Front Row 'change' Turns the Tide Manor's Way

Given that we were the only Manor side in action a good home support was anticipated and I was able to select all the Colts together to take advantage of their years of growing up and playing together.

The tempo for the game was set early when virtually from Bobby's kick off Manor crunched into contact. Runwell retained possession from the receive but spilled it shortly after. Manor recycled well and the ball was spun wide to Billy who touched down in the corner.

To show this really was a Manor 4s day the conversion was....missed! Seems to be our MO this year!

Shortly after the restart there was a collision in the midfield that left Ralph on the deck clutching his napper and making noises reminiscent of a stuck pig. Removal of the scrum cap showed the claret flowing and he was ordered from the field by the whistle blower. Mr Ref did tell Captain h2o at this point that he did not want Ralph to re-enter the fray for fear of concussion, but this was not conveyed to the team as h2o believed Ralph was done for the day anyway, such was the collision. With hindsight, seeing that it was his head, I should have known there would be no lasting damage.

A couple of minutes later head-boy said he wanted back in as Luong had stepped into the midfield in his absence and this situation needed addressing urgently. As mentioned above, the response was a definite "non, Monsieur" from the ref. Our hooker/shouter in chief Mr Ingram seemed perturbed and wandered off to the side of the pitch to chat with his mates. They must be old and hard of hearing as he seemed to be shouting quite loudly. He may also have been short of cash for his round in the bar and was seen to be asking for a 'banker', at least that's what it sounded like. Such was his distress he wandered off and wasn't seen again.

In the midst of all this some of the Manor supporters seemed to be on the pitch aiding Ingram's search for a financier, as well as flouting countryside law and loudly requesting a 'hunt'. Derek Edwards seemed particularly upset. Maybe the touch lines were a little blurred, we must address this. Maybe we have caught the paint eating grass disease that occasionally takes hold at Maldon?

Anyway, the scrum machine that is Sweet Pete came on to restore our front row to full working order, we dropped a flanker to scrum with 7 and got on with the game.

From there it seemed to be raining tries in E11. For the rest of the half Harry T ran riot, aided excellently by Jeff B's distribution from 9 and the support runs from team mates. Whenever someone broke there was a man on his shoulder for the pass or pop to complete the move, it really was excellent to see.

The game was out of sight by half time so Manor rang the changes to give everyone decent minutes on the pitch. The second half flowed much the same as the first with more tries from Manor from a variety of sources. You'll have to forgive your skipper, I failed to notice who had got what by this point and was focusing instead on perfecting my delivery throws of the kicking tee to Bobby Grace. They were near brilliant by this point but as for the kicks...well...see above dear reader!

Runwell did get on the board in the second half when they won a penalty 5m out and blasted through, points they well deserved for turning up to an away game short handed and borrowing players to make a contest of it. Appreciated also was the acceptance by Seb, Ugo, Harry A, Luc & Aiden to rotate between them and make up the numbers for the oppo. Really appreciated guys, thank you.

The final score was 78-5 to Manor, helping no end our points difference that took such a battering earlier in the season.

In the bar afterwards Harry T was unanimously named Man of the Match for securing 35 of our 78 points by himself, although he did miss a kick even I would have made from straight in front. He's a 4s boy and he knows it!!!

In a first for our team there was a Man of the Match 2 awarded to Ingram, who's removal from the game swung things irreversibly our way, a contribution overlooked by none of his very grateful team mates.

Makowski Moment/Billericay Blunder was awarded pre-game, in fact in the mid-week build up to Ugo, for the crime of EXCESSIVE USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS AND EXCLAMATION POINTS IN AN EMAIL WHEN ADDRESSING YOUR CAPTAIN!!!!!!!

Our game next week was due to be away to Ilford 5 however they have dropped out of the League so I am trying to get us a friendly, watch the usual channels of communication for more information.

UTM