Miss-firing Manor secure the win

Manor welcomed Colchester back to the New Wilderness a week after the original fixture was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. Although the pitch had progressed from wet to muddy, the conditions were still woeful and a swirling wind hardly helping the causes. With Letchworth suffering a heavy loss to Brentwood the week before, Manor were looking to cement 2nd place in the league. Colchester meanwhile, had their own agenda, looking to push on and move up to third.

Whilst there was plenty of endeavour from both sides to play attacking rugby, the difficult conditions and basic errors created a stop-start game. This was evident from the start as Michael Eghan lost his footing in attempting to return a Colchester kick. Colchester suffered equally, as a poor clearance kick by Manor was knocked on, wasting a good opportunity. Despite being the smaller pack, Manor pressured their opponents from the first scrum, a theme which would run throughout the game.

Having pinned Colchester in their own half, Manor stole an early lineout and, from a ruck, Colchester were penalised for offside. With the kick at goal too far into a strong wind, the corner was opted for. The kick was misjudged and went dead in goal, giving the visitors an easy way out. However, Manor were soon to find themselves knocking on the door, as good broken running from Eghan and Ben Thomas gave Manor a 5 metre scrum. From the base, Garth Tucker was well tackled and tenacious Colchester defending finally forced a Manor error.
From here the visitors enjoyed a period of possession and territory, with Manor failing to clear their lines on numerous occasions. Strong running from the Colchester backs gave them good field position and, with Manor failing to roll away from the tackle, Colchester were rewarded with an easy kick at goal. This was duly converted: 0-3 after 25 minutes.

Despite Manors backs struggling for rhythm, the forwards dominated most facets of the game. Throughout the game, Manor were able to set up effective driving mauls, often making 15 or 20 meters and forcing their opponents to infringe. Their aggression at the breakdown won a number of turnovers or at least disrupted the visitor’s possession. Such pressure on a Colchester ruck gave Manor a centre-field scrum, 40 meters from their opponents’ line. A strong drive allowed Tucker to pick up from the back and dart down the blind side. He fed Nick Horton, who drew the No.8 and winger before releasing Reece Reed on the wing. Reed tried to jink his was past the fullback but was well tackled. As he went to ground, he popped to Tucker, who had supported well from him starting the move, finishing off an excellent score. The conversion was missed but Manor were 5-3 in front.

Colchester almost replied immediately, with their inside centre breaking through a weak tackle. The cover defence from both wingers was excellent, but a penalty was conceded at the ruck. With Colchester behind the Manor line, this was considered a cynical foul and Reed was sent to the sin bin. Manor defended the last minutes of the first half well, seeing the score remain 5-3 at half time.

After seeing out the rest of the sin bin, the second half followed a similar pattern to the first; Manor’s pack were undoubtedly on top, but Colchester’s backs continued to look dangerous and capable of capitalising on the home team’s errors. Both teams began to look for territory, deciding it was easier to play without the ball than with it.

Manor’s second try came on the hour from one such play for territory by Colchester. A retreating Eghan gathered the kick before rounding the first chaser. From here, he broke through the first tackle and, just inside Colchester’s half, fed Chris Jones inside him. Jones had plenty of work to do, but showed his class by outpacing the covering defence and scoring in the right hand corner. The conversion was missed and the score was 10-3.

Despite the visitor’s best efforts in the final quarter of the game, they failed to convert the chances they had, with their possession largely kept outside the Manor 22. Their best chance came in the final minutes as another Manor backs move broke down. From here the Colchester 12 swept the ball up and ran through the non-existent line, only being bought down by the Jones on the 22. It was only quick reorganisation and resolute tackling which prevented Colchester from scoring. Once this chance had gone, Manor saw the game out and secured a hard fought 10-3 victory.

Credit must go to the visitors who fought to the end and showed good skill throughout the game. Had their forwards delivered a more stable platform, their backs had the ability to cross the line. In the end, the home side’s pack was too strong for the visitors and, despite the errors; the backs produced a couple of moments of high class rugby to take the 4 points. A considerable amount more will be needed for next week’s visit to 3rd placed Letchworth and Manor will be glad to welcome back a number of absentees which will allow others to return to their normal positions. A Manor victory would all but secure second place, whereas a home side triumph would see Letchworth back in the race for second.