Manor travelled to Sudbury for the opening game of the season fielding a much changed side to the one that lost the last time they made the trip to Suffolk. With six players making their competitive first team debuts Manor were hoping for a better showing this time out.

Manor kicked off playing up the slope and against a strong breeze and had the better of the early exchanges winning a couple of penalties that brought them in reach of a shot at goal. Despite kicking into the gusting wind Cameron Dutch saw his shot at goal just creep over the bar to give Manor an early 0 – 3 lead after 4 minutes.

From the restart Manor were forced to defend as they had to try and run out of their 22 with the wind making it difficult to kick from hand. Sudbury forced Manor into giving away a couple of penalties which the home side chose to kick to touch for attacking lineouts. At the second lineout Sudbury moved the ball along their line and found a gap in Manors defence allowing their centres to combine and score to the right of Manors posts. The conversion was missed but the hosts had taken a 5 – 3 lead after 10 minutes. In the build up to the try one of Manors debutants, flyhalf Craig Ratford was injured and had to leave the field with George Bradley coming on in his place.

Manor began to control the play and worked their way up the middle of the park where they were awarded a penalty at a scrum. From 20 meters out Dutch again took a shot at goal but saw the wind take his efforts past the outside of the righthand post.

Manor were still having to keep ball in hand, running from deep but Sudbury were tackling well restricting Manors progress and eventually turning the ball over. Sudbury now camped inside Manors 22, but Manor were hitting the ball carriers hard, often driving them backwards and eventually turned defence into attack and had a sustained period of pressure with big carries from Kirk Chettleburgh, Ollie Waugh and Elliott Brown. The ball then found its way to hooker Jon Berry who stepped inside the first defender before crashing through two attempted tackles then linking up with winger Jamie Millais, the powerful winger still had a lot to do, from 20 meters out he broke through the first tackle then barged through another couple of attempted tackles before a last ditched tackle tried to stop him before the line but Millais had the strength to drive forward and stretch out and place the ball over the line. The conversion attempt was successful by Dutch and with normal time almost up in the first half, Manor had re-taken the lead 5 – 10.

From the restart Manor again found themselves defending deep inside their half and Sudbury soon pounced on a Manor error when the ball was knocked on one of Sudbury’s centre’s fly hacked the ball on and into Manors 22 but Dutch had spotted the danger and covered back just winning the footrace to kick the ball dead giving away an attacking scrum.
The hosts won the put in and again tried to cross Manors line but ferocious defence repelled all attacks and gradually drove Sudbury backwards. With another attack attempted from Manors 22 line centre Carly Buisson smashed the ball carrier backwards dislodging the ball in the process. Brown was quickest to react to the loose ball and fly hacked it up the field and chased after it, supported by Dutch. As the ball went into Sudbury’s half Brown went to dive on the ball at the same time as two converging defenders, the ball bobbled backwards into the hands of Dutch and he had the pace to out run any covering defenders to go under the posts for a 7 point score. With just enough time to re-start the game it wasn’t long before the ref brought the half to a close with Manor holding a 5 – 17 lead and the advantage of the slope and breeze.

From the kick off Manor were soon on the offensive when Sudbury kicked directly into touch giving the visitors a scrum, with the put in secured Nick Horton sent a long kick into Sudbury’s 22 where the hosts had no option but to kick to touch for a Manor lineout. The throw in was blown off course by the wind but with possession Sudbury tried to run the ball out of defence but a couple of big hits by Ben Boulton-Smith and Buisson won possession back allowing Harry Reid and Chettleburgh to make good driving runs but a knock on stopped a promising attack.

Manor didn’t have to wait too much longer before adding to their total, Tom Christopher stole a Sudbury lineout allowing some more powerful runs by Waugh, Berry and Sullivan and with quick ball set up Bradley tried to offload out to his backline but was taken out late by Sudbury’s No7 who got 10 minutes in the sin bin for his transgression and Manor took the easy three points on offer to extend their lead to 5 – 20 after 7 minutes of the second half.

It was all one way traffic now with Manor playing with confidence, pace and power taking play to Sudbury’s line where another cynical foul, this time by Sudbury’s blindside saw him join his teammate in the sin bin. Manor soon made their numerical advantage count, Waugh was held up just short of the line but quick ball was fed to Sullivan who barged over the line for a 7 point score, 5 – 27 after 18 minutes.
From the restart Chettleburgh caught the ball stepped around the chasing Sudbury player and sprinted through a wide gap in the hosts defences and took play deep inside Sudbury’s half before linking up with the supporting Waugh, he took the attack on eventually being stopped just short of the line. Manor were there in numbers as Horton fed the ball to his backline where Buisson knocked the first tackler to the ground before going over the line despite efforts to stop him. Manor had now gained a try bonus point and with a successful touchline conversion by Dutch had increased their lead to 5 – 34 after 21 minutes.

Sudbury did their best to hit back at Manor but were again met by a solid and resolute defence and after getting no success from their running game they kicked into Manors 22 where Millais gathered the wayward kick then fed Horton who used the elements well to kick the ball deep into Sudbury’s 22. Here Manor again pressurised Sudbury as they tried to run the ball out and a loose ball was snapped up by Chettleburgh allowing him to drive towards the line, he was stopped a few meters short but he managed to feed the supporting Waugh who after juggling the ball a few times drove over the line for yet another 7 point score for Manor, 5 – 41 after 35 minutes.

It was again one way traffic with Manor pounding Sudbury’s line but excellent defending by the home side saw Waugh, Berry and Ryan Lee all stopped within inches of the try line. But the pressure eventually told when Millais again showed his strength to score from close range and although the conversion from wide out was missed Manor took the score onto 5 – 46 with a matter of minutes remaining in the match.

Manors last try came as a result of a Sudbury knock on, from the scrum Manor secured the put in allowing Horton to go blind before feeding Dutch, he stepped around two defenders and sprinted over the line for another 7 point score, 5 – 53.

From the restart, for possibly the first time in the match Manor made some poor decisions when trying to run the ball out of defence. This allowed Sudbury to launch a final assault on Manors line where they were rewarded with the final score of the game. With the conversion missed the ref brought game to a close with Manor comprehensive winners 10 – 53.

Manors new look side had accomplished what they had set out to do and gain a 5 point win. The performance had gone some way to making up for last seasons poor showing when last at Sudbury. The squad had been working hard during the close season on a number of aspects of their game and it was pleasing to see that all their hard work had paid off. With Manors second team enjoying a comfortable victory against Sudbury’s second team selection will be interesting with a lot of players making a good argument as to why they should be in next weeks first team squad. With Manors first home game of the season next Saturday against newly promoted Harpenden they know that they can’t rest on their laurels against a side who have made an impressive start to their life in the higher league.