Writtle Wanderers RUFC

Writtle Wanderers RUFC
(Founded 2002)

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Scorers:
Tries: Jo Pins 3, Redfern, Edwards, Penalty Try
Convs: Batty 2

Despite the rather miserable conditions, the Wanderers managed to put on a fine performance against local rivals, Chelmsford. The home team had allegedly been talking the talk in the bar prior to the game and this undoubtedly helped fire up the Wanderers to put in a strong performance all round!

With a couple of new players (Mark George and John Smiley) making a big impact in the forwards and Jo Pins putting on a great show of strength and pace at centre, the Wanderers, playing up the hill, took the game to Chelmsford from the off. Good work from the forwards eventually saw Jo Pins drive his way over as the ball was whipped down the back line to open the scoring for the Wanderers.

The Wanderers second try was scored by Jack Redfern, showing his strength with another short range effort which Dick Batty converted to give the Wanderers a 12 - 0 lead. However, Chelmsford were always looking dangerous in the back line and they eventually pulled back 10 points with a penalty followed by a converted try. The Wanderers picked up their game again to counter the Chelmsford fight back with a well worked move by the backs, rounded off with a try by Warren Edwards playing out of position on the wing but demonstrating his usual thirst for action! This took the Wanderers into the break 17 - 10 up.

The second half saw the Wanderers make a number of replacements - due to the lack of a second team game meaning a number of substitutes were available and in order to give as many as possible a run out. However, it was Jo Pins who continued to shine in the back line with a brace of tries in the second half - both long range efforts following good hands in the line which put him in space. Once he got into his stride there was no way Chelmsford were going to catch him!

The referee awarded penalty tries to both sides, although it was not particularly clear why! Chelmsford also managed to pull another try back late in the game, but it was too little too late to catch a rampant Wanderers side! A great performance, and considering a number of regular first choice players were unavailable, this sort of show certainly gives me great confidence in our ability to cut the mustard in the Eastern Counties League next season!

Scorers:
Tries: Littlechild, Edwards, Messo, McKenna, McCreadie, Redfern
Convs: Battye 5

After a 4 week lay off the Wanderers were back in action last Saturday at fortress Lordship Road looking to continue the sort of unbeaten home run that the likes of Leicester can only dream of. A raft of new faces gave the selector(s) a few headaches early on; however a strong team was put out to face the challengers in sky blue and white.

A scrappy start, which can only be expected given the month long break, caused nervous mutterings on the sidelines and a series of minor infringements put the home side under unnecessary pressure from the start. However neither side was helped by a referee playing to the letter of the law in what was, after all, a mid-season friendly.

Approaching the 15 minute mark the Wanderers made a delightful break from their own 22 through Carlton Littlechild on the right wing. Having left most of the pack floundering in his wake this Porsche of a Wing ran almost the length of the field, throwing in a series of sublime jinks and sidesteps for good measure just to fox the waiting defenders. Sadly the conversion was just out of range for the experienced fly half, Battye.

Buoyed up by this great individual display the backs started to work as a unit. Benson Messo, no doubt shown the way by Littlechild, started to turn on the class, and the gas, in the unfamiliar outside Centre spot, showing himself as the true Tangerine Ferrari. A series of runs and jinks, supported ably by new signing Jim Hall, started to open up the visitor's defence and once the backs were in gear a try fest was always on the cards.

Despite this Cambridge defended well and were unlucky 10 minutes later when Redfern opened up their line with a delightful show of the ball and allowed Edwards to cruise in almost unopposed under the posts from fullback. Battye was on target this time. From the kick off the home side were firmly in control and barely a minute passed before Messo himself, provider turned scorer, cruised in for another try within easy range of Battye to convert.

A short scrappy period followed with a number of surges from the visitors, Nathan Owen tackled superbly on the left wing, sometimes to the distaste of the visiting crowd. The home supporters however were right behind him and his belligerent and bristling defence together with some excellent support work at the tackle rightly earned him the Man of the Match.

On the stroke of half time Dave "Davide" McKenna rolled in for a wonderful try while the defence, again opened up in midfield, could only look on in horror. It is fair to say that Davide has a substantial following on the female side of the fan base. Frankly the writer is somewhat concerned that these young ladies may be getting out of their depth, he is also staggered that anyone could find such an ugly spud worth leering over! Battye's near perfect game continued to lead the home side into the break 26-0 up.

