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Writtle Wanderers RUFC |
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Writtle Wanderers RUFC |
February 2006 Match Reports
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4th February 2006
Sorry - no report submitted...
On a chilly afternoon at the "Home of Rugby", Writtle took on
an Upminster side that had twice given them a hiding during the season. However,
the recent excellent form of the Wanderers' side allowed for a great deal of
optimism prior to the kick-off. The side was missing several faces from last
weekend's victory but also welcomed back some familiar ones and began the game
with high hopes of recording the victory.
An early indiscretion by the usually well disciplined Bernard Denenga, plying
his trade at scrum-half in this match, saw Upminster take the lead with a
penalty. The Wanderers' players responded in excellent fashion with inside
centre Mike Williams stealing the ball from his opposing number to set up the
Wanderers' attack. The ball was rolled upfield with some excellent work by the
forwards and when Upminster strayed offside fly-half Phil Robinson duly kicked
the Wanderers' first points of the game. However, as has often been the case
this season, more indiscretions from the Writtle players gifted another chance
to the Upminster centre who gleefully kicked Upminster back into a three point
lead.
The first try of the day was scored by the visitors after some concerted
pressure, and although the Wanderers put in some hefty tackles the ball was
quickly recycled to allow the score by the pacey winger. The Wanderers replied
in excellent fashion pushing the ball out to the backs who made substantial
ground through strong running by Williams and the dancing feet of Donal
Staunton, at 13, and Simon Cook on the wing. Support was provided by the
tireless Ant Rantell at eight and some fantastic rucking by both forwards and
backs saw the Wanderers turn the ball over on the Upminster try line with
Denenga diving over from a yard out to give the home side the deserved try,
which was duly converted.
The second half was very much a mixed bag for the home side. At times there were
flashes of brilliance, but these were often followed by some lackadaisical play.
Upminster scored back to back tries through their impressive outside centre and
although they were both well taken tries, Writtle's defensive positioning was
questionable, and the tries could have been prevented. Wanderers nearly replied
with two breathtaking breaks by Denenga and prop Martyn Howarth - both almost
running the length of the pitch to score, but were unfortunately halted in their
tracks.
The second try did eventually arrive for Writtle late in the game. Good work by
the forwards gave the backs quick ball and with the 35 man overlap Staunton cut
back inside to the slightly perplexed Upminster defence who duly stopped him
short of the line! However the ball was recycled quickly, thanks to some
excellent support by Rantell and Gary Hall, and was fed out to winger Gareth
Frensham who darted over the line from a considerable distance. A fourth try of
the day was scored by Upminster, and the second half was also marred by some
dirty play which saw substitute Chris Pharris pole axed on the ground. Even
though Writtle lost this game they can take great heart from the performance and
there were many positives to take into next weekend's game.
The players retired to the bar to watch a victorious England performance, with
Rantell proudly wearing his very fetching Man of the Match T-Shirt! Another
notable performance that evening was made by Martin Fetherstone who proceeded to
wrestle three or four slightly bemused and scared England fans to the ground
venting his frustration at being injured for the game. With players set to
return to the fold next weekend for the big semi-final training on Thursday
should be well attended. Early reports from ticketmaster.com also suggest that
next weekend's game is already an all-ticket affair with an expected capacity
crowd of 95,000. Tickets are apparently selling on eBay for £500 in the week
before the game!
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11th February 2006
Sorry - no match report submitted...
The wait was finally over and after a number of weeks building
up to this game, culminating in a fantastically attended training session the
Thursday before the game, the cup semi-final had finally arrived. Writtle
arrived at the game early and went through the most rigorous training session
possibly ever seen in the 2nds and felt well prepared for the match ahead. It
was also pleasing to see a large number of supporters turning out on a cold
afternoon at the home of rugby.
Ilford started the game the stronger side and immediately found good field
position in the Writtle 22. A surging run from the Ilford outside centre saw him
nearly break the line only to be tackled by Writtle outside centre Mike
Williams, with Williams' fellow centre Colm Coyle stealing after contact to
allow Writtle to clear the ball. However it was not long before Ilford took the
lead with the first try of the afternoon. The response to this was excellent
from the Writtle side with the forwards pushing the ball up field, ably assisted
by strong running from the half-back combination of Dave Rowan and Will Young.
With the crowd cheering the side on Rowan charged towards the try line to
register the first points of the day and bring the scores level.
