Manor travelled to the leagues new boys Old Fullerians on the back of victory last week for what was believed to be the first ever meeting between the two teams. Their opponents had already recorded two victories this season although they were well beaten in their last outing at Brentwood. It was known that Fullerians possessed a very large pack and Manor were expecting a tough time, but no one had predicted what the final outcome turned out to be.

On a good firm pitch Manor kicked off with the slope in their favour although a crosswind somewhat nullified this advantage. For the early part of the game Fullerians had the advantage using their big ball carriers to good effect, Manor defended well but gave away far too many penalties, one of which was almost in front of the posts but the Fullerians kicker was unable to register the first points for the home side. It wasn’t long though before Fullerians made their pressure tell when from a five-meter scrum they got the drive on the Manor pack who although they stopped the drive, Fullerians No 8 picked the ball up from the base and powered over for the first score and with a successful conversion they led 7-0 after 6 minutes.

Manor now got into the game and after a series of forward drives won a scrum inside Fullerians half. Although the scrum was under pressure Manor No 8 Misiona Evagelia picked the ball up and drove forwards before setting up a ruck, Manor forwards were quickest to the breakdown allowing the ball to be fed across their backline. With a miss move in the centre the ball was fed out to young Ollie Phillips on the wing, here he showed his blistering pace that saw him outpace the covering defenders to go over the line for Manors first try. With Reece Reed continuing his impressive kicking form, the conversion brought the scores level at 7-7 after 10 minutes.

From the restart off Evagelia drove the ball forwards supported by Matt Oaks who took play further up field, the ball was shipped out to Andrew Connors who crashed the ball up through the middle. Quick ball was again won allowing Reed to ship the ball along the line out to winger Max Murray, he stepped inside his opposite number, broke a number of weak tackles but was stopped short of the line, here Manor fell foul of the ref giving away a penalty allowing Fullerians to clear their lines.

Manor were now playing the game at pace which was causing Fullerians problems and Manor almost increased their lead when first Tryson Goodchild was stopped just short of the line, then from the recycled ball Connors was again stopped short. Manor continued to pile on the pressure inside Fullerians 22 but some slack play allowed the home side to turn the ball over, and with the slope against them they tried to run the ball back. This was stopped just outside the 22 by Oaks, who turned the ball over feed Reed who went across the park beating a couple of defenders on the way before feeding Murray on the wing. He again stepped inside his man then broke a couple of weak tackles before crossing the line for a fine try. With the conversion again successful Manor now lead 7-14.

Still Manor pressed, but the home side defended well winning a relieving penalty which they kicked to the halfway line. Here Rory Moore stole the throw in and Manor set off again in attack, taking play back into Fullerians 22, but some poor handling took a scoring opportunity away from Manor and this signalled a period of pressure from the home side as they worked their way up field through a combination of powerful driving runs and Manors indiscipline where they were penalised a number of times by the ref. From one of the penalties Fullerians kicked for a lineout 7 meters out from Manors line. Here they secured good lineout ball and although Manor held the initial drive, a series of driving runs saw Fullerians second row dive over the line for their second try. With the conversion successful the scores were now level with minutes of the first half left to play.

The home side were buoyed by the score and immediately from the restart put Manor under pressure, but good defence saw the ball turned over and after a series of forward drives, Nick Horton sent a long clearance kick deep inside Fullerians 22. Phillips had chased well and harried the Fullerians defender when he collected the ball, tackled him and drove him into touch. Here Horton took a quick throw in with a long pass back infield. Here Nick Sheppard took possession of the loose ball and started to attack Fullerians, the ball was driven on until it found its way in to the hands of Reed. He rounded a couple of defenders before putting in a speculative chip behind the defensive line. He chased up his kick as it came to a halt a few meters away from Fullerians line. The opposition No 8 was first to the ball but as he dropped onto it, he knocked the ball sideways allowing Reed to pounce on the loose ball and scamper under the posts for a seven point score. With the ref blowing for halftime Manor had again retaken the lead 14-21 and deservedly so, but no one predicted what would happen in the second half.

Playing up the slope, Manor soon started to boss the second half with their forwards now on top of their counterparts, George Cosma and Damien Horton both carrying well before Connors continued the attack, as he was tackled he passed that ball out to Reed who spotted Phillips outside him and with a well-timed pass he put Phillips in the clear and no one was going to catch him as he went in at the corner then went under the posts for a seven point try, after 8 minutes of the half Manor now led 14-28.

