Kenilworth women suffered a narrow 15-12 defeat away to Novocastrians in their Championship North One debut this weekend.

The first half were a cagey affair, with Kenilworth having most of the territory.

They were unable to convert this territory into points, however - the coach lag evident with key final passes going to ground.

Kens best chance of the first half came from a brilliantly executed lineout drive which was brought down agonisingly short of the try line.

Novos made Kens pay for their lack of finishing when off the back of a strong scrum, their 13 ran a smart dummy line, drawing in the Kens centres to allow their speedy winger to score on the right in the last play of the half - leaving the score 5-0 at the break.

Kens bounced back in the second half, using their kicking game more and focusing on patient build-up play.

This paid off in the 44th minute after the forwards won a lineout deep in the Novos' 22, and multiple phases later, hooker Kaz Harris managed to spin out of a tackle on the line and drive over to score.

Fly half Katie Pittaway converted to give Kens a 5-7 lead.

It wasn't long, however, before Novocastrians' back were causing havoc again, as their 13 once again drew in two defenders and managed a smart offload out of the tackle to their left winger again, who danced through the remaining defence and scored her second of the game.

They capitalised again 10 minutes later, when a smart chip kick over the top from the Novocastrians fly-half bounced favorably for their fullback, who kicked on and managed to pounce on the ball over the try line.

Kenilworth managed to rally again in the dying minutes and more patient forward play allowed Aimee Dymek to drive over from close range to bring the score to 15-12.

However, Novos managed to turn Kens over during last play and kick out to bring the game to a close

It's a match that Kenilworth will take a lot of encouragement from, but will also feel that they left many chances unconverted. Alex Clay and Sarah Holloway were nominated players of the match for their fantastic efforts in defence.

They face Harrogate at home this Sunday (October 3).