Cambridge University Rugby Union Football Club’s Women (CURUFCW) succumbed to the University of Birmingham's late charge at Grange Road on Wednesday afternoon, as the Light Blues’ final pre-season match ended in a narrow 24-27 victory to the away side, despite a hat-trick from newly-announced team captain Alice Middleton.

With many of the Light Blues’ first-team players unavailable for the fixture – a large proportion of the team were new players, new to their position, or making the step up from the club's second team, the Tigers – the close result was testament to CURUFCW’s strength in depth, and will provide a welcome confidence boost before CURUFCW’s start of the BUCS season next week.

The opening moments of the game saw both teams record early tries. First blood went to Birmingham: after full-back Heather Cowell scored in the corner, a missed conversion left the score at 5-0.

But the Light Blues responded quickly: a period of sustained forward pressure presented the home side’s skipper Middleton with the chance to step brilliantly through the away side’s defensive line and score CURUFCW’s opening try of the game, leaving the score level at 5-5 after Middleton missed the subsequent conversion.

However, Birmingham, kitted out in red, remained a potent threat going forward, as was to be expected from a side who had won last season’s BUCS trophy. A second try for Cowell took the Midlands side into a 10-5 lead, though CURUFCW's supporters will be aggrieved by the officials’ failure to spot an earlier knock-on in the build-up.

And there was further bad news for the Light Blues moments later, as inspirational former captain Nicole Weckman was forced off with a knee injury. A monumental presence in the second row, the loss of Weckman – who guided CURUFCW to their first season in the BUCS Premier Division and their first Varsity Match at Twickenham – dented the home side’s confidence, and Birmingham took advantage.

After a period of sustained pressure in the Light Blues’ half, the away side came away with another try (for which the conversion was missed) to take a 15-5 lead into the half-time break, the score coming only moments after a superb try-saving tackle from Middleton denied the Midlands club from crossing the whitewash under the posts.

If Middleton’s first-half performance kept CURUFCW in the match, her second-half performance almost clinched victory for the home side. Carrying on the form that saw the Graduate Medic voted Player of the Match after scoring three tries and six conversions at the Light Blues’ record 52-0 victory over Oxford in last year’s Varsity Match, she carved through the Birmingham defence to present Sophie Farrant with the opportunity to score the home side’s second try of the game, as the winger brilliantly beat three defenders to cross the try-line and take the score to 15-10.

Though Middleton missed the conversion, confidence was flowing through the veins of CURUFCW. Lydia Thorn, in her first match at fly-half, was controlling the attack, and her sublime range of passing allowed inside-centre Cat Brickel plenty of opportunities to get over the gain line.

Improved CURUFC edge tight Town v Gown thriller

Indeed, the attacking cohesion of the Light Blues was evident as the home side grabbed their third try to take a 17-15 lead: a big break out of her own 22 from Chloe Withers took CURUFCW into Birmingham’s half and, a few phases later, a break from Molly Byrne saw her run around the back of the ruck to score.

Another fast break, this time from Katherine Monks, saw the winger sprint up half the pitch before setting Middleton up to complete her hat-trick with the inside ball, scoring a try which she converted to take the score to 24-15.

As the clock edged towards 80 minutes, the match grew increasingly tense. Strong defensive counter-rucking from the Light Blues’, orchestrated by the efforts of Jess Charlton, slowed the Birmingham attack, but with six minutes left on the clock, CURUFCW’s resistance gave way.

The away side grabbed two quick-fire tries – one unconverted – to take the score to 24-27, as the Light Blues’ missed tackle after tackle with fatigue setting in. And a rally for one final push to the death from the home side – who knew that any score would clinch victory – proved fruitless after a pass went astray.

Though CURUFCW will be disappointed to have let a nine-point lead slip in the final few moments of the game, there were many positives to take from this performance. Indeed, speaking to Varsity after the match, newly-elected Women’s Club manager Lara Gibson was full of praise for her team, observing that “it was a tough day for a fixture, especially against such a strong Birmingham side, with lots of first-week-back university commitments, and we had players stepping up into to new positions in a number of places. But the team pulled together brilliantly to fight a great battle and it was a performance that showed a lot of promise for the start of the BUCS season next week!”

Indeed, the closeness of the game was noted by Birmingham inside-centre Heather Barnes, who also spoke exclusively to Varsity: “It was a very close game that could have easily gone the other way, with awesome breaks from both sides. CURUFCW's defence was relentless and they kept us working hard the whole game, putting our back line under lots of pressure. I think we bonded so well as a team, despite having some new players, and everyone worked hard to support each other in attack, which allowed us to make breaks and score tries. Overall, we really enjoyed playing a clean and fair match against a very tough team, and really valued the experience of playing CURUFCW again.”