Back playing on the 1st team grass pitch, the Wasps were excited about this fixture, following on from a game full of positives last week that unfortunately didn't go the Wasps way. Again, in less than ideal conditions, the Wasps kicked off into the wind by the boot of fullback Tamar Benson. The Wasps piled on the pressure from the start and there were some great contests from both sides, matching each others tackles but neither team capitalising and breaking through.
Early substitutions had to be made due to a nasty head injury to Wasps Centre Michelle Larkin meaning Rowan Boardley came on into the centres early in the game.
Late in the first half there was a Birkenhead lineout just outside the Wasps '22, that wasn't gathered cleanly and the ball spilt on the ground. Vicki Nelmes quickly dived to the floor to try and gather the ball along with her opposite number. What looked like a lost ball, turned out to be a fantastic turnover by Vicki! Wasps scrum half, Cath sewell quickly pounced and shipped the ball to Fly Half Sarah Wilkinson who covered ground before passing flat to Amy Orrow who hit a hole in the defence. The space opened up in front of her and after beating the winger with a step, there was only the fullback to beat. Amy stepped outside but on hearing the support from Rowan Boardley on her inside, Amy stepped back inside and offloaded the ball in the tackle to Rowan just outside the 5m line. Rowan used her strength and momentum to touch the ball down just over the line to open up the scoring for the Wasps. The conversion was narrowly missed by Tamar Benson due to the strong winds. The Wasps held onto the 5-0 lead until the half time whistle with some great defending around the breakdown area, and forcing errors by pressing up on the attacking line giving them no room to run in the backs. Crunching tackles from Wasps Backs Chelsea Clarkson, Kate Birchall and Sarah Wilkinson ensured the Birkenhead backs didn't get through the Wasps line.

The second half kicked off and Wasps gathered the low drilled ball and immediately ran it back to test the Birkenhead defence. There were a couple of stoppages due to injuries which meant the game wasn't as free flowing as the first half. Birkenhead camped out in the Wasps '22 for over 10 minutes forcing the Wasps to defend for many phases, some just one or two metres from the line. The opposition managed to get the ball out to their backs and with a simple use of an overlap, ran the ball into the in-goal to score the equalising try. The conversion was missed leaving the score 5-5 with around 25 minutes still to play.

The game was up for grabs for both teams and plenty of time left on the clock to win the match. The try that would eventually be the winning score came after Birkenhead piled on the offensive but once again Wasps were up for the challenge and made huge tackles forcing Birkenhead to only move laterally and not covering much ground. They worked themselves into the Wasps '22 and once again put the pressure on the defensive line. Every Wasps player made crunching tackles as Birkenhead used the pick and go method time and time again, and eventually their number 8 dived low to put the ball over the line to make the score 5-10 as the conversion was again missed.

Towards the back end of the match, there was a scuffle between a Wasp and Panther...neither of which coming out on top and finding themselves in the sin bin for the remainder of the game. This didn't affect the game as the rest of the teams battled on in the final few minutes. Both teams played to the final whistle and never gave up! Final score 5-10 to the visiting team, which was disappointing for the Wasps but once again played with self belief and showed that their training is really sinking in and the team is improving with every game.

Players of the match were awarded to Kate Birchall for her endless tackling and commitment out on the wing and Emma Rowlinson for her unrivalled work ethic on and off the ball despite only making her comeback this match after badly fracturing a finger earlier in the season. Amy Orrow was selected by the opposition, recognising her efforts in the game also.

Next match the Wasps travel over to the East to the Sunderland Flames next Sunday 4th February.