Coopers Drive Away with the Win

There were 15 players assembled and dressed. Nearly. Basil Owen turned up without his boots and Welchy was dispatched in a taxi to Makowski’s house to pick up a spare pair of size 12s. The yellow shirts were brought out of hibernation due to a kit clash, and they came with added holes for ‘ventilation’ and a small mascot in the shape of a mouse who kept us company in the changing room pre-match. Mickey nearly got himself a first Manor start.

The pitch was marked out thanks to some last minute calls by Mr Burton. The referee was there. Well, a bloke called Alan who had a whistle in the boot of his car stepped in as the nominated ref had come down with a terrible case of traffic.

Manor 4s were ready for action. The opposition was to be Old Cooperians 2nd team, flying high at the top of Merit 8, unbeaten all season and knowing they would have to be at their best to face a Manor side with a heady mix of youth, experience and ‘other’.

The game kicked off in beautiful conditions of wet, wind and cold. The piano pushers didn’t mind that but the players were looking less than keen! With uncontested scrums (again…) due to only one proper prop being available this match would be won and lost in the loose. Coopers showed their intention early on by getting the ball wide at every opportunity and challenging Hally and Jake on the wings. They responded well and quickly with some good tackling to stave off the early pressure. One too many Manor knock ons caused by the slippery pill kept us penned in though and after 10 minutes Coopers touched down under the post. Conversion slotted, 0-7.

An accurate re-start kick from Mr X, playing on loan from our neighbours down the road, followed by a good chase from Seb and Ginge saw us immediately seeking parity on the score board. The dreaded wet ball again thwarted our attacks though and a good clearance kick put us back on our own 22. A lost line out and a missed tackle from someone better suited to carrying bottles and Coopers were over again. Conversion missed, 0-12.

It was at about this time that the real referee decided to turn up. A quick consultation and the official was subbed. This may have been the first occasion in rugby history where the referee had more subs than the home side. The last play of the first half saw Coopers grab their 3rd try in the corner and a creditable conversion made the HT read 0-19.

A rallying cry from Jeff Bradley at HT saw the Manor determined to put up a better showing in the 2nd half. Martin ‘Chef’ Mitchell, with energy to burn from lack of scrummaging, became the go to man from tap penalties and he enjoyed his own version of crash ball whenever he could. It was one of these ‘skittles’ moments that led to Manor’s only score of the day. He bashed forward, h2o followed him right in, the ball was worked back to James Sellek and the stand in stand-off scored the try. Converted by Mr X and Manor had 7 to show for their efforts.

That sadly came after Coopers had notched a couple more making the end result 7-29. A bit more time playing together and not coming up against a team top of the league and used to playing together, allied to their 6 subs, and we will make improvements and start to see progress.

We march on. December 8th, away to Kings Cross Steelers. UTM.