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Sat 28 Mar 2015 · London 2 North East
1st XVHolt
32
6
South Woodham Ferrers RFC v Holt RFC
Lynn Langley27 Jul 2019 - 21:35
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Final Home Game of the Season sees SWF 1st XV Romp to Victory
A blustery, cold day was what awaited both the team and supporters for South Woodham RFC 1st XV’s final home league match on Saturday 28th March. With SWF never having beaten Holt before and only one place separating the teams in the league everyone was looking forward to a close, spirited encounter.
With several first team regulars unavailable due to the previous week’s ‘bruising’ encounter there had to be a shuffling of positions in the forward pack. Both teams got off to a fairly slow start with them clearly getting the measure of each other. The first real action saw Holt awarded a penalty on the SWF 22-metre line but, in the windy conditions, the kick for goal was missed. Within a few minutes Holt gave away a penalty on their 22-metre line but with another missed kick the score remained even at 0 – 0. SWF then started to build their attack and a great passing move saw them break the game line only to be unable to get the final pass out to Warren Duggan who was clear on the wing. There followed a passage of play that was all Woodham and their sustained pressure saw them camped in the Holt half but unable to convert their pressure into points and, against the run of play, a SWF player was penalised for holding on in the tackle and Holt scored from a penalty kick just inside the Woodham 22-metre line to give a 0 – 3 score line. A long kick from the restart was fumbled by Holt who then had to desperately kick off of their try-line to try to relieve the pressure. However the ensuing line-out, on the 5-metre line, saw SWF continue to press for a try and the scrambling Holt defence could only kick the ball away to relieve the pressure. Another line-out, close to the Holt try-line, saw a short ball thrown to Neil Gittos who dummied the defence, gave a great off-load to John Murphy who scored in the corner. With the try being converted (Jack Reeve) the score became 7 – 3. In the next phase of play SWF were penalised for turning the scrum and Holt made a successful kick from the 22-metre line to take the score to 7 – 6. The closing of the score seemed to spur on the SWF attack with Warren Duggen making some telling runs on the wing but all the SWF attacks seemed to breakdown with ill-discipline leading to them giving away penalties. Holt started to push into the SWF half and Woodham were having to manfully defend their try-line and when the visitors earned a scrum 3 metres out the SWF coach substituted winger James Price for front-row forward Martin Knights and the ensuing attack was only halted by a try-saving tackle from Curtis Apthorp. Holt continued to push forward but were finally penalised for holding on in a tackle just short of the SWF try-line and the ball was kicked out to end the first half. With David Bull having sustained an injury just before half-time the 2nd half resumed with him being substituted and James Price returning to the pitch.
Holt soon gave away a penalty close to the posts and Jack Reeve successfully completed the kick to give Woodham a 10 – 6 lead. Soon after a break from the half-way line by Leon Gatson saw him dummy the defence and pass to Adam Brown who scored the second try. With the conversion kick being missed by Jack Reeve the score moved on to 15 – 6. With SWF now controlling the game a second substitution (Curtis Apthorp off and Jordan Harper on) was made and the pressure on the Holt defence continued. With the home side playing some good passing rugby it was not long before Warren Duggen secured the try he had been promising all afternoon. The resultant conversion kick (Jack Reeve) moved the score onto 22 – 6. Woodham continued to exert pressure on the visitors as they went hunting their 4th, and bonus point, try and an excellent aerial take by Leon Gatson on the half-way line saw him break clear of a tackle and run through the defence to score an excellent try. The conversion kick was missed but SWF held a healthy 27 – 6 lead. With the game drawing to a close Andy Fry made a solo run out of defence through the middle of the pitch and with the ball being passed to the wing James Price made a defence splitting run to score in the corner for the 5th try of the afternoon.
With next weekend being Easter, and a rest weekend, the final league game of the season sees SWF RFC 1st XV travelling to Enfield Ignatians RFC on April 11th.
