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Sat 11 Apr 2015 · London 2 North East
Enfield Ignatians
1st XV
29
45
South Woodham Ferrers RFC v Enfield Ignatians RFC
Lynn Langley28 Jul 2019 - 12:18
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South Woodham 1st XV End Season With A Flourish
A sunny but breezy day, on April 11th, saw the South Woodham RFC’s 1st XV, and a large group of supporters, travel to Enfield Ignatians RFC for their final league game of the season. With Enfield having beaten SWF at home, in the first game of the season, with the last play of the game the scene was set for a well contested encounter.
With several first team regulars unavailable, due to injury, there had to be another shuffling of positions amongst the squad. SWF began the game playing into the wind and going ‘uphill’ and the first attack by Enfield saw one of their players peel off of a driving maul to cross the try line for the first score of the game and with the try being converted the score was soon 7 – 0. Woodham had made a slow start but soon began to put pressure on the Enfield defence and a skilful side-stepping run by Adam Brown saw him beating several Enfield defenders to score for the visitors. With this try also being converted (Jack Reeve) the teams were level at 7 – 7. SWF were now getting on-top in the scrums and this was giving them a good platform from which to attack. A penetrating run, putting the Enfield defence on the back foot, quick hands and accurate passes saw James Price released to make a scintillating run to score SWF’s 2nd try. With the conversion kick being successful (Jack Reeve) the score moved on to 7 – 14. From the restart Enfield went on the attack and when a gap opened up in the Woodham defensive line they took their opportunity and scored their 2nd try of the game. The conversion kick was missed so the score was 12 – 14. However anything Enfield could do SWF could match and in the final play of the half a superbly worked move saw a breakthrough run from Leon Gatson a pass to Warren Duggen who passed to James Wilson who, showing the Enfield defenders a clean pair of heels, scored Woodham’s 3rd try of the game. With the conversion kick being missed the players went into half-time with a 12 – 19 score line.
Straight from the kick-off Enfield made a mistake by not gathering the high ball and seizing on the opportunity Joe Dukelow picked the ball up from the floor and scored under the posts for Woodham’s 4th, and bonus point, try. The try was converted (Jack Reeve) so the score went to 12 – 26. From the restart Enfield were stung into retaliation by their mistake and slowly moved their attack up the pitch and two penalties, against SWF, in quick succession saw Enfield score their 3rd try and with the conversion missed the score moved on to 17 -26. Woodham remained dominant in the scrum and forced Enfield back deep into their own half where Ryan Marshall collected the ball and crossed the try-line for the SWF 5th try and a 17 – 31 score line. The first Woodham substitution was made with Greg Tighe off and Olly Trig on. Enfield were now pressing forward, and trying to get themselves back into the game, but a great steal by Neil Gittos, close to the SWF try-line, saw them switch to attack and a series of game-line breaks saw the action back in the Enfield half of the pitch. The 2nd Woodham substitution saw James Price off and Dale Borthwich on. The next phase of play was contained in the middle of the pitch and SWF were conceding quite a few penalties which was interrupting the flow of the game. During this phase Lewis Gilbert was substituted by Andy Fry. Enfield finally got the ball out to their winger who ran through the Woodham defence to score their 4th try of the afternoon but they missed the conversion to move the score onto 22 – 31. SWF attacked from the restart and a pick-up, on the 22-metre line, by Warren Duggen saw him run half the pitch before passing to Sam Randlesome who shook off two tackles and evaded two other defenders to score under the posts. With the try being converted the score became 22 – 38. SWF were now controlling the game and it was clear that the Enfield players were tiring as gaps were appearing in their defence. Woodham players were now making incisive runs and threatening the Enfield try-line and one of these runs saw Leon Gatson cut through their defence to go under the posts in powerful fashion to score Woodham’s 6th try of the afternoon. The try was converted, the score was 22 – 45 and the final Woodham substitutions of the game were made Warren Duggen and Ryan Marshall off and James Price and Greg Tighe back on. With only a few minutes of the match remaining SWF were again being penalised and in an almost identical move to their 4th try Enfield were able to get the ball out to their winger who ran through the Woodham defence to score another try. The try was converted to leave the final score at 29 - 45.
This final victory means that SWF finished the season on a five-match winning streak and achieved 7th place in the London 2 North East League. Speaking to Coach Tony Woods, after the game, he stated that Woodham had a frustrating start to the season but that through perseverance , great teamwork and a willingness to listen to coaching advice the second half of the season had seen much better results and put them in a good place for pre-season and the start of next season.
