Manor get revenge against Rochford

Eton Manor 3s V Rochford 2s

After a league winning season, Manor entered the cup run in good spirits. Four teams were due to be playing at home and the stage was set for an amazing day of rugby. That was until a monsoon passed over Nutter Lane on Friday night. The call for action went out and volunteers from across all four teams got out with their forks and got to work to save the day. Manor welcomed back the giant Macer back into the second row and Carl into the back row. In the backs was the usual set up with Conor stepping in for the injured Ben. Manor warmed up well and the game started.

It was clear from the off that one team was supremely fit, organised, skillfull, young and agile. That was not us. However Manor had experience and hardness on their side. Manor used that well surging into the Rochford half. The game started to develop a pattern of Manor making breaks and then either passes being dropped or manor being met by good Rochford defence. Eventually good carries from Macer and Franny resulted in a huge gap opening with Riaan running a short crash ball and going under the posts untouched.

After a great start the manor team were full of confidence however maybe this was too much confidence as Rochford pushed themselves back into the game winning penalties to create good field position. After outnumbering Manor on the blindside Rochford moved themselves into the manor 22 before crashing over and despite questioning grounding of the ball got themselves the score. Manor realised they needed to step their game up a bit however their lack of game time and match sharpness was starting to show with. However the Manor pack started to assert their dominance upfront with a series of powerful scrums. Rochford tried to clear their lines but only found Billy who run straight through his opposite number before handing off a few others and bringing manor back into the Rochford 22. A massive scrum after resulted in an easy try for Franny. Rochford seemed a bit deflated after this and Manor took full advantage with big carries from the pack and good lines being ran by the pack. After another good surge by Riaan Manor span the ball right to Cushy who put Chris Hurry in space 5m out for the prop to fall over the line to bring the half to an end.

Manor knew Rochford would come out fighting in the second half but also knew they had the ability to keep building the score. Luke came on the give Hurry a rest who was either too excited that he had scored or was having an asthma attack. The second half kicked off and the game continued its usual pattern of Manor getting themselves to good position before a dropped ball or misplaced pass or kick resulted in Rochford receiving possession. Manor were also continuing to give away needless penalties and the ref finally had enough and gave full back, Tom Howell a yellow. Rochford took advantage of this to score a good try. Manor changed their tactics and used their superior scrum the their advantage. Sean came on to give Franny a rest and immediately got into action with a caryr that left a trail of rochford bodies on the touchline. 5 minutes later Sean’s shoulder had had enough and Franny had to come on for the old man. A Huge carry by Macer where he got himself in a maul against 3 Rochford players and walked them backwards resulted in a 5m scrum for Manor. The Manor Pack walked the Rochford scrum backwards as if the game was being played on Ice skated and Franny for the second time picked up an easy try thanks to the work of the tight 5.

Manor started to pull themselves into gear with good interlinking play from backs and forwards. Good breaks from Cushy and Conor resulted in the ball being given to Bill in space who rounded his man to score manors 5th try with 10 minutes to go and give manor a 27-12 lead. Manor brought on the Calvary to secure the game (or claim the glory ha) and after some fisticufts broke out Rochford broke through the manor lines (or what was left of them) to score the final try and make it 27-17.

An excellent victory for Manor who got the one month break out their system. Manor continued the celebrating long into the night with Braai Master Werner cooking up a storm and the boys continuing well into the morning. Manor now move onto the final next week where they will play Thurrock 2s.

Man of the match is a tough one this week with the whole team having superb games. Some special mentions have to be made though. The Front row dominated the scrums and put in great shifts around the pack, Carl tackled and worked his socks off with an all action performance at 7 and Cushy ran proceedings well from fly half. However my man of the match this week goes to Billy on the wing who was superb all game and Macer in the row who made numerous carries and also winning several penalties at the ruck getting over the ball.