Essex Cup U14's Semi Final - Manor v Southend

What a day, The New Wilderness was buzzing again. After the months of non-stop rain and unplayable pitches, spring had finally arrived, a fact proved by Manor's very own scientific meteorological data analysing equipment, yes johnny two coats was down to just the one. The sun was out and it was a beautiful spring Sunday morning. The mini’s were hosting Ongar and Woodford, Frosty had the BBQ fired up (forget the bacon rolls of Essex, the South African burgers of Manor are the best) and the U14’s were defending their Essex Cup in the semi final against close rivals Southend…….….Happy Days.

Southend came with a lot of supporters, but The U14’s cry for support from Manor didn’t go unheard and more than equaled Southends. It was a great sight to see; both sides of the first fifteen pitch were crowded with parents, siblings, grandparents, mini’s players and their family and coaches. Other than the final result I don’t think anyone was disappointed with the match as it was a thriller with dominance swinging both ways and going all the way to the wire.

First Half.

Southend were obviously eager to avenge their quarter final defeat in last year’s cup tie against Manor and as in similar matches against them they started strongly immediately attacking Manor. Some naive defense from Manor saw Southend quickly rack up two tries. Manor 0 – 12 Southend.

As we all know the U14’s heads never drop and they never doubt their ability to win a match, the two tries seemed to fire up the boys, they weren’t about to lose their cup without a fight. The Manor forwards stepped up and took on Southend in a battling crunch of brutal rucks, mauls and tackling eventually leading to Edvardis scoring Manor’s first try and Jack added the conversion. Manor 7 – 12 Southend.

Finally Manor broke the defense as Jermaine lit the after burners and sped into the corner to score. Manor 12 – 12 Southend.….game on. Could Manor once again come from behind and deny Southend?

Neither side gave ground with attacks snuffed out by bruising tackles. The final play of the first half saw Manor on the ascendancy again attacking the Southend try line till a sneaky pick and go saw Adam dive over the line in the corner. Manor 17 – 12 Southend.

Second Half.

The first 20 minutes saw great attacking rugby and great defensive rugby by both teams, this was an epic arm wrestle with exciting rugby and very nervous supporters. With only 5 minutes to go one of Southend’s centres broke the Manor line ran a full 70 meters and scored under Manor’s posts. Manor 17 – 19 Southend.

The game was now so tight, with the sight of a place in the Cup Final within either teams grasp. At one point Dave was even seen breaking out into a sprint, well perhaps sprint isn't quite the right word.

Despite renewed attacks by Manor, Southend’s defense held firm and the final score remained Manor 17 – 12 Southend, the exact same score line as last year but in reverse.

A great game of rugby by both teams determined not to lose, a game only marred by some abuse of the match official by the visiting supporters. Southend were a well organised team and played simple rugby well, their players never lost their formation and their defense was outstanding. Lessons to be learnt by Manor and if this game was anything to go by the league game should be a cracker.