Manor travelled the short distance to their closest rivals Woodford on the back of a record win against Ruislip the previous week. They knew that this week would be a far harder task and facing a much changed Woodford side than the one they beat earlier in the season and in the knowledge that Woodford always raise their game when playing Manor at home. Never the less Manor came away comfortable winners where their superior fitness and skill levels proved decisive on the day.

Manor kicked off the match and although Woodford secured the ball, they soon kicked possession away. Manor had a period of possession but Woodford defended well and stopped Manor making any sort of headway and eventually won a scrum.

It was now Woodford’s turn to attack but Manor repelled everything that was thrown at them and kept knocking their opponents back in the tackle until Kirk Chettleburgh turned the ball over and after a couple of quick passes Nick Horton sent a long kick into Woodfords 22 where the hosts took the ball out of play for a Manor lineout. With the ball secured Manor spent time attacking Woodford’s line, but were met with solid defending until Manor were penalised for holding on the ground, something that they were penalised disproportionately for throughout the game.

Woodford now enjoyed a period of possession inside Manors half but found it difficult to penetrate Manors defensive line so resorted to putting up high kicks, all of which Manor dealt with. But Woodford continued to have the better of things and with Manor being regularly penalised by the ref it allowed the hosts to get into Manors 22 where they won a lineout. They won the thrown in and again Manor were penalised but this time Woodford opted for an attacking scrum. Here Manor got the nudge on then drove their opponents off the ball and won a turnover before Craig Ratford cleared the ball to the 10 meter line.

Woodford won their lineout but Chettleburgh turned the ball over and kicked it into Woodford’s 22, Manor chased well and as Woodford tried to run the ball back they were brought to ground and Jack Sullivan drove through the ruck and won a scrum. With ball secured, Manor moved the it swiftly along the backline before Ben Boulton-Smith took the ball into contact before popping the ball to Cameron Dutch, he then sent a long pass put to Jamie Millais on the wing. The powerful winger barged his way through two attempted tackles, swatted away another attempted tackle then beat the covering defenders to score in the corner. Although Dutch couldn’t add the extras Manor had opened their account after 23 minutes to lead 0 – 5.

Manor soon scored again, they were now controlling the breakdown and putting Woodford under pressure when they had possession giving them no choice but to kick the ball away. When they did Manor attacked, Dutch returned one such kick with a kick of his own which went close to Woodfords 22. Millais had chased hard and put the Woodford defence under pressure causing them to spill the ball. Manors fitness was beginning to show as they got the ball in greater numbers than their opposition and with quick ball secured they moved it along their backline where from 15 meters out Carly Buisson spotted a gap and powered through to go over the line and score Manors second try, this time Dutch added extra points and after 26 minutes Manor led 0 – 12.

Woodford finished the second half with some good possession, aided again by Manor giving away too many penalties. A good penalty kick saw Woodford win an attacking lineout 8 meters from Manors line. They secured possession and pounded the line, but Manor held firm until the ball was moved out wide where they created an overlap and despite a great cover tackle by Dutch the Woodford player managed to score in the corner. Woodford’s player-coach then struck an excellent conversion from the touch line to bring the score to 7 – 12 and with just time to restart the game there was no further score before half time.

Woodford kicked off the second half and soon won a penalty on the 10 meter line when Manor were penalised for going over the top at a ruck. The long range attempt was successful bringing Woodford in touching distance of Manors score at 10 – 12, but it would be the last time that they would trouble the scoreboard again in the game.

Woodford had their tails up and again threw everything at Manor but they were put under immense pressure every time they had the ball and this pressure lead to mistakes and loss of possession which on one occasion allowed Ratford to put in a clearance kick from his 22 to Woodford’s 10 meter line, the ball stayed in play and with another good chase by Manor they caught the Woodford player in possession and drove him into touch.

Substitute Billy Cosma secured the lineout and Manor set off on a 20 meter rolling maul into Woodford’s 22, Ollie Waugh then broke off the back and drove forward only to be stopped a few meters short. The ball was fed to Millais who again was stopped just short of the line but he managed to off load to the supporting Waugh who had more luck this time and crashed over the line for another Manor try which although unconverted increased Manors lead to 10 – 17 after 15 minutes of the second half.

From the restart Woodford done well to gather the kick but when they were brought to ground Rob Falls got over the ball and won a penalty which Ratford sent deep into Woodford’s half. From the resulting lineout Falls made a great break through the middle of Woodford’s defence only to be brought down 8 meters short of the line. Manor were again to the breakdown in greater numbers and after a series of pick and drives were awarded a penalty 5 meters out. Millais took a quick tap and go but was stopped on the line, he set the ball up and Manor drove forward as a unit and over the line where Ryan Lee claimed the try. Again the difficult conversion was missed but Manor now had a comfortable lead 10 – 22 after 20 minutes.

Woodford again had a period of possession inside Manors half but again were met by a solid blue wall with big hits coming in from Buisson, Sullivan and the rest of their team mates.

Manor soaked up all that Woodford could throw at them but the hosts were having no joy as Manor kept knocking them back in the tackle, this pressure finally paid dividends when Woodford tried to move the ball along their back line despite the pressure they were under, winger Elliot Brown saw an opportunity and when just outside his own 22 he intercepted a pass and showed everyone a clean pair of heels as he sped away from the chasing defenders to run the length of the pitch and go in under the posts unopposed. Dutch added the extra points and Manor now led 10 – 29 after 30 minutes.

The last 10 minutes of the game played out without Woodford ever looking likely to score again but was notable for one massive tackle by Barney Newbury who smashed Woodford’s ball carrying forward off his feet, knocking him backwards a meter or so and winning a turnover.
The game final drew to a close and whilst Woodford and given a good account of themselves they never looked like winning the game. Manor were happy to sit back and soak up everything that Woodford had and relying on their superior fitness and skill set to strike hard and fast when the opportunities presented themselves.

Next week Manor face their sternest test so far when they welcome runaway leaders North Walsham who have only been beaten once this season, but interestingly that was away and playing on a 4g pitch.

After the Woodford game Manors D.O.R Mark Farrell said “We knew Woodford were going to be a very difficult opponent, it’s never easy playing teams that are fighting for league survival, but we started well today and it was not long before we took control of the gain line, creating two very good tries from a solid platform. Yet again our organised defence was steadfast, frustrating the opposition into mistakes which we then clinically punished. The second half was a pretty similar story, but with the introduction of some real power coming from our bench, we pushed the scoreboard further along. All in all it was a very satisfying day for our club and rounded of January fixtures with four wins from four games.”
Training nights will be certainly hyped up another notch this week as we welcome the leagues runaway leaders North Walsham RFC to Nutter lane