Dominant SWF Side Have All the Answers

South Woodham Ferrers RFC v Braintree Rugby Club

South Woodham Ferrers 1st XV rugby squad were again on the road on Saturday 7th February and after their gallant defeat to Diss (a win which took them to second in the league) a trip to bottom-of-the-league Braintree was seen as a chance to get swiftly back to winning ways.
South Woodham, starting the game with a few changes from the line-up that faced Diss the previous weekend, began in a determined mood and early pressure resulted in Greg Tighe weaving his way through several Braintree players to score the first try of the game. Alex Baker took the follow-up kick, which was not converted, to make the score 0 – 5. SWF were showing good pressure at the breakdown and in set pieces and were also winning the physicality battle around the park giving Braintree no time to settle into their game. It was from a scrum that SWF broke to their left and, after a succession of passes Adam Brown went over the try line for the 2nd try. This second SWF score seemed to be the wake-up call needed by Braintree and, with their supporters starting to make themselves heard, they began to play their way into the match and the following twenty minutes saw both sides battling for supremacy in the middle of the pitch. Just before half-time, and with SWF players once again showing their superiority in all areas, Sam Randlesome broke clear to score the third try. Another unsuccessful conversion saw the teams go into half-time with a 0 – 15 score line.
An injury to Joe Dukelow saw his half-time substitution with Jack Reeve coming on to replace him. The 2nd half began with Woodham piling on the pressure and some ill discipline by the Braintree players saw the referee issuing a yellow card. Another SWF substitution saw Alex Baker swapped with Leon Gatson. The one-man advantage was beginning to have an impact and with SWF in total control of the game, and hunting their bonus point try, an attack where the ball went along the line saw Leon Gatson scoring the 4th try of the game. With the conversion again being missed (with Jack Reeve having taken over the kicking duty) the score moved on to 0 -20. Braintree, restored to 15 players, seemed to revive and they began to play in their opponents half but the revival proved to be short-lived as they were again reduced to 14 when a second yellow card was shown by the referee. The Braintree players, in the face of the relentless SWF attack, were clearly tiring as they were falling off tackles and one of these attacks led to the, almost, inevitable, 5th try which was scored, under the posts, by Jordan Harper. When the try was converted the score moved onto 0 – 27. With the game drawing to its close there was just enough time for an individual break from the half-way line to be finished off by Jordan Harper for his 2nd, and SWF’s 6th, try of the afternoon. A conversion, from in front of the posts, saw a final score of 0 – 34 which was a true reflection of the superiority which SWF displayed for much of the game.
Saturday 14th December sees SWFRFC play hosts to Rochford Hundred Rugby Club for their re-arranged fixture.

South Woodham Squad – Neil Gittos (Captain), Sammy Sharp, David Langley, James Wilson, Greg Tighe, Sam Randlesome, Lewis Gilbert, David Bull, Joe Dukelow, Adam Brown, James Price, Curtis Apthorp, Dale Borthwich, Alex Baker, Jordan Searles, Jack Reeve