Third placed Eton Manor travelled up the A12 to take on fourth placed Colchester, a side that was unbeaten at home this season and a team that had won most of their previous home fixtures against Manor.

With Manor kicking off into a slight breeze, the ball didn’t go 10 meters giving the initiative straight to Colchester. With a solid scrum Colchester set off their pacey and dangerous backline who set about testing Manors defensive line. But as with previous sides this season, Colchester found that Manor were well organised and aggressive in defence, soon turning Colchester’s ball over and setting up their first attack of the day. Good driving runs by John Robinson and Ian Edwards took play into Colchester’s half then quick ball to Manors backs gave them the opportunity to test out their opposite number, but they were in turn met by solid Colchester defending. Manor then chose to kick into Colchester’s 22, but instead of finding space the ball was kicked directly to a Colchester player, something that happened on too many occasions during the game. Manor were made to pay for their poor tactical kicking when the ball was returned with interest as a long raking kick took play right back into Manors 22 where fullback Chris Jones had no option but to kick to touch.

For the next ten minutes or so most of the play took place in the centre of the park with neither side able to make the decisive break. Manor were competing well at the set piece and as the game progressed they put the Colchester pack under increasing pressure, leading to several turnovers at scrum time. From a Manor scrum just inside their half, quick ball was fed along the line allowing Jones to show his pace as he made 25 meters up field before feeding his supporting pack who drove the ball into Colchester’s 22 where finally Robinson was stopped just short of the line giving Manor a 5 meter scrum. Again Manor drove towards the line where Damian Horton was stopped just short of the line. The referee then awarded a penalty to Manor for a Colchester offside 8 meters from the line and close to touch. Manor chose another scrum where Garth Tucker drove off of the back towards the line taking a couple of Colchester players with him. As he stretched for the line the ball was dislodged by another Colchester player and Manors first scoring opportunity had been thwarted by excellent defence.

Manor didn’t have long to wait for their next scoring opportunity. Colchester had cleared the ball away for a Manor lineout 30 meters out. Edwards won the ball and set up a rolling maul that made a good 15 meters before Nick Horton fed his backline for a pre-planned moved. Ben Thomas had ball in hand and caused Colchester all sorts of problems with his direct running, something that he did all game. After making ground, he fed the ball out of the tackle to the supporting Alex Hunter who had come in off of his wing at pace and powered over the line despite the attention of a number of Colchester defenders. With the try scored under the posts Max Murray added the easy conversion for Manor to take a 7-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

As you would expect from a quality side like Colchester they responded immediately, putting Manor under pressure from the kick off causing Manor to make mistakes allowing the home side to turn the ball over. They then set about attacking Manors line with a series of powerful driving runs, keeping the ball alive by passing out of the tackle. Manor defended well and eventually the ball was fed along Colchester’s backline where they looked to have worked an overlap, only for a crunching tackle by Michael Eghan bringing their attack to a halt. Unfortunately for Manor the referee was playing an advantage for an offside, giving the Colchester fullback an easy three points to narrow the deficit to 7-3 after 23 minutes.

It was now Manors turn to take the game to Colchester again using their driving rucks and mauls to good effect. Unfortunately poor handling stopped the attack on Colchester’s 10 meter line. From the resulting scrum Manor won the ball against the head and Murray put in a well weighted kick into Colchester’s 22 for a defending lineout.

With the half coming to a close, both sides were guilty of poor handling stopping either side from building too many phases of play. Eventually Colchester worked their way up into Manors 22 where they were awarded a scrum 10 meters from Manors line. Again Manor took the ball against the head and with quick ball along the line Eghan was able to show his paces. He handed off the first Colchester player and out sprinted the second defender as he made his way along touch from his 22, eventually being brought down just inside Colchester’s 22, here he fed the ball backwards as he was tackled but the supporting Manor players were unable to retrieve the ball cleanly allowing Colchester to turn the ball over and launch a counter attack of their own. This was halted illegally giving Colchester a penalty which they kicked for a lineout inside Manors 22. With clean ball won they were penalised for an accidental offside. From the resulting scrum Manor failed to clear the ball properly giving the ball back to the dangerous Colchester back 3. From inside Manors half the fullback set up a flowing counter attack with both forwards and backs involved. Eventually the ball was fed from one side of the pitch to the other with slick passing, creating an overlap for their winger to score a well worked and executed try in the far corner. The conversion was missed but with time up Colchester’s went in at half time with an 8-7 lead, possibly somewhat against the run of play.

