. Then Rose, one of our replacement locks had exams and Irene, one of our replacement backs had to attend a funeral so were down to 15. No problem until when I (Helen) got a text message in the morning from Neva (our flyhalf) that she was seriously ill and was unable to get out of bed. Now a slight problem. But I figured that we were fit so we'd handle whatever came out way although we'd miss Neva's fantastic kicking skills. Then Prossy, utility back and team captain informed us she had malaria and was unable to play. Ok, now that was the last straw. However, the girls were fantastic. They all committed themselves to play the game and promised to put their bodies on the line. And that is what each and every player did.

We started the game as 13 players and although Irene came just before half time to boost our numbers unfortunately Angela, our hard hitting lock, got injured and was unable to continue so we were back to 13 players. However, we were down to 12 for 10 minutes when Aisha got a yellow card for retaliating. Luckily for Black Panthers, Aalliya Adania the Thunderbirds flanker also got a yellow card for dirty play on Aisha so the Thunderbirds were down to 14. The Thunderbirds were further reduced to 13 when Evelyn Aweku was shown yellow for taking out Beatrice in the lineout which took some pressure off the Black Panthers somewhat. Later on in the game, Thunderbirds were down to 14 again when Rosenburg Kanyunyuzi was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle on Emma.

After a scoreless first half, the referee awarded a try to Thunderbirds for what was clearly a knock on by Mary Kyoita in the in goal. However, Black Panthers hit back through a Charlotte Mudoola try right under the posts. I managed to miss the kick (unbelievable I know) and the final score was 05 - 05. The entire team was cursing me - still is actually.

Black Panthers soon had the crowd on their side for their pluckiness and the awesome display of rugby that they put up. The entire team played well but on this day the person who stood out the most was our lanky outside centre who was breaking the line at will and defending as if her life depended on it. She also doubled as a jumper in the lineouts and successfully stole a number of opposition lineouts.

Black Panthers woman of the match: Beatrice Atim