The second half opened with the promise of invention and improvisation from the Tangerines. Unfortunately these promises were soon forgotten and most of the second half became a torrid midfield battle livened only by two further scores. Cambridge again defended well despite their players dropping like flies, and managed to pin the home side in midfield for much of the half. The Wanderers battled on with some inspired work in midfield, again from Messo. Sadly too much of the action crabbed across field rather than making real inroads however it did serve to flummox the visiting defenders.

Eventually the deadlock was broken with a pushover try, ostensibly claimed by Rawlinson, the veteran 8, but in reality scored by the nippy McCreadie from scrum half. It's always a toss up with this sort of score but my money always goes slight of hand of the younger man. Battye's form continued and the scores settled at 33-0 for much of the remainder of the game.

On the stroke of time Captain Redfern managed to sneak in for a try under the posts after some fine work in midfield allowed him to spring open the mousetrap that was the Cambridge defence for much of the half. A lovely show to his right using Evans as the decoy led him in unopposed and onto the final whistle with the score at 40-0.

If there was any comment on this score it is that the Wanderers only seem to play their best against good opposition. They must seek the continuity to play their own game week in week out, only then will they be a league winning side.

A game that we really should have won! If we'd turned up mentally as well as physically for the first half an hour, we would not have conceded the early tries that made our task nigh on impossible! This all comes down to people not being at the meeting point on time - if everyone had been there at 1.00 p.m., we'd have been at Brentwood in plenty of time and had the chance of a good half hours warm up and run through of tactics! As it was, we ran out with barely 5 minutes to warm up - we simply can't do that with a squad that changes from one week to the next, so PLEASE get to the meet on time!

So - the game itself! The Vets proved to be a canny lot and had spent a good bit of time on their warm-up. Considering that many of them have probably be played together for 15 or 20 years, it's no surprise that they were fairly well drilled. If the conditions had not led to so many handling errors we could have been facing a far heavier defeat! The fly-half for the Vets was clearly a very experienced player - indeed, we were later told that he still plays full-back for Brentwood 1s on a regular basis!

Brentwood ran in 4 tries in the first half - 2 converted - and we really had no answer to it for the majority of the half. Only in the last 10 minutes did we begin to make a few breaks and take the game to them a little more. Playing uphill in very sticky conditions did not help - but the real problem was that many players were putting in less that 100% and our lineout work, previously something of a strength, was very poor.

Turning round 24 - 0 down, the team talk focussed on treating the 2nd half as a new game with a 0 - 0 scoreline. This seemed to do the trick as we started the 2nd half looking far stronger! The introduction of Tay to the back line brought some much needed pace and directness, which enabled the forwards to cover the ground and support the backs. Bidwell make some surging breaks up the middle, one of which could have led to our opening try had the final pass not just drifted beyond the outstretched hands of Howarth rampaging down the wing!

The opening try finally came when new boy, Nick Whitting (?) found some space down his wing and raced in for try under the posts. This restored some pride in the Wanderers and was soon followed by a second try for Whitting as the Veterans older back line began to flag a little playing up the hill. However, sloppy defending a few minutes later let Brentwood in for a further try - against the run of play - to dent the Wanderers genuine hopes of being able to pull the game back.

The Wanderers responded well, however, and kept their heads up. Whitting rounded off his hat-trick with another run in round the tiring Brentwood backs - just giving the Wanderers a faint glimmer of a chance! However, as the darkness began to fall and the drizzle increased, the game was finally sealed with a closing try for Brentwood. Hopefully we will learn the lessons from this game - i.e. we have to give ourselves time to get to the ground and have a good warm up before the game. We cannot rely on simply riding out the first 20 minutes until we start to work together as a team - because against a decent side such as Brentwood we are going to find ourselves facing an uphill battle just to get back into the game!

Next week sees a home game against Colchester 5s! Having beaten their 4s earlier in the season, this should be a fairly gentle game to round off the first half of the season - although we mustn't be complacent! And there'll be no excuses for not being there on time!