SWF RUFC 10 v Ruislip 45

South Woodham Ferrers RFC slumped to their fifth defeat in a row when they travelled to Ruislip this weekend. It was a game they needed to get a result from having showed real promise last week against the league leaders. Sadly this was not to be, despite showing flashes of the type of rugby we know they can produce, the lads went down 45 points to 10.

It has become a feature of recent games that the slow starting Woodham will leak points in the opening 10 minutes. This week Ruislip were able to get 14 points on the board before the Woodham lads really got into their stride. The first try came following a silly penalty and the second from a dropped ball.

Handling was to let the lads down again later in the half when a promising attack was spoilt when the ball again fell into the hands of the home team who showed their pace to run through to score their third. The game was all but over when, from a scrum, Ruislip were able to run in their fourth converted try. The scum had come from yet another handling error when the ball was adjudged to have been lost forward with Woodham on the attack. Woodhams attack was back on the front foot late in the half and the lads were finally on the scoreboard when Jamie Cox slotted a well-earned penalty between the posts.

Half time came with the score at 28 points to 3. The half time message was clear, cut out the errors and let’s play with the same intensity and passion we showed last week and we can get something from this game.
This message seemed to have got through as it was the Woodham attack that started the half on top. Some decisive running from the pack saw Scott Turner finish from close range and Jamie Cox was able to convert.
A period of Woodham pressure brought little further reward as the Ruislip defence remained resolute and the lads were unable to convert possession into points.

The home side were able to hit back with three further tries as the half drew to its conclusion, exploiting holes in the Woodam defence that appeared as the visitors chased the game.
The final score was again a poor reflection of some of the quality shown by Woodham, particularly up front. Greg Tighe had a very strong game in the second row. Neil Gittos, Scott Turner and Sammy Sharp all put in the hard yards. It is a shame that despite all the efforts the lads cannot seem to convert possession into points right now.
David Baker