Hornettes lost to league leaders Ellingham and Ringwood, despite a courageous defensive effort.

Hornettes travelled to Hampshire for their game against league leaders Ellingham and Ringwood.

The visitors started strongly when Abbey Constable took a short pass at pace and offloaded to Georgia Liddington for the first try of the game. Ellingham hit back with two tries, one converted, to take the lead.

To their credit, Hornettes regrouped and scrum-half Kerrianne Williams charged down a clearance kick over the try line for Sara Curtis to touch down, only for the referee to call play back for a knock-on.

However, continued pressure by Hornettes eventually saw Laura Clarke score in the corner, taking the half time score to 12-10.

The second half saw Ellingham do most of the attacking and Hornettes defending resolutely. This defensive action came at a cost, with Beth Bennellick going off with a shoulder injury.

The hosts eventually broke the line to score under the posts. Hannah Powell made a number of line breaks and was unlucky not to score, while Liddington made a number of last-ditch tackles.

Ellingham scored again before Powell went off injured. With the final play of the game, Hornettes drove up to the halfway line, but were intercepted and Ellingwood crossed to make the final score to 27-10.