U12s Essex Cup

It was a beautiful sunny day at Upminster for Manor's U12's final festival as mini players. Manor's group for the Essex Cup was probably one of the toughest in the U12's competition and contained the reigning champions, Upminster.

Match One: Manor v Rochford:
The boys looked sharp in their warm up drills and took this into their first match against Rochford winning 20 - 0.

Match Two: Manor v Burnham:
Next game was against Burnham. With only 10 minutes per game with no half time Manor were flying scoring six unanswered tries, winning 30 - 0.

Match Three: Manor v Upminster:
Everyone knew this was probably going to be the toughest game of the pool but I don't think everyone knew exactly how tough it actually was. The match saw fierce determination in attack and defense by both teams. Manor were playing against the slope and hardly had any possession. Wave after wave of attacks by Upminster were met with equally solid defense by Manor. The match ended with a well earned draw.

Match Four: Manor v Barking:
Barking were next. Barking is always a tough battle but Manor scored within the first minute. This stirred barking into life and they attacked with ferocity. Manor had to defend their try line but no matter how hard Barking attacked it was met by a solid Manor defense. Final Score Manor 5 - Barking 0.

Match Five: Manor v Stanford:
To win the group Manor needed to win their final match. If the parents were nervous the boys weren't as they quickly got on the score line. In a match that never looked like Manor were going to lose they fought their way to a 15 - 0 win.

Manor won the group in style, not conceding a single try. Manor now faced the winner of Pool A; Malden in the semi final of the Essex Cup. Malden had played less pool matches than Manor and it showed. Manor were once again on their back feet defending but after a whole day of solid defense it finally broke with Malden running in two tries. Final score Manor 0 - Malden 10.

The boys played well all day, made their coaches and parents very proud of them with a great display of determination and team spirit. A superb way to finish life as mini's players and start their new lives as junior players in Essex Division One.

Well done boys.