Home away from home for Manor 4s

Remembering the fight with traffic earlier this season an early meet time was called to get the players there on time. All bar one heeded the call, even Welchy was on time. The one was of course Joliffe. Absolutely guaranteed to be late, every time!

The boys were changed and ready on the pitch with 30 minutes to go before kick off and were taken through the warm up by the returning Tony Osbourne. This was vital given the 5 weeks that had passed since we had last played, longer in some cases.

Ravens won the toss and chose their end to go down hill first half, leaving Jake Taylor with the kick off for the 'home' team. "Pack left" he called. And then punted a low one right. Not one of those days again...

With the conditions being naturally muddy after the recent weather the first 10 minutes were noticeable only for the mistakes on both sides leading to set piece after set piece. Manor were very happy with the way the lineout was functioning, with Seb Francis finding his mark with regularity and John Phillipson stealing Ravens ball for fun at the front of our line.

The scrums sadly were another story. Ravens possess one of, if not the largest pack we have faced in the last two seasons. Their two props are absolute monsters at scrum time and new boy Mike Cross and regular Martin Mitchell were under pressure from the off. They worked well with Seb though to at least buy him enough time to get our own ball back before succumbing to the obvious deficit in weight and power. Morton in the 2nd row was about as useful as a chocolate teapot during all this and departed from the fray early to bring on the more experienced Steve Coggins.

To give credit to their props where it's due they are also a main strike weapon for Ravens. Any penalties are tapped and given to them and once they get moving they are very difficult to stop. It was one of these simple but very effective moves that led to the first score with Ravens going over near the posts. The score was converted.

Manor 0 v 7 Ravens.

In order for Manor to get back in the game we would need to keep the ball in hand and away from their forwards. Morton and others instructed the boys to play with more pace than is normally expected from our 4s team, and to back that up with good support running so that offloads from the tackled player would give Ravens no time to regroup. We had to get them disorganised and exploit the pace of our back line. The boys responded excellently and shortly after this Jake Taylor was released in space towards their left winger and full back moving across to cover. Accepting that he would be unlikely to beat both and not wanting to slow the move he kicked ahead in behind them and chased the ball, beating both defenders to it to touch down for a score wide out right. Good play all round for this one and finishing with calmness beyond his 17 years by Jake. The difficult conversion was spot on for distance but just wide of the upright.

Manor 5 v 7 Ravens.

Seeing the way forward Manor attacked right from the restart using the quick recycles and running rugby that had brought us points a few minutes ago. This time it was Waqqash Mowlana who was released and he arced his run left around the defence, straightened up and simply outpaced the Ravens line to score wide left. Another tricky conversion was missed by Jake.

Manor 10 v 7 Ravens.

Perhaps buoyed by their recent dominance Manor seemed to go into free-thinking mode and the recent urgency leaked from the play. This allowed Ravens to lift their heads and spirits and mount an assault on our line. Some good tackles kept them at bay for a short while but their forwards were smelling blood and they kept hitting the line hard. Eventually they found a way through right of the posts. The conversion was missed.

Manor 10 v 12 Ravens.

This second Ravens score signalled half time. Mark Joliffe was brought on for Jonny Joseland on the wing and Matt House made a return to the team replacing Jay Gandesha in the second row.

The second half started much the same as the first with mistakes on both sides. Also showing was a drop in energy levels from both sides, no doubt due to the Christmas break and the recent games lost to the weather. Manor sought to refresh the ranks by introducing Luong Huynh in to the back row and bring Tony O on at fly half for the injured Jake.

Half way through the second half Manor rallied to find one last break through. Following a breakdown in the middle of the park the ball went through Waqqash, Tony, Reggie Gallagher and Mark Le Vallee and found it's way to Joliffe on the left wing. Mark found just enough pace in the tank to squeeze through right next to the touch line. Yet another wide conversion attempt, this one missed by Billy Morris.

Manor 15 v 12 Ravens.

Seeking to put the game to bed if at all possible Manor went for broke and attacked Ravens hard. The hard working Luong and Phillipson squeezed Ravens into conceding a penalty inside their 22. A no-brainer here, we went for the posts and Billy made up for his conversion miss by slotting neatly between the sticks.

Manor 18 v 12 Ravens.

The ref told all involved that only 5 minutes remained on the clock. Coggins retired at this point to re-introduce the younger Jay. A wise move as Ravens started throwing everything including the good old fashioned kitchen sink at Manor's defence. They seemed to be camped inside our 22 for an eternity and as the constant tackles took their toll the penalty count began to rise. Needing 7 points for the win Ravens had no choice but to go route one, and this they did time and time again. I must mention here the dedication and determination from all the players on the park not to concede. True Manor Spirit was in evidence as they repelled all comers from Ravens with admirable 'Hit the Beach' mentality made famous by Wilkinson & co!

Finally, after the longest 5 minutes of our lives a mistake was made by Ravens and the ball disappeared into touch. Game over, and Manor emerged victorious from one of the hardest and most enjoyable games I can remember.

Final score: Manor 18 v 12 Ravens.

Man of the match went to Mark Le Vallee for a masterful performance at 13. His tackling, running lines and never say die attitude showed true leadership. Well done Mark!

Billericay Blunder went to New Prop Mike Cross. Having beaten his man he tried to kick into space ahead of him. Only one problem; he missed the ball completely. Swing and a miss for the new boy!

Next week we face Loughton in a friendly before going to Runwell in the League on 1st February.