South Woodham Squad – Neil Gittos (Captain), John Murphy, David Langley, Greg Tighe, James Wilson, Ryan Marshall, Lewis Gilbert, Sam Randlesome, Joe Dukelow, Adam Brown, Jordan Harper, Leon Gatson, Warren Duggen, James Price, Jack Reeve. Substitutes: Olly Trig, Andy Fry, Dale Borthwich. Coach: Tony Woods.
With several first team regulars unavailable, due to injury, there had to be another shuffling of positions amongst the squad. SWF began the game playing into the wind and going ‘uphill’ and the first attack by Enfield saw one of their players peel off of a driving maul to cross the try line for the first score of the game and with the try being converted the score was soon 7 – 0. Woodham had made a slow start but soon began to put pressure on the Enfield defence and a skilful side-stepping run by Adam Brown saw him beating several Enfield defenders to score for the visitors. With this try also being converted (Jack Reeve) the teams were level at 7 – 7. SWF were now getting on-top in the scrums and this was giving them a good platform from which to attack. A penetrating run, putting the Enfield defence on the back foot, quick hands and accurate passes saw James Price released to make a scintillating run to score SWF’s 2nd try. With the conversion kick being successful (Jack Reeve) the score moved on to 7 – 14. From the restart Enfield went on the attack and when a gap opened up in the Woodham defensive line they took their opportunity and scored their 2nd try of the game. The conversion kick was missed so the score was 12 – 14. However anything Enfield could do SWF could match and in the final play of the half a superbly worked move saw a breakthrough run from Leon Gatson a pass to Warren Duggen who passed to James Wilson who, showing the Enfield defenders a clean pair of heels, scored Woodham’s 3rd try of the game. With the conversion kick being missed the players went into half-time with a 12 – 19 score line.
Straight from the kick-off Enfield made a mistake by not gathering the high ball and seizing on the opportunity Joe Dukelow picked the ball up from the floor and scored under the posts for Woodham’s 4th, and bonus point, try. The try was converted (Jack Reeve) so the score went to 12 – 26. From the restart Enfield were stung into retaliation by their mistake and slowly moved their attack up the pitch and two penalties, against SWF, in quick succession saw Enfield score their 3rd try and with the conversion missed the score moved on to 17 -26. Woodham remained dominant in the scrum and forced Enfield back deep into their own half where Ryan Marshall collected the ball and crossed the try-line for the SWF 5th try and a 17 – 31 score line. The first Woodham substitution was made with Greg Tighe off and Olly Trig on. Enfield were now pressing forward, and trying to get themselves back into the game, but a great steal by Neil Gittos, close to the SWF try-line, saw them switch to attack and a series of game-line breaks saw the action back in the Enfield half of the pitch. The 2nd Woodham substitution saw James Price off and Dale Borthwich on. The next phase of play was contained in the middle of the pitch and SWF were conceding quite a few penalties which was interrupting the flow of the game. During this phase Lewis Gilbert was substituted by Andy Fry. Enfield finally got the ball out to their winger who ran through the Woodham defence to score their 4th try of the afternoon but they missed the conversion to move the score onto 22 – 31. SWF attacked from the restart and a pick-up, on the 22-metre line, by Warren Duggen saw him run half the pitch before passing to Sam Randlesome who shook off two tackles and evaded two other defenders to score under the posts. With the try being converted the score became 22 – 38. SWF were now controlling the game and it was clear that the Enfield players were tiring as gaps were appearing in their defence. Woodham players were now making incisive runs and threatening the Enfield try-line and one of these runs saw Leon Gatson cut through their defence to go under the posts in powerful fashion to score Woodham’s 6th try of the afternoon. The try was converted, the score was 22 – 45 and the final Woodham substitutions of the game were made Warren Duggen and Ryan Marshall off and James Price and Greg Tighe back on. With only a few minutes of the match remaining SWF were again being penalised and in an almost identical move to their 4th try Enfield were able to get the ball out to their winger who ran through the Woodham defence to score another try. The try was converted to leave the final score at 29 - 45.
This final victory means that SWF finished the season on a five-match winning streak and achieved 7th place in the London 2 North East League. Speaking to Coach Tony Woods, after the game, he stated that Woodham had a frustrating start to the season but that through perseverance , great teamwork and a willingness to listen to coaching advice the second half of the season had seen much better results and put them in a good place for pre-season and the start of next season.
South Woodham Squad – Neil Gittos (Captain), John Murphy, David Langley, Greg Tighe, James Wilson, Ryan Marshall, Lewis Gilbert, Sam Randlesome, Joe Dukelow, Adam Brown, Jordan Harper, Leon Gatson, Warren Duggen, James Price, Jack Reeve. Substitutes: Olly Trig, Andy Fry, Dale Borthwich. Coach: Tony Woods.
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