Woodham Host Dagenham

This week Woodham hosted Dagenham, who they played away in their last game of 2016 just before the Christmas break. Dagenham looked like a different team, confident and ready to come back at Woodham for the defeat they suffered at home.

Woodham won the toss and elected to kick, the rain driving into Dagenham giving Woodham the first half advantage. Woodham looked good with ball in hand, and were making good use of the width of the pitch. However at the breakdown Dagenham had the advantage with their big pack pushing Woodham off the ball, and dominating the ruck. Undeterred, Woodham struck first through Jody, who blasted through the Dagenham defence to dive over the line. Dagenham came back at Woodham and had a couple of good breaks with fast runs up the wing, but the Woodham defence held strong. Jody's try was quickly followed up with try's from Ox, Rhino and H.

Dagenham seemed to fall apart after the 4th try, unsure whether to kick or receive at the restart. Woodham kept the pressure on and soon Lewis W crossed in the corner following a nice set of hands, and then Lewis C on the other wing blasting past the Dagenham defence. Woodham's next two try's came from snake hips Harrision, both individual efforts, passing through the Dagenham defence like a knife through butter and beating around five tackles. To finish the half and take a comfortable 45-0 lead into the break was Lewis C with his brace in his first outing for Woodham.

After a short break, Dagenham took the kick to start the second half. It was clear their heads had dropped and it wasn't long before snake hips Harrison struck again with his hat trick to take the score to 50 - 0. Inline with the league and cup rules, the game was stopped due to the 50 point lead, and both teams combined to undertake a joint training session, with both teams being split.

A convincing win from Woodham, but tackles could have been lower and support at the ruck needs some work. Next week we're at home again for a friendly against Woodford. Well done to all the boys, in tough conditions, and thanks to Dagenham for bringing the team down. Effort of the week went to Lewis C with Player of the Match going to H. Wally of the week for the seasons best forward pass went to Stig.