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Writtle Wanderers RUFC |
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Writtle Wanderers RUFC |
March 2008 Match Reports
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1st March 2008
Writtle Wanderers 1st XV v Upper Clapton 1st XV
(Essex 1)
Won 14 - 8
Scorers:
Tries - Clark, Fleming
Convs - Clark 2
Man of the Match - Steve Clark
Report
To use a footballing analogy, Saturday’s game at Fox Burrows Lane was a true “6 Pointer”. With both sides hovering just above the bottom two in the league and desperate to avoid the drop, the game was always bound to be a hard fought affair and so it turned out to be.
The Wanderers played with all the elements in the favour for the first half with the downward slope and wind behind them. However, any plans to maximise this advantage were often thwarted by handling errors in key areas. One area where the home side had a clear advantage was in the scrum where they were frequently in the ascendancy with the front row of Dom Pearce, Glen Richards and John Smillie constantly causing problems for the Upper Clapton pack.
With possession largely even and both sides struggling to offer a real threat to the try line in the first 40, it was no real surprise when the first score came from broken play. Steve Clark, making a rare appearance at centre, charged the ball down as Upper Clapton looked to move through their backs. Clark made the most of a favourable bounce to pick the ball up and run to the try line to score a converted try.
Despite only scoring 7 points in a half where conditions suggested that a larger lead should have been established, the home side's cause was boosted by the sin binning of an Upper Clapton player for throwing punches a minute before the turn around . However, the punishment had little effect as the visitors soon opened their account by sucking too many Wanderers into the ruck and then spinning the ball wide to make the most of an overlap to score a try 5 minutes into the second period. With the conversion missed, Writtle held onto a slender lead.
In what was a very physical game, the referee was forced to send a player from both sides to the bin for a 10 minute cooling period. As a result, gaps began to open up. Fly-half Tim Janes took full advantage as he released Clark who stepped his man and broke the gain line. The centre was snared a few metres from the line by Upper Clapton’s last man of defence but flanker Tom Fleming showed superb support play to take the popped pass and score under the posts. Clark converted leaving Writtle 6 points ahead with 5 to go. For all their efforts, Upper Clapton could not add to their score and Writtle ran out winners 14 – 8.
Steve Clark
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8th March 2008
Dagenham 1st XV v Writtle Wanderers 1st XV
(Essex 1)
Lost 43 - 0
Man of the Match - Mark Cleary
Writtle Wanderers 2nd XV v Westcliff 4th XV
(BL Merit Table)
Won 27 - 12
Scorers:
Tries - Hariram, Dempsey, Cook, Coyle, Denenga
Conv - Dempsey
Man of the Match - Neil Theobald
15th March 2008
Writtle Wanderers "A" XV v Ongar "A" XV
(Friendly)
Won 19 - 14
Scorers:
tbc
Man of the Match - tbc
Sorry, no report submitted!
29th March 2008
Maldon 1st XV v Writtle Wanderers 1st XV
(Essex 1)
Lost 30 - 20
Scorers:
Tries - Ross, Rawlinson
Convs - Clark 2
Pens - Clark 2
Man of the Match - Dave McKenna
Writtle Wanderers 2nd XV v Westcliff 4th XV
(BL Merit Div 7 Plate Semi-Final)
Won 35 - 0
Scorers:
Tries - Shields 2, Milburn, Cook, Denenga, Martin
Conv - Haylett
Pen - Haylett
Man of the Match - ?