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Writtle Wanderers RUFC |
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Writtle Wanderers RUFC |
April 2005 Match Reports
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Scorers:
Tries: Janes 3, Young 2, Brown,
Battye, Horne, Dempsey
Convs: Battye 2, Rawlinson 2
Man of the Match - Martyn Howarth
Wanderers Take the Title!
As we entered the last month of the season, the Writtle Wanderers made the short trip to Witham for their penultimate league game. In the knowledge that victory would take away any mathematical possibility of being caught in the title race, the new boys of Essex rugby turned on the style and ran in 9 tries against a home side who found themselves starved of ball for most of the match.
Winning the toss and electing to play downfield for the 1st half, the Writtle side quickly got into their stride with an early try by skipper, Tim Janes, coming into the line from full back after just five minutes. However, handling errors and some solid defence by Witham meant that it was a full twenty minutes before the Wanderers crossed again, this time with veteran centre Dick Battye crashing his way through the defenders to touch down.
After this second try, the visitors confidence began to grow and with forwards and backs combining well, the tries began to come thick and fast. With Janes bagging a hat-trick and No. 8 Tommy Young picking up a brace of tries, the Wanderers concentrated on playing to the patterns that club coach, Mark Rawlinson, has been nurturing all season. Wingers Mike Brown and Jon Horne both benefited from improved handling to go over in their respective corners and fly half Mark Dempsey managed to pick up a well deserved try of his own.
The victory confirmed Writtle Wanderers as Essex 3 Champions and the club now look forward to the potential double as they take on Canvey Island in the Essex President's Shield final on Sunday, 24th April at Old Brentwoods RFC.
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No details or report submitted!
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Scorers:
Tries: Young 3, Barrett, Szyczak,
Janes, Manson, Dempsey, Read, Brent
Convs: Dempsey 6, Janes
Man of the Match: Jon Horne
On the Friday night before this game, I received a call from Ongar to advise that they were unable to raise a full side for the scheduled Essex 3 league game, which Writtle had been looking forward to as the finale of their triumphant and unbeaten league campaign. With the chance of picking up a game off the exchange remote, Ongar were persuaded to come over with what they had and the Wanderers were able to lend plenty of players to bring them up to a full side.
The Wanderers started with their first choice XV, but with the likes of Phil Sotriades, Matt Morris and Scott Taylor pulling on the yellow shirts of Ongar there were always going to be some interesting battles in the tight! I'm afraid that I cannot recall the scoring sequence, but the Wanderers were frustrated in the first half by their own lack of discipline! Penalties in the tackle and for talking back cost field position and scoring opportunities, but it was clear from an early stage that Ongar were never really going to threaten the home side's unbeaten record.
Tommy Young once again led the forwards by example, bagging a hat-trick of tries for his efforts, with Morgan Barrett and Jerome Manson adding a try apiece to give the forwards a half share of the try count. With Ben Szyczak, Tim Janes, Mark Dempsey, Paul Read and Brent adding a try each for the backs, the Wanderers finished with a total of ten tries and their biggest winning margin of the season!
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Scorers:
Try: Janes
Pens:
Clark 2
Man of the Match: The Whole Team!
Wanderers Come Through Tough Test!
With the Essex President's Shield final only a week away, a testing fixture was required to stretch the side. As a result Chingford 2nd XV were invited to "Fortress Fox Burrows Lane" to see how far the men in orange have come this season. Chingford 1st XV have cruised to the London NE 3 title this season and their 2nd XV have also had a successful year, so this was bound to a tough game!
If the Wanderers were in any doubt about the calibre of their opposition it disappeared rapidly, with the home side spending much of the first quarter camped in their own 22 and defending constant attacks. Thanks to some gutsy tackling, with Jack Redfern, Morgan Barrett and Matt Morris in particular showing good resistance, the visitors were unable to convert the pressure into points.
As the half progressed the Wanderers began to grow in confidence and mounted their own raids on the opposition's try line. Fly half, Mark Dempsey, began to probe with some testing kicks and scrum half, Ben Szyczak, was threatening with some incisive runs around the rucks. Finally the pressure told with the Wanderers winning three penalties in quick succession. Steve Clark converted two of these to take the score to 6 - 0.