Manor started the second half fired up by the late Colchester score. Their forwards attacked Colchester at pace and it wasn’t long before fly half Murray made a darting run, breaking through Colchester’s defence, out sprinting the turning Colchester players, he looked to be heading for a certain try, only to be denied as he was caught on the line by an excellent covering tackle that managed to stop him from grounding the ball. A 5 meter scrum to Manor was awarded, Tucker again drove for the line supported by his pack, the ball was taken on by captain Tryson Goodchild who again was held up over the line. Yet again a Manor scrum, Tucker off the back, held up by good defensive work but he fed Horton who then fed the bullocking Goodchild who wasn’t to be denied a second time as he took Colchester players over the line with him to score Manors second try of the game. With the conversion good by Murray, Manor had regained the lead and now led 14-8 after 7 minutes of the second half.

Colchester again came back at Manor but were finding it increasingly difficult to mount sustained pressure as Manor had upped their game in the second half and were denying the dangerous Colchester backline a ready supply of clean ball. With both sides cancelling each other out, most of the play was centred around the middle of the pitch. Jones again made good ground up the middle for Manor but as he tried to offload he knocked the ball on giving the advantage back to Colchester. From the resulting scrum Colchester made good use of clean ball and with slick handling they made their way into Manors 22. Here Manors defences were tested to the limit, but they just held firm, eventually giving away a penalty in front of the post which the Colchester full back easily converted to bring the scores to 14-11 to Manor with 23 minutes of the second half gone.

Manor needed to respond quickly and stop the home side from gaining any momentum. They pressurised Colchester from the kick off soon turning the ball over and setting off the dangerous Thomas who made his way towards Colchester’s 22. Here he was stopped but Colchester infringed giving Manor a penalty. With the penalty some way out Manor kicked for a lineout 8 meters from Colchester’s line. Edwards secured the ball and set up a driving maul that was well defended by Colchester. Tucker peeled off of the back of the maul and headed towards the line, here he was held up over the line and was then driven back into play. Here he managed to ground the ball for Horton to feed the waiting veteran of the team, Edwards to go over the line from short distance. Manor’s patience had paid off with their third try of the day. With the conversion hitting the post Manor now led 19-11 after 28 minutes, surely they would now be able to see the game out from here. It was soon obvious that Colchester had other ideas.

From the restart Colchester put pressure on Manor, turning the ball over and attacking into Manors 22. Only a thundering tackle from Thomas which resulted in a Manor penalty, halted Colchester’s attack. With a kick to the halfway line Manor set up a driving maul from the resulting lineout. Showing excellent technique Manor drove the ball 20 meters up field eventually being stopped just outside Colchester’s 22. Now it was Manors turn to move the ball swiftly along the line and feed the supporting Jones who broke through a couple of tackles, but with 10 meters to go he chose to cut back inside rather than feed the supporting Eghan who looked to have had a clear run in. Jones was stopped by solid covering tackles and despite being driven on by his supporting forwards, Colchester won a scrum allowing them to clear the danger.

Colchester continued to attack Manor inside their 22 and for the last 5 minutes of the game it was all Colchester. To their credit Manor defended stoutly determined not to let Colchester cross their line again. Despite being awarded a number of penalties the home side were unable to breach Manors blue defensive line. Eventually with the last play of the game, Colchester were awarded a penalty in front of the posts. Knowing that the match was lost Colchester chose the kick at goal thus securing them a losing bonus point. As the ball went through the posts the referee blew for fulltime.

Manor had beaten a very dangerous opponent 19-14. It was achieved by a commitment to teamwork. There were no outstanding players on the day, just a squad of 18 players that played for each other with a determination that is fast becoming the hallmark of a side that is growing in confidence and ability. Congratulations must go to Colchester for their part in a hard fought and entertaining game and for their hospitality both before and after the match.

Manor now have a week off giving some of the injured players the opportunity to recover before what will no doubt be a titanic match against second placed Letchworth at home on 17th November. Come out in force and support the boys, they do appreciate it!