OA Saints took a breather this weekend as they prepare for a tough run of matches leading up to Christmas.

Starting this Sunday with a trip back to Essex to face Romford & Gidea Park Ladies in the first round of the RFU Intermediate Cup, the Saints are away from home four weekends out of the next five.

After Romford & Gidea, Saints travel to West London to play Hammersmith & Fulham before heading to the south east to take on Blackheath as the league turns around.

This will be the toughest challenge so far for the squad, with the three longest away trips bunched over four weekends, including the back-to-back trips to Hammersmith and Blackheath before Saints return to Woollams for their home league game against Romford & Gidea Park and finally undertake the longest journey of the season away to Ashford.

Romford & Gidea Park and Hammersmith & Fulham have both won only two of their six league matches, conceding over 100 points each, while Blackheath have lost only a single league match, when they visited Woollams for the second match of the season, and are only seven points behind the Saints, though their points difference is a measly 112 compared with the Saints’ 221.

Ashford are currently sitting between Romford & Gidea and Hammersmith & Fulham in the league table with a game in hand, also having won two league matches to date.

Club Captain Katie Jewell said: “The squad has been training hard all season and the next few weeks, with five big games in a row, give us a great chance to measure our progress.

“Every match brings a different challenge, but we’ve been very pleased with the way our new players have integrated into the squad and will continue to work hard with our coaches Stuart and Clive so that we can make the most of the chances that come our way in each game.”