2nd XV
Matches
Sat 28 Sep 2013  ·  Division 1
Eton Manor RFC
2nd XV
39
7
Romford II
Manor seconds bully Romford U19’s into submission

Manor seconds bully Romford U19’s into submission

Mark Cuschieri30 Sep 2013 - 15:37
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After two good away wins it was time for our 1st home game of the season against Romford and Gidea Park RFC.

3 years ago if the second team had lots of injuries they would normally put a very poor team out and subsequently get hammered. Not anymore, with the clubs unexplainable resurgence in playing numbers I can now have lots of players missing and still put out a fairly strong team.

So Saturday came and we are out in the nice weather warming up when I get my first look at our opposition Romford and Gidea Park RFC. They looked like they had just left school, they were baby faced and so small. I looked at our big hairy experienced pack and actually felt sorry for Romford because unlike them, I knew what was going to happen come kick off.

I was right, from the off there was only one team in the game. The Manor pack won virtually 100% of the scrums and the lineout had also improved from last week. This gave the backs plenty of ball to run with. The first try came on the 10 minute mark when the pack started to pick a go when they got near the Romford line. They edged closer and closer until Flanker Barney came onto the ball at pace and crashed over. Brad missed the conversion. (5 – 0)

Manor’s second try came soon after when another rumble by the forwards got the pack within feet of the try line, while the small Romford pack tried to cover the obvious forward threat from the Manor pack they left scrum half Jack White unmarked and he scampered over from close range. Brad missed the easy conversion (10 – 0)

Manor were now breaking Romford at will but rather than play through he phases we would always try to score on the first phase, this made players throw passes that weren’t on and we were trying to pass the ball out of tackles. Playing like this stopped Manor from scoring more try’s and even allowed Romford to get some well earned possession. After a Manor knock on Romford seized their chance to break, the very good referee waved play on and Romford were off. They spun the ball along their back line to put their winger through on an overlap. The touch line conversion was beautifully slotted over. (10 – 7)

This was the wake up call that Manor needed. Gone was the cockiness and we were back to playing good solid rugby. The game was in large being dominated by the Manor pack who were just knocking lumps out of the Romford team who it must be said never stepped away from the tackle area but were simply not big or strong enough, especially in the forwards.

Manor soon scored their third try when fly half Brad Cotton danced his way past a retreating Romford back line, they fell for his dummy and his was over the line. Sam Green got the conversion (17 – 7)

Just before half time the backs worked a good first phase move which saw centre Conor Savile slice through Romford’s defence, he then showed us what we had been missing this season as he simply rounded the fullback to score in the corner. Sam missed the conversion (22 - 7).

This was to be the half time score. It must be said that even though we were winning comfortably we had wasted about 3 or 4 clear overlaps and we should have been out of site by half time.

The second half started slowly for Eton Manor but it was still very much a mirror image of the first. The Manor pack bullied their younger counter parts and produced lots of good ball for the backs.

Chris Vickers, who had only been on the pitch 5 mins blatantly went off his feet at a ruck and hit the ball back with his hand right in front off the ref and was quite rightly yellow carded. So we were a man down. Then Riaan Shields did a high tackle and was also yellow carded so we were now down to 13 players. Captain Cushy went into the forwards and the next 10 minutes evened out slightly but Romford never really threatened to score even with a two man advantage. Once our naughty players were back on the field there was only one team in it again.

Manor’s fifth and best try came when the unstoppable Barney bust through the Romford defence again, he off loaded to hooker Joe who made more hard yards and then as the line drew closer he put in a lovely switch with No.8 Riaan Sheilds who stepped the Romford fullback and went in under the posts. Brad got the conversion (29 – 7)

By now Manor was in total control. The sixth try came from Flanker Barney who bulldozed his way over the line from short range. Brad missed the conversion (34 – 7)

Manor’s seventh and final try again came from man of the match Barney who broke through Romford’s tiring defensive line with ease brushing aside some three defenders to score close to the posts. Brad missed the conversion. (39 – 7)

The last 5mins was actually dominated by Romford who finally managed to retain possession but they just couldn’t break down the Manor defence.

Final score was Eton Manor 39 Romford 7

The game was easily won by Manor but this was our worst performance of the season so far,it could have easily been a 60 pointer. Sometimes It's hard to go into battle against a team that are so young and small. Towards the end I started to actually feel sorry for them but these Romford youngsters showed heart and courage and were a credit to their club. What struggle with is that if these guys are the feeder for Romford’s first team then they would be absolutely massacred by our first team.

The Manor pack needs a special mention again as for the second game in a row they totally dominated their opposition.

Next week we are away to our oldest enemy Woodford RFC in the most local of local derby’s

Match details

Match date

Sat 28 Sep 2013

Kickoff

15:00

Meet time

14:00

Competition

Division 1
Team overview
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