Manor U13's are the Essex Champions

What a season this has been, some good wins, some really good wins, some close losses and some losses that shouldn’t have happened. The boys haven’t made it easy for us parents, I think we’ve all aged by several years having watched some of their most recent matches; goodness only knows how the coaches feel.

And so it all came down to the biggest match of the season; the Essex Cup final. Having come through the harder half of the fixtures and having beaten two of Essex’s U13’s top teams there was a quiet confidence amongst the parents. Having beaten Manor earlier in the season Chelmsford had decided there was a match to be played, and they aimed to repeat their earlier success against Manor.

The first few minutes from the kick off saw a very even match; quite a few errors from both teams but given the occasion it was understandable. Once the early nerves had settled Manor seemed to be more in control of the game and were attacking Chelmsford. Strong defense from Chelmsford meant there was no score. Chelmsford were then awarded a penalty and interestingly they decided to kick for the three points from quite a long way out. They were obviously confident as the ball went straight through the posts. Eton Manor 0 – 3 Chelmsford.

Having enjoyed most of the possession and now being three point down seemed to rally Manor. Attack after attack was either defended well or simple mistakes by Manor (forward passes or knock on’s) meant the score remained the same till Harry Wagstaff crossed the line. Unfortunately Jack didn’t managed to convert the try; Manor 5 – 3 Chemsford.

Manor were not playing the rugby we know they can play; there were errors that we wouldn’t normally see, there were passes that never happened, but even despite this manor were still playing in Chelmsford’s half and every counter attack was well defended. Finally, and much to the relief of the parents, Harry scored his second and even though a really difficult kick it was converted by jack. At half time Manor were now 12 -3 in front.

The second half was a repeat of the first; manor were more dominate but unable to convert that into points. Chelmsford defended well and counter attacked on a couple of occasions but failed to score any points. Time was now running out and this seemed to spur Chelmsford on. Manor had to defend attack on attack, Adam held up two clear Chelmsford tries, one by his finger tips as the Chelmsford player was about to put the ball down. Eventually the Manor defense broke and Chelmsford scored. Fortunately they didn’t manage the conversion; Manor 12 – 8 Chelmsford.

It was game on for the final minutes, Chelmsford had re-established a belief they could win, but Manor’s self belief and determination was also as strong. The referee blew the final whistle and for the first time ever a Manor youth team had won the Essex Cup.

A special mention needs to go to all the Manor first and second team players and the boys and parents who hadn’t made the playing selection that came from the club to support the boys playing. This is what Manor is all about.

This has been a truly unbelievable year for the Club; the first’s are pushing for promotion to the nation leagues, the second’s and third’s both won their leagues, the U15’s won their league, the U13’s won the cup, the U12’s came second in the Essex Cup and the U11’s won the Essex Plate (forgive me if I’ve missed other successes). A great year for the Manor and it is proving it is a real strong club within Essex.

Finally coaches players of the match. Today id goes to two forwards who worked tirelessly; they constantly tackled hard, put the hard graft in and won the ball for Manor; they were Edvardis and Will, well done boys, and well done to all of the squad, bring on the 1013-14 season.