The game continued to race by at a high tempo and Ilford soon regained the lead
with their second try of the day. An injury to Club Leviathan Scott Taylor saw
him leave the field to be replaced by John Stimpson, and Wanderers registered
their second try of the day through fly half Young and the deficit was again
wiped out. However, when the Ilford inside centre charged down a clearance kick
on the Writtle line, the home side once again saw themselves rather
unfortunately behind.
Again the response from the Wanderers was superb with the ball pushed up field
towards the Ilford line. Excellent clearing out by flankers Gary Hall and Colin
Jones saw the ball recycled quickly and a beautiful miss pass by fly-half Young
saw sprightly winger Lloyd Hariram score in the corner. The conversion was
superbly made by Rowan and Writtle were again on level terms. Unfortunately for
the home side, powerful running from the opposing forwards allowed Ilford to run
in their fourth try and end the first half 24-17 in the lead.
The second half saw most of the action played out in the area between both sides
22 line, with the match continuing to be played at a high tempo. The Wanderers
exerted their power in the scrum turning over Ilford ball on a number of
occasions but were unfortunate to not quite get the break their play deserved.
It has to be noted that the defence from Ilford was very impressive and
Wanderers were unable to cross the line despite some excellent breaks, most
notably by Bernard Denenga and Donal Staunton. Ilford began to use runners down
the blind side from a number of rucks and mauls but were time and again halted
in their tracks by some superb tackling by Hariram who managed to bring down a
number of players considerably bigger than himself. The only points of the
second half were a penalty for the visitors to extend their lead to 10 points
and put the game out of the reach of the hosts.
The game was a thoroughly enjoyable affair played at a level of intensity not
often seen in the 2nds. To push a side that hard that play their rugby a number
of divisions above the Wanderers is something the side can be very proud of.
Good performances were put in throughout the side but special mention must go to
Young, Hariram, Rowan, Jones and Theobald who all put in excellent performances.
The players retired to the bar to see another victorious performance from
England in the Six Nations, and the only downside to the day's proceedings was
the refusal by Subway to provide Hall, Coyle, Williams or Hariram with any free
food!
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18th February 2006
The Wanderers made the trip up the A12 to their coastal-dwelling hosts on Saturday knowing that, if previous encounters were to be any indication, this would be another close game. In the same fixture last season only a single point split the sides in the Wanderers favour and it was a given that the seasiders would be out for revenge this time around. Previous results aside, this was a massive game for both sides. Writtle needed a win to consolidate their position at the top of Essex 2, whilst the Clacton side desperately needed a victory to stay in the hunt for promotion.
Clacton started the game as if it were their last and threw everything at the visitors. Wave after wave of attack rolled in as the home side tried gain the ascendancy. Some 20 minutes passed without the Wanderers managing to create a single attack as they found themselves under siege from the Clacton XV. However, thanks to some brave and gutsy defence by the Wanderers, the only return for Clacton was a well taken drop goal by their fly half. Later in the game they would rue the lack of points taken during such a dominant period.
Finally, the Wanderers managed to gain a foothold and started to take the game back to Clacton. Mike Brown, making his first start at ten, was kicking and distributing well to take some of the pressure off the men in orange. However, despite some promising attacks and a missed penalty attempt, Writtle were unable to put points on the board and the half ended with the Wanderers facing a 3-0 deficit.
The Wanderers started the second half knowing that they had to take the game to their opponents if they were to have any chance of victory and after good work down the middle of the field from the forwards, Clacton conceded a penalty. Steve Clark converted to bring parity to the scores. This seemed to give the Wanderers a boost and they began to offer more in offence. The Wanderers' mobile back row of Andy Ross, Tommy Young and Ben Campion began to create problems with some impressive ball carrying and the Wanderers found themselves deep in opposition territory. With a ruck formed and Clacton committing numbers in an attempt to recover, Brown spun the ball to centre, Tim Janes, who showed good hands to offload well. Clark made the most off the overlap by passing to the speeding wing, Benson Messo, who touched down for the try with a camera-friendly swan dive in the corner. Clark converted to take the score to 10-3.
Clacton came straight back at the visitors and enjoyed some
time back on the front foot. A drop goal attempt bounced off the Writtle
cross-bar and surprisingly they chose to run a couple of kickable penalties as
they searched for tries.
Their pressure finally told as they broke through to score an unconverted try.
Despite Writtle's efforts to play the game back in the Clacton half, with, in particular, Symons and Hyatt carrying the ball well, the home side were kicking well and returning the ball deep into the Writtle territory. However, it was the Wanderers who scored next, with another penalty in front of the posts which Clark slotted through to take the scores to 13-8.