South Woodham Squad – Neil Gittos (Captain), John Murphy, Andy Fry, James Wilson, Greg Tighe, Sam Randlesome, Olly Trig, David Bull, Joe Dukelow, Adam Brown, Curtis Apthorp, Leon Gatson, Warren Duggen, James Price, Jack Reeve. Substitutes: Jordan Harper, Martin Knights, Lewis Gilbert. Coach: Tony Woods.
With several first team regulars unavailable due to the previous week’s ‘bruising’ encounter there had to be a shuffling of positions in the forward pack. Both teams got off to a fairly slow start with them clearly getting the measure of each other. The first real action saw Holt awarded a penalty on the SWF 22-metre line but, in the windy conditions, the kick for goal was missed. Within a few minutes Holt gave away a penalty on their 22-metre line but with another missed kick the score remained even at 0 – 0. SWF then started to build their attack and a great passing move saw them break the game line only to be unable to get the final pass out to Warren Duggan who was clear on the wing. There followed a passage of play that was all Woodham and their sustained pressure saw them camped in the Holt half but unable to convert their pressure into points and, against the run of play, a SWF player was penalised for holding on in the tackle and Holt scored from a penalty kick just inside the Woodham 22-metre line to give a 0 – 3 score line. A long kick from the restart was fumbled by Holt who then had to desperately kick off of their try-line to try to relieve the pressure. However the ensuing line-out, on the 5-metre line, saw SWF continue to press for a try and the scrambling Holt defence could only kick the ball away to relieve the pressure. Another line-out, close to the Holt try-line, saw a short ball thrown to Neil Gittos who dummied the defence, gave a great off-load to John Murphy who scored in the corner. With the try being converted (Jack Reeve) the score became 7 – 3. In the next phase of play SWF were penalised for turning the scrum and Holt made a successful kick from the 22-metre line to take the score to 7 – 6. The closing of the score seemed to spur on the SWF attack with Warren Duggen making some telling runs on the wing but all the SWF attacks seemed to breakdown with ill-discipline leading to them giving away penalties. Holt started to push into the SWF half and Woodham were having to manfully defend their try-line and when the visitors earned a scrum 3 metres out the SWF coach substituted winger James Price for front-row forward Martin Knights and the ensuing attack was only halted by a try-saving tackle from Curtis Apthorp. Holt continued to push forward but were finally penalised for holding on in a tackle just short of the SWF try-line and the ball was kicked out to end the first half. With David Bull having sustained an injury just before half-time the 2nd half resumed with him being substituted and James Price returning to the pitch.
Holt soon gave away a penalty close to the posts and Jack Reeve successfully completed the kick to give Woodham a 10 – 6 lead. Soon after a break from the half-way line by Leon Gatson saw him dummy the defence and pass to Adam Brown who scored the second try. With the conversion kick being missed by Jack Reeve the score moved on to 15 – 6. With SWF now controlling the game a second substitution (Curtis Apthorp off and Jordan Harper on) was made and the pressure on the Holt defence continued. With the home side playing some good passing rugby it was not long before Warren Duggen secured the try he had been promising all afternoon. The resultant conversion kick (Jack Reeve) moved the score onto 22 – 6. Woodham continued to exert pressure on the visitors as they went hunting their 4th, and bonus point, try and an excellent aerial take by Leon Gatson on the half-way line saw him break clear of a tackle and run through the defence to score an excellent try. The conversion kick was missed but SWF held a healthy 27 – 6 lead. With the game drawing to a close Andy Fry made a solo run out of defence through the middle of the pitch and with the ball being passed to the wing James Price made a defence splitting run to score in the corner for the 5th try of the afternoon.
With next weekend being Easter, and a rest weekend, the final league game of the season sees SWF RFC 1st XV travelling to Enfield Ignatians RFC on April 11th.
South Woodham Squad – Neil Gittos (Captain), John Murphy, Andy Fry, James Wilson, Greg Tighe, Sam Randlesome, Olly Trig, David Bull, Joe Dukelow, Adam Brown, Curtis Apthorp, Leon Gatson, Warren Duggen, James Price, Jack Reeve. Substitutes: Jordan Harper, Martin Knights, Lewis Gilbert. Coach: Tony Woods.
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