Manor 3s V Thurrock 3s

On the last Saturday of Christmas manor 3s found themselves facing top of the table Thurrock 2s. The problem was the night before seemed to be everyone's Christmas party and some of the manor squad only managed to get in a few hours before the meet time (Who could that have been Riaan and Cushy????). Players were dragged out of bed however some found they could not physically leave their houses for one reason or another and 18 manor players made their way to Thurrock. Cushy as always spent most of the drive there moaning…

Manor arrived and to everyone’s despair (except the wingers and Tharbish) discovered Harold had managed to shrink the shirts even more. Cue more players needing assistance to put shirts on and horrified looks when they realised 2xl was the largest shirt we had. Manor got out for their warm up and it was safe to say we did not really resemble athletes. creeking bodies and after effects of last night was very evident! With some of Manor’s elder statesman looking, feeling and smelling worse for wear captaincy this week fell to Franny.

The game kicked off and Manor immediately charged up the field with carries from Chris H, Franny and Brad. After numerous phases attacking the try line Keeny barged over from short range to open the scoring. Manor looked around eachother with a bit of disbelief at how organised and sharp they looked as they trudged back to their half. Manor knew Thurrock would come back hard. However once again Manor charged up the field. Good kicking again from Brad who was punting the ball sometimes 60 metres plus resulted in Franny charging through players like a bowling ball to score under the posts. Thurrock struck back with a couple of penalties as they tried to pick up the pace of the game to wear out the bigger manor boys. However the manor heavies once again took control of the game before Calvin blasted through the Thurrock defence to score another try.

Mad sean then realised he couldn't breathe any more and needed a rest so on I went. Thurrock picked up their game and played some good rugby however Manor took control of the breakdown and turned over ball after ball to spoil the Thurrock attack. After some good rugby manor found themselves in the Thurrock half and Cushy (now looking slightly less worse for wear) showed his amazing passing repertoire by not passing and running down the blindside and handing off half the thurrock team to score a very good try in the corner.

At Half time Manor led 24-6 and were in control. Tony Armstrong announced to the less than shocked team that he was injured and could only do 10 more minutes...one day Tony will manage a full game although i’m not one to talk! The rest of the chat was about keeping disciplined and enjoying ourselves. Manor kicked off and the second half started. Thurrock used the breeze well and took the game to manor. Changes were made after 10 minutes however Thurrock took advantage of a disorganised manor kick chase to score under the posts and make it 24-13. Good defence kept Thurrock from scoring again however manor struggled to get out of their own half until Tharbish picked the ball at scrum half dummyied and sprinted from inside half to score under the posts in a sublime try.

Manor then picked up their confidence and Mad sean Kept on blasting through the Thurrock defence but then as soon as he got within sight of the tryline the ball seemed to become covered with butter and slipped out his hands (oh how we laughed). The game now was played in the Thurrock half and manor had taken control of things. Good defence kept manor out although at one point Cushy caught the ball in the Thurrock 22 and turned around several times dummying half the manor (and thurrock) player before eventually deciding to pass it. The final try came from a bit of sublime skill by Franny who carried from the base of a scrum and broke the line...The cover defence all ran towards Franny who then did an out the back of the hand offload to me to score the final try. For the final 5 minutes the game fell into a pattern of both teams hoping the ref would blow up as we were all utterly exhausted. Eventually the referee decided to blow the final whistle and allow all the players to catch their breath again!

A really good game from manor despite losing 5 players in the 24 hours prior to kick off. Thurrock played very well and never gave up. They also played the game in good spirit whilst not taking a backward step.

Humourous moments from the game included; Cushy all the way from when he woke up to till the game started….he did not look well! Sean having to wear a special old manor shirt as he couldn't breath in the new ones, manor actually winning some lineout ball for once, Tony Armstrong lasting more than 5 minutes, Cushy producing one of the worst kicks for touch in all time and then 5 minutes later ignoring the 10 man overlap, Calvin and Sean having a personal challenge to see who could carry the ball more and Paul running into contact at slow motion (apparently he only has one speed).

To be honest every single player had an excellent game but special mentions go to; David R who dealt with all the kicks over the top very well, Brad and Cushy who combined very well again, Tharbish who was fantastic all game and is back to his tackling best, Sean and Calvin who broke the line countless times and the youngest member of the team, Harold whose work rate was excellent. But this week’s man of the match goes to Captain Franny who was excellent in attack and defence and unlike his fellow south african back row, he played the full game!

Made up stats from the game that could be true

Cushy moans-0

Mad Sean substituting himself- 2

Minutes Tony Armstrong actually played - 50

Number of pints Cushy consumed friday night-30

Number of times Big Nick shouted from side line - 20

percentage of players who complained about the shirts shrinking -60%

Manor 3s now have a Christmas break till 16th January when they face Westcliff 3s at home.