A fighting performance falls short.

Eton Manor 3s V Thurrock 2s.

Bl Merit league 2 final.

After a superb league winning season and a good win in the cup Manor found themsleves in the cup final against Thurrock 2s. Manor's previous results had been a comprehensive win for Manor away and well fought loss at home. In the days running up to the final Manor found themselves down a fair few players. On the sick list included; old warhorse Tony Armstrong who admitted he actually was injured for once, the geriatric Mad Sean and super semi final performers: Conor and Carl. Replacements were found and a coach was booked and all was set for a great day. Early in the morning Riaan declared it was the perfect day to play rugby (low and behold it sleeted during our game...Thanks Riaan). The boys all arrived at our Sponser, The Duke, for a team breakfast and off we set to Sunny Southend.

We arrived nice and early with our fantastic fours and watched them beat East London to win their cup. Manor set off on their warm up and the boys were confident and in good feeling for the game to start. A late loss of possibly Manor’s most talismanic player, Macer, was a slight blow and the boys knew they needed to step things up. Thurrock kicked off and started with a bang hitting the manor jumper and putting manor on the back foot. Manor realised once again they were facing a step up from their usual level of rugby they face and picked up their game. Thurrock’s organised defence at attack suffocated Manor of ball and field position. It wasn’t long before Thurrock out numbered Manor on the right hand side and went over for an early unconverted Try. Manor regrouped and plugged away. Some good pieces of rugby from Brad, Cushy and Riaan resulted in some good Manor possession before Brad broke through the Thurrock defence on the halfway line and sprinted in to score. However the ref had adjudicated it to be a forward pass and the try didn’t stand. Shortly after Riaan, who had tackled his socks off, came off with a groin injury and was replaced by Boshoff. Manor nearly broke through again with Billy using his opposite number as a speed bump before a loose pass stopped the move.

Thurrock then picked up the momentum and Manor penalties allowed Thurrock to creep into the manor 22. Superb Manor defence kept Thurrock out with the opposition camped on Manor’s try line. Eventually Manors defence forced the turnover and the ball could be cleared into touch to end the half. At half time a few changes were made to freshen up with luke and myself taking to the field. With Manor facing the gale force wind, rain and sleet they were hopeful at half time they would have this on their side however for some weird reason the weather had completely changed and the sun had come out and the wind had stopped blowing. The game continued its pattern of being played in the manor half with either Manor mistakes or penalties keeping manor from getting out. Eventually the pressure paid off for Thurrock who after a strong scrum went over from close range. Manor rallied again however passes went astray. IT must be said the Manor defence continued to be excellent with the midfield of Cushy and Brad stopping all the Thurrock attacks out wide. After holding up another short range Thurrock try Manor defended the next maul poorly from the lineout and Thurrock went over to make it 15-0.

Manor didn't give up and finally were rewarded with some good possession. Cushy tried to convince the ref and Thurrock to play last try wins however they didn’t seem keen. Manor continued to plug away and after a good burst from Franny the ball was spun wide to Billy who boshed the defender in his way to score a good try and finish the game 15-5 to Thurrock. A tough game for Manor who were disappointed however it must be remembered that this manor team is a third team playing against a very good second team. Credit for Thurrock for bringing their A game and winning.

Man of the match this week was a tough one. Everyone stuck at it and didn’t give up even though we spend most of our time tackling. Special mentions must go to Riaan (despite playing 20 minutes was excellent), Cushy who was part of a big defensive effort and dealt with a lot of messy ball out wide, Billy again who showed that he is becoming a superb winger and Ant Gilham who worked his socks off all game taking on a much bigger pack. However this weeks Man of the Match goes to Brad Cotton who was strong in attack and defence.

A great season this year. Now time for a break!

Eton Manor 3s

BL Merit 2 League Champions 2016