South Woodham Ferrers V Eton Manor

South Woodham Ferrers lost their away game to Eton Manor this weekend going down 27 to 15 in a thrilling encounter. Both teams gave their all but it was the home team who came away with the points as Woodham were again the victims of small defensive errors and some ill discipline at important moments .

As usual the slow starting Woodham team were down 5 nil in the first 10 minutes as they fell victim to a very soft try from a short line out. The lads recovered and hit back with a Jamie Cox penalty but were soon on the back foot at the Eton Manor attack got into their stride.
Eton Manor scored three times; a penalty and then two unanswered tries saw them stretch their lead to 20 points to three at half time.
Whatever coach Tony Woods said to the Woodham team in the interval seemed to work wonders as the lads came out with greater intensity in the second half and outscored the home team twelve points to seven.

A fine forwards try from Liam Searles opened the scoring in a half that produced some thrilling rugby from both sides as well as some feisty encounters up front. Eton Manor soon hit back with their final converted try but for the remainder of the half it was the Woodham team that looked most threatening.

Tani Loka was sinned binned for a no arms clear out of a ruck but this did not seem to dampen Woodhams desire to pull back the deficit. Alex Baker scored his first try of the year with a cheeky “show and go” to finish of an impressive move from the Woodham backs. The try was converted and belief returned to the visiting team as they pressed for a losing bonus point.

Attack after attack was repelled by a strong Manor defence as Ross Noakes, Don Hoey and Sammy Sharp battered their try line. In the end it was Scott Turner who, in the dying moments of the game, came closest to scoring that bonus point try. Sadly for the away team the referee ruled that he had crawled across the whitewash and the game ended in agonising frustration for the Woodham team and their supporters.
The game showed again that newly promoted Woodham can complete well at this level and should not be afraid of games against the stronger London 1 North teams in the coming weeks. The pack again performed well matching a very big Manor front five and the backs showed that given quick ball they have the necessary finishing power.

So far it an inconsistency in defensive performance and some naive decision making that is letting the lads down. They can range from the sublime to the frustrating in just a few moments; all of this can be worked on in the rest period before the next home game against North Walsham on the 21st October.