From the restart Manor continued to dictate play and the next score soon came. As Fullerians tried to counter attack they knocked the ball on giving Manor a scrum. Manor had now steady their scrum and had the slightly better of their opponents. With a solid scrum Reed darted down the blind side, drew his man then passed out to Phillips on the wing who again showed a clear pair of heels to his opposite number and cantered into the corner for his third try. This time the touchline conversion was missed but the score rolled on to 14-33 after 12 minutes.

Almost immediately from the kick off Manor launched another free flowing move from within their own 22 which saw play move the length of the pitch with great hands from Connors, Reed and Horton and as Horton drew the last defender he passed the ball out to second row Rory Moore who suffered his own ‘Ben Kay’ moment and dropped the ball when all he had to do was catch it and fall over the line to score.

Manor did not have to wait long before the next scoring opportunity came. Again it was from deep inside their own half after a long clearance kick from Fullerians was field inside his own 22 by Phillips who moved the ball into the middle of the park where Sheppard and Connors drove the ball up taking play close to Manors 10-meter line. Here a ruck was set up and Manor forwards were there in numbers to secure the ball. From the back of the ruck, Reed set off jinking his way past 4 or 5 tired defenders then finding himself in open space sprinted half the length of the pitch to score under the posts. With the simple conversion added Manor increased their lead to 14-40 with 20 minutes played.

To their credit Fullerians continued to try and attack Manor, but found the visitors defence too good to breach, they were helped when Manor went down to 14 men when James Osborn was yellow carded for repeated infringements at the breakdown. With a penalty awarded Fullerians opted for a scrum which they secured and moved the ball along their backline but poor handling let them down allowing Murray to pounce on the ball and set off up field. He outpaced a number of defenders and took the ball into Fullerians 22, then for some reason, with the try line in sight and no more defenders to beat he passed the ball to the supporting Horton who couldn’t hold onto the pass and knocked the ball on, another certain try had been missed.

Manor scored again soon after, some initial indiscipline had given the home side a penalty but this was soon reversed by the ref after some back chat, this was further compounded when the ref marched Fullerians further back after more words were said. Manor, still a man light kicked to the corner, the ball was secured by Tom O’Connor and Manor drove towards the line and although the initial drive was held Manor put in a secondary drive allowing Evagelia to go over the line for yet another try. With the conversion successful from out wide after 30 minutes Manor had stretched their lead to 14-47.

Straight from the restart Manor scored another try when Evagelia drove powerfully up field assisted by Connors, the after the ball was recycled it was again fed to Connors who broke through some weak tackling before feeding the supporting Evagelia who drove on towards Fullerians 22 until he was tackled, but not before he fed the support Murray who beat the covering defenders to score another 7 point try and take the score past 50.

Fullerians still hadn’t given up despite being outclassed but were getting no change from Manors defence, who were knocking their opposite numbers back in the tackle, this produced loose ball which Reed reacted quickest to, feeding Phillips out on the wing who again put on the afterburners outpacing everyone to go under the posts, 14-61 to Manor.

Again Fullerians tried to attack Manor close to their 22, but Evagelia put in a thunderous hit, turning the ball over in the process and feeding Murray on the wing. He set off down the touchline and when close to Fullerians 22, drew the last man before feeding Sheppard who cantered to the try line and with the conversion the score was now 14- 68 with only a few minutes of play left.

Still there was time for one more Manor score, again coming from turnover ball play was quickly moved out to the wing where Phillips capped of a fine display by scoring his fifth try. With Reed again successful with the extra points the score was now 14-75.
There was just time for the restart before the ref put Fullerians out of their misery by bringing proceeding to a close.

Manor had at last produced the kind of rugby that they knew they were capable of, on the day they came up against a Fullerians side that competed well for the majority of the first half, but when their forwards tired they had no answer to Manors pace and power across the park. The tempo that Manor played at was one that the home side were unable to live with.

Next week Manor face a totally different prospect at home to Brentwood, a team that finished third in the league last season. Although Manor played well they know there are a number of areas of their game that need working on, not least taking every scoring opportunity that they create. Again competition for starting places will be fierce and with over 40 players regularly at each training session Manor is building a club that has strength in depth.