After a couple of weeks break Manor 3’s were back in action with their last home game before Christmas against a strong Rochford side who had won the league last season and who was sitting one place above us in the log for this season. Manor was happy to welcome back a few familiar faces from injury with Franny, Barney, Tharbish and Mad Sean. Manor also welcomed back the giant Macer to the fold. After many years of hand me downs and mixed up kit we finally received a new kit courtesy of Ronnie from The Duke Wanstead, our local watering hole.

Everyone arrived on time except for Keeny who was catching up on sleep from the night before and Cushy who blamed his neighbour...The new shirts were handed out and everyone looked very happy with the plush new kit. That is everyone except the bigger boys in the team who after trying them on immediately started searching for a bigger shirt before realising 2XL was the biggest we had. Assistance was given and all shirts were on (or painted on in some cases).

Riaan led the warm up and Cushy moaned a lot about how he had looked at Rochford’s results and that they had won about 5 games on the trot. After a vigorous warm up the backs and forwards split and Manor were ready to start. Manor kicked off and a good chase saw Manor immediately use the wind well to settle inside the Rochford half. Good carries from the forwards resulted in a chance for Macer who barged over the line however was held up so the ref brought it back for a Manor penalty. Rochford turned over the ball and good pressure from us caused a mistake by Rochford before Keeny pounced on a loose ball to score the opening try. Brad missed the conversion and Manor led by 5-0.

The game started to find its pattern with Manor using the wind and Brad Cotton kicking it deep downfield to create good position before our forwards dominated things upfront. Brad’s kicking was so good it appeared he was playing a little game with Harold the young substitute by managing to kick it just over the fence every time he went for touch. It wasn’t long before Manor created an excellent maul off a lineout and went 20m upfield before Rochford came in illegally to stop it. A few minutes later Franny shrugged off would-be tacklers to score under the posts. Brad converted it this time and Manor led 12-0. Manor continued to attack but their discipline let themselves down and allowed Rochford to clear their lines. Manor’s defence was ferocious with some huge hits coming in from Barney, Macer, Cushy and Riaan. After a good break down the left Barney charged through numerous tacklers and produced an incredible offload to give the ball to Brad Cotton who dived over just before half time to make it 17-0.

At half time Manor caught their breath and knew the second half would be a totally different game with the wind now against them. Ant Gilham decided to show off his physic powers and predicted he could feel a yellow card coming. Manor started the stronger however we gave away a few silly penalties which resulted in us being pinned down in our own half. Eventually strong carries from our forwards and good back play from Cushy and Brad resulted in good field position from where Tom Howell blasted through the Rochford defence to score from the 22m. For some weird reason he decided to make things more interesting for himself and not put the ball down until he was under the posts with a Rochford defender snapping at his heels. Brad converted this try and Manor now led 24-0.

Manor continued to play well however a loose kick resulted in Rochford breaking the Manor line for the one and only time in the match (Cushy, Brad and Boshoff had shut down all attacks prior to this) to score a try. Manor charged up the field after this and good support play ended in Riaan going over in the corner to score Manor’s 5th and final try and make it 29-5 to Manor. Next ginger Ant Gilham’s prophecy came true and the Rochford 2nd row got yellow carded for dissent. Before the final whistle went Ant broke the line and sprinted away from the Rochford back row who struggled to keep up with him. Sadly Manor couldn’t turn this into another score and the game ended.

A great performance from Manor 3s with the manor forwards really dominating proceedings. Humorous moments included; Rochford’s smallest player trying to start a fight with Macer, Cushy taking a quick tap and knocking the ball on, Tony Armstrong’s fashion parade in the changing room showing off the latest in LongJohn wear, Macer breaking through the Rochford midfield and being one on one with the Rochford full back before the 15’s prayers were answered as the ref brought play back for a Manor penalty. Franny, Cushy and myself also went airborne against Rochford’s Samoan substitute and finally Cushy and Macer being penalised for hurting someone by tackling them!

There were a lot of players who deserve special mentions this week. In the forwards Ant Gilham had a great performance, Macer and Tony Armstrong were at their abrasive best… The back row of Riaan, Franny and Barney were all excellent in attack and defence and in the backs Cushy and Brad linked excellently in attack and defence with Tom Howell impressing out wide. With so many great performances I consulted some of the senior players (before they got too drunk) to who was their MOTM and the same name was on everyone's lips. So this week’s prestigious award goes to Barney who made a huge contribution today.

Stats from the game (some may be untrue)

Cushy moans - 3 (surprisingly few this week)
Number of players who required assistance taking their new shirts off-11
Number of players who had a shirt that fitted them for once - 9
Number of times Macer upset the opposition - 5
Number of times Harold had to climb over the fence to get the ball - 7
Minutes Mad Sean lasted before he wanted a rest - 20
Percentage of line outs successful for each team with the gale force wind - 10%
Number of pints consumed post game - 200(ish)

Manor are now up to 3rd in the table and next week take on league leaders Southend 3’s away next week.