With points on the board, the Wanderers grew in confidence and began to play some impressive rugby. The forwards were getting to the rucks and mauls quickly, providing a solid platform from which the backs could run. One attack worthy of note saw Paul Reid, skipper Tim Janes and Clark all gain good yards and off load in the tackle. The excellent support play almost led to a try and only a desperate tackle 5 metres out prevented winger Jon Horne touching down!
Coach, Mark Rawlinson, was delighted with the commitment of the team and his half time words were simply to give more of the same in the second half. He must have been delighted to see much of his valuable input throughout the season converting into better and better performances on the field.
The second half started much the same as the first with the men from Chingford throwing everything at the Wanderers. However, with their unbeaten record on the line and places in next week's final up for grabs, the Writtle side stood firm and managed to keep the opposition's score sheet blank. Again the Wanderers strengthened as the half went on. Young South African, Graham Gillett, made yards every time he had the ball in hand and put in another impressive performance.
Finally the Wanderers turned their growing pressure into points. Good work from Dempsey brought Janes cutting infield from the left wing. Still with work to do, Janes snaked his way though the tackles for the try. Clark clearly made the wrong selection from his various kicking tees and slid the conversion wide of the post, but the miss did not matter as the Wanderers resisted the last ditch efforts from Chingford and held on for a well deserved 11 - 0 victory.
The Wanderers now look forward to the biggest game in their history as they take on Canvey in the EPS final next week. This performance will give them added confidence that they can cause an upset against their higher ranked opposition & will ensure Coach Rawlinson has some tough decisions to make about who will make the final squad.
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Scorers:
Tries: Brenton 3, Hyatt 2, Congdon
2, Manson, Kenwell, Jones, Light, Campion, Thurgood
Convs: Hyatt 8, Congdon
Man of the Match: Marc Congdon
A very strong Writtle Wanderers 2nd XV took on local rivals Chelmsford's 3rd XV, keen to avenge two defeats at the hands of Chelmsford's 2nd/3rd XV earlier in the season! The result was emphatic, with the home side putting on a splendid display of running rugby, with forwards and backs linking superbly. Ball retention at rucks and mauls was excellent and it was not just the more experienced campaigners who came to the party!
Leading the way as far as tries were concerned were Dave Hyatt and Marc Congdon with a brace each and Brenton Lemiere with a hat-trick. Although Chelmsford did manage a three good tries of their own, they could not compete with the speed and fitness of the Writtle side!
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Scorers:
Pens: Clark 3
Man of the Match: Graham Gillitt
The pitch at the Old Brentwoods
ground was in excellent condition for the final. Wanderers put early
pressure on the Canvey line even though veteran hooker Sean Culleton was
sin-binned for handling in the ruck. Good mauling play by the Wanderers'
forwards saw the ball creep closer to the Canvey line where they were eventually
penalised for pulling down the maul. This gave the Wanderers' fullback
Steve Clark the first opportunity at goal which he converted to give the
Wanderers a 3-0 lead.
Canvey were then awarded a penalty which was successfully converted to bring the
scores level.
With the Wanderers back to full strength, Canvey started to use their backs to
stretch the Wanderers' defence, and the Wanderers found themselves short of
players and Canvey went over to score a try. In the process of the try
being scored the Wanderers' scrum half Ben Szyczak picked up an injury to his
shoulder which eventually saw him taken to hospital for further treatment.
This meant a reorganisation of the Wanderers' team with Tommy Young moving from
number 8 to play scrum half. Good direct running from the Wanderers' backs
threatened the Canvey line. This time Canvey were guilty of offside and, from
the resulting penalty, Steve Clark brought the half time score to 8-6.
As the second half progressed, it took some great defence from Canvey to prevent
the Wanderers breaching their line. As the Wanderers kept the pressure on,
Canvey were penalised for handling in the ruck and Clark converted to give the
Wanderers a one point lead.
With five minutes left, Canvey
recycled the ball well which was spun out to the fly half who scored a drop goal
to give Canvey 11-9 lead. Canvey then gave away a penalty some 40 metres
out. The Wanderers signalled to kick for goal and the large crowd fell
silent as Steve Clark took the kick. The ball was right on target but fell
agonising short where it was knocked on by Canvey. This gave the Wanderers
a five metre scrum from the Canvey line but they couldn't convert the chance and
Canvey cleared their lines with a 22 drop-out, followed shortly by the final
whistle.
Disappointment for Writtle, but they had given their all, and they had done
tremendously well to reach the final.
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