The ever threatening Clacton flanker, Lee Amman, broke through midfield and put a grubber kick through the Wanderers defensive line. Full back Clark ran across in an effort to clear but stumbled in his attempt and the surging Clacton forward ran through to capitalise on the error to touchdown in the corner. An excellent conversion from the Clacton kicker saw them open up a 15 – 13 lead with only 8 minutes to go.
With so much on the line, Writtle lifted their game and the game reached a frenetic pace. Writtle threw everything back at Clacton and seemed to have scored the try they were so desperate for when a good move involving centres, Paul Read and Janes, saw John Nicolle cross the line only to be held up by two defenders. Was this Lady Luck telling the Wanderers that this was not to be their day?
Down but not out, Writtle built another attack. As the Clacton side frantically attempted to win the ball, the referee spotted a rogue hand trying to scoop the ball back onto their side and awarded a penalty to Writtle some 35 metres out. With the time ticking on, Clark elected for the kick at the posts. After his earlier error, the full back was desperate to make amends and duly stroked the ball through the posts to edge the Wanderers into a slender one point lead.
With only minutes left the Clacton side gave all they had but could not break down the now inspired Writtle defence. The Wanderers defensive effort was epitomised by Man of the Match, Adam Jones, who started the game with damaged ribs yet threw himself at every tackle without a second thought. The referee finally blew the whistle to mark the end of a great game and a fantastic win for the Wanderers. Credit should go to both sides for playing the game with such passion & determination.
The Wanderers now need only one more point to guarantee promotion to Essex 1 - a superb achievement for a side only two years into playing league rugby!
Writtle came into this game with a few changes in personnel
from last weekend's Cup semi-final game. Colm Coyle was absent on location
filming the sequel to his highly successful debut movie "School of Rock", and
was replaced by Jeremy "Don't Touch The Hair" Court. Court had reportedly
been spotted in Mothercare on the morning of the match searching for a tighter
shirt to wear after the game! The Wanderers also welcomed back winger Sam
Yardley after his recent absence due to injury.
Writtle started the game well and were able to gain good field position thanks
to a couple of lovely kicks into the corner from fly-half, Dick Battye.
However, a series of Writtle indiscretions saw the home side advance up the
field and, with players committed to the ruck, Eton Manor created the overlap to
run in the first try of the day and take an early lead. Writtle themselves
were soon able to respond, as some strong running by Battye and Ant Rantell saw
the away team advance towards the home side's line. The rolling maul crept
ever closer to the Eton Manor line and, after excellent work by the forwards,
scrum-half Dave Rowan barged his way over the line to bring the scores level.
With the conversion successfully kicked Writtle were able to take the lead in
this game.
Not much else really happened in the first half, Writtle's attacking options
were decreased by the withdrawal of Battye at fly-half to be replaced by Donal
Staunton, playing in an unfamiliar role for him. However, the forwards
were still able to work the ball upfield, and when the backs got the ball they
were also able to make some inroads into the home side's defence. Yardley on the
wing and Lloyd Hariram at full-back both looked lively and made ground with some
quick feet. But Writtle were unable to gain the second score before the interval
and went into the half-time break a little disappointed with their performance.
The second half saw much of the same with the game being a very scrappy affair.
The second half was livened up by Club Leviathan, Scott Taylor, gaining a black
eye from a 13 year old, and Donal Staunton making a crunching challenge on the
Eton centre. Time and again though, Writtle gained good field advantage
only to turn the ball over. In defence Writtle were strong and tackles
were rarely missed, with Hariram putting in an excellent last ditch tackle to
prevent the home side retaking the lead. An excellent run by Staunton saw
Writtle camped out in the home side's 22, and a barbaric surge from Rantell saw
him touch down Writtle's second try. The conversion was kicked by Rowan, and he
also added to the score with a well taken penalty. After this the game continued
to be scrappy with tussles occurring across the pitch. The home side bought the
game to within 7 points with a late try, but good Writtle defence kept them away
from another score.
Pundits always remark that the sign of a good side is one that can win, without
playing well. On the basis of that statement this Writtle team are up
there with the best of them! Rantell was able to shake off his hangover to put
in another excellent performance, and he was ably supported by Court and Rowan
who both excelled. The evening's festivities kicked off in the Plough with
the first team returning from their narrow victory over Clacton in high spirits.
After a number of of downed pints the team began to fragment and drift home.
Quite predictably the evening ended for this journalist with a traditional
Subway, I am also happy to report that both Williams and Hariram were able to
gain an extra piece of beef in their Subway Club, but alas no free cookies!
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