Haverhill break Sudbury through hard work
By Jim Morgan at Castle Fields on Wednesday, 14th September 2011.
SUFFOLK MERIT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE: Haverhill 1st XV 29 Sudbury Talbots 18. Match report.
With the spectre of Jake Plumridge on the side, after breaking his leg in a pre-season friendly that has ended his rugby career, Haverhill were up for a fight in front of a large crowd at Castle Fields.
Playing into the strong wind, Haverhill started well, winning a penalty from the off and Kieran Ewens duly took the points on offer to make the score 3-0 after one minute.
Confusion at the restart with two calls for the ball led to a Sudbury scrum. Haverhill controlled the scrum and wheeled it round, but Sudbury broke from the back and before Haverhill realised, Sudbury were over in the corner to make the score 3-5 on four minutes.
The Haverhill scrum was performing superbly as a unit and new signing Luke Davenport at number eight quickly showed all watching he is a great addition to the Haverhill pack, with deep penetration from the back of the scrum.
With the wind, numerous kicks to touch were failing on both sides and it was not until 15 minutes that the first line-out was conceded. Haverhill’s stalwart, Carl Anderson continued where he left off, catching all Haverhill ball and most of Sudbury’s ball in the line.
Haverhill were guilty of transgressing the new guidelines on the gain line, giving away penalty after penalty and this, coupled with the wind, allowed Sudbury to camp in the Haverhill half.
But great work by the backs kept the ball in play and one awesome tackle from Ewens stopped the Sudbury attack dead, leading to Haverhill turnover ball.
A really lovely piece of play saw a great break-out with Mike Woods feeding to Davenport to Hope, Hunt, Potter and finally to winger Joe Brown, only to be stopped ten metres short of the try line.
With the Haverhill scrum winning all the ball, the expectant hope of further attack was spoiled as Haverhill were penalised for engaging too early, allowing Sudbury the chance to clear their line.
Fullback Brad Gibson left the field, causing a major reshuffle, with Woods moving to fullback, Hope to scrum half and winger Ewens to fly half, with the replacement Paulo Guerra going on the wing.
A Haverhill penalty was not taken advantage of when the kick failed to find touch. This proved costly, as the Sudbury clearance deep into the 22m was not caught allowing the ball to bounce perfectly into the arms of the speculative Sudbury runner and over the line for a converted try and 3–12 on 30 minutes.
Insubordination leds to the next score when a forward pass was upgraded to a penalty ten metres up the field of play and this pressure caused an infringement in front of the posts and a 3-15 score at the turn.
It is not known what Haverhill coach Tony Hope said at half-time, but from the restart, a Ransome catch laid the foundation for Davenport, Jackson, Ramsome and Bergin to gain hard yards and then Davenport to break out 50m towards the Sudbury tryline.
As Davenport went to ground, Ewens set the ball for Woods to pass to Hunt and over the line for 8–15 on 42 minutes. The Ewens conversion failed in the strong wind.
On 47 minutes, Haverhill were penalised for holding 30 metres out and Sudbury took the three points on offer, making the score 8-18.
Haverhill came back to the Sudbury line, but again spoiled a five-metre penalty scrum by engaging early, allowing Sudbury to clear to half way.
On 60 minutes Haverhill had the luxury to swap second row pairing Ