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Writtle Wanderers RUFC |
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Writtle Wanderers RUFC |
November 2004 Match Reports
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Scorers:
Tries: Cleare, Campion, Daniel
Conv: Cleare
Man of the Match: Ben Campion
Wanderers Spring Surprise on Southend
The Wanderers started the first
ten minutes very fiery and fly half, Mike Cleare, put the first try past
Southend with an outstanding effort from the foot of a ruck set up by Dave Rowan
and debutant, Ben Campion. To the watching crowd it did not appear that the
ball was grounded, but the referee was happy and awarded the try. Cleare was
unable to add the conversion. Wanderers lead 0 - 5.
It wasn’t long before Campion scored his first try at No.8 connecting with
Rowan. The Club President, in his inimitable impression of a weeble, bounced
off numerous would-be tacklers before offloading to Campion for the try.
Wanderers let the Southend team back in the game with a soft try to bring the
score back to 5 - 10. However, with prop, Chris Sullivan, suffering
a knee injury, Martyn Howarth was brought on earlier than expected.
Despite struggling to adapt to the tight head position, Howarth was able to add
some impetus to the forwards in the ruck and maul, preventing Southend seizing
the initiative before half time. Nick Iles also deserves mention for two
or three memorable try saving tackles as Southend made breaks out wide, and
debutant centre, Will Young also put in some good runs and showed some fly half
potential outside Cleare.
In the second half, Wanderers looked a bit tired and with the Southend backs
continuously offside without the referee spotting it, made harder work for them.
Nevertheless, Wanderers attacked again through a surging break from Rowan and
Jason Daniel scored his debut try for the club under the
posts which Mike "Jonny Wilkinson" Cleare slotted taking his score
total up to 42 points in 5 games.
With the 40 yr old President tiring, Mark Dempsey took the field, moving Cleare
into an unfamiliar role at scrum half. The Merthyr Cannonball, Jon Horne,
was also introduced to fray and despite a late try from the home side, the
Wanderers were able to hang on to win 12 - 17. According to the scoreboard
in the Clubhouse, this was the first defeat of the season for the Southend
V(ets)!
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Scorers:
Tries: Culleton, Dempsey, Clark
Conv: Clark
Pens: Clark 2
Man of the Match: Graham Gillitt
Writtle Wanderers Go Top!
Those who witnessed this game will be well aware of some of the more unsavoury aspects of it and I shall say no more here! At the end of the day, we got a deserved result and that is the best answer to it!
Having played in the 2nd XV game myself, I only saw the second half but it was certainly a very tight game between the two leading sides in Essex 3. A Writtle Wanderers side missing several leading lights put on a gritty team performance to secure top spot in the League. Graham Gillett, debuting for the 1st XV after several excellent performances for the 2nd XV, put in a sterling performance once again and is a player who is sure to continue to develop with age!
At the other end of the age spectrum, Sean Culleton and Mark Dempsey both scored good tries, with Steve Clark rounding things off by chasing a kick through for his five pointer. Two Clark penalties for Clacton infringements were crucial to the result.
Having lost Dick Battye to a calf injury in warm-up and Jerome Manson to a recurrence of his dislocated shoulder after only 5 minutes of the game, it was with great relief that the the Writtle side took the win in what is probably the club's biggest game to date!
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Scorers:
Tries: Denenga 2, Iles 2, Theobald,
Rowan, Giles
Convs: Giles 5
Man of the Match: Paul Murphy
2nd XV Bring Home the Bacon!
Unfortunately, no report was submitted for this game and I am writing this from a distant memory! With the 1st XV winning their crunch game against Clacton and several internationals taking place that day, my memory was somewhat eroded during the evening!
In a high scoring game, the Wanderers came out victors by a flattering margin of 19 points. With a scrum under considerable pressure from the experienced Brentwood front row, the boys in black did well to secure sufficient ball to let their pacey backs run in six tries. Neil Theobald picked up a deserved try for himself and the forwards, with Paul Murphy playing at hooker and taking the Man of the Match accolades. Grant Giles' place kicking, with five conversions from seven attempts, also deserves a mention.
All round, a jolly good effort!
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Scorers:
Try: Cleare
Conv: Cleare
Pen: Cleare
Man of the Match: Nick Iles
Wanderers Grind Out Another Win
A dull, wet and icy day saw the
depleted Writtle first string travel to Brentwood. The early kick off gratefully
received by all concerned.
The visitors started well, pinning the younger and quicker Brentwood side in
their own half, as it was for much of the game. Although this was by no means a
feast of running rugby it did show the Wanderers ability to "win ugly" as the
Australians would put it. That said the Brentwood backs always looked dangerous,
particularly so the 15 who looked excellent with ball in hand, and if it wasn't
for some selfless yellow cards, earned by Captain Janes and Loose Head Cansell,
the Woods backs would have undoubtedly prospered.
In the final analysis this was a poor game, won only by the Writtle side's
ability to make the hosts play more poorly. The Wanderers exerted pressure well
up front and made some stunning cover tackles in the backs to prevent scores.
Aided by a dynamic and tireless back row of Taylor and Rawlinson (injuries to
Blanchfield and Gillitt will hit hard later in the season) with combined ages
approaching 75, the Writtle side toughed out an ugly win.
Man of the match Iles was solid at 15 and Cleare was strong in attack from 10
with a nice chip and chase earning him a well deserved try.
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Scorers:
Tries: Richards, Adam
(from Westcliff)
Pen: Young
Man of the Match: Philippoussis
Sotriades
At a recent Committee meeting, we were informed by club "Statto", Mark Rawlinson, that 75 different players have represented the club already this season! However, with a large number of injuries ruling out some key players and others not available due to work or holiday commitments, the 2nd XV were left in a state of disarray prior to this game due to last minute cry-offs and late arrivals!
We were very fortunate that Westcliff had travelled up with a number of substitutes and, in a true display of sportsmanship, lent us four of their players to bring us up to scratch! This generosity almost cost them dear as the ram-shackle Writtle side put on a very brave performance with the whole team giving 100%, but in the end the visitors were able to hold on for victory.
Special mention must go to Dave the Prop and Adam the Flanker, as well as the two backs (I think may have been Matt and Chris) from Westcliff. All put in sterling performances against their usual team-mates! Wanderers utility forward, Martyn Howarth, was especially grateful to Dave the Prop who saved him from what seemed a rather torrid time in the front row, with only the excellent disruptive hooking of Glen Richards saving the home side from suffering far more in set pieces!
Early in the game, the Wanderers suffered a setback with an injury to scrum half Chris Pharris, meaning that Club President, Dave Rowan had to move in from centre. This unfortunately meant that his promising partnership with similarly proportioned fly-half, Will Young, was prevented from blossoming. The late arriving Bernard Denenga added some extra pace, but despite the keen efforts of the Westcliff "Wanderers", the back line never really fired all day due probably due to a lack of familiarity.
In the loose, the Wanderers' forwards more than held their own against a big Westcliff pack, whose hard running tight-head was brought down time and again by some valiant tackling from the boys in black. The Wanderers' back row of Gary Hall, "Adam the Flanker" and Man of the Match, Philippoussis Sotriades, were certainly carrying a lot less weight than their opposite numbers, but the home side sensibly played a rucking game whenever possible and the extra speed across the park was an interesting foil to the visitors more maul-orientated game.
Turning round to start the second half with a 10 points to nil deficit, skipper Hall urged the home side to raise their game. Although now playing up the hill, it was clear that the Westcliff forwards were starting to tire. I think "Adam the Flanker" got his score after a series of good rucks had taken the Wanderers to the Westcliff line. However, as the game wore on and the Westcliff mauls tired some of the home defenders, gaps opened and Westcliff were able to run in a further try of their own.
As the second half progressed the Wanderers were able raise their game a notch and mount a come back. Trailing by 3 tries to 1, Hall led by example, taking the ball on upfield and laying it off from a maul to the evergreen Howarth! Once he had realised that this wasn't a game of "walking touch" (as practised at Thursday night training sessions) he picked up his legs to accelerate past the Westcliff No.8 and attack the Westcliff backline. With the visiting centre clearly not relishing the prospect of putting in the big hit, Howarth sold the most outrageous of dummies to cut back inside and break open the Westcliff defence!
As he was eventually dragged down, Howarth fed the ball back to the rampaging "Legonator", Neil Theobald. Now only yards from the line, the Wanderers continued to edge closer with a series of drives. Eventually the ball came back once again to Howarth, who this time peeled off the maul and punched forward to be held inches short. As he was forced to ground, he managed to slip the ball to Richards, whose arms proved just long enough to reach over and touch down!
With the match now there for the taking at 10 - 15, it was a little disappointing that a couple of missed tackles let the visitors cancel out the comeback with a further try to edge back out to 10 - 20. As the minutes ticked down the Wanderers again forced their way upfield and were awarded a penalty, which Young successfully converted at his captains request. This gave the Wanderers a couple of minutes to mount a last couple of attacks on the Westcliff line, but despite digging deep they were unable to come up with the score to level the match.
The Wanderers were left to rue what would surely have been a different result had a few more regular players been available - although no-one can fault the commitment of those who put in the effort on the day. Once the autumn internationals are out of the way and a few players throughout the club have returned from injury, things will hopefully start to pick up again and the 2nd XV will be able to challenge for the Division 6 title!
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Scorer:
Try: Iles
Man of the Match: Paul Murphy
A Tough Day at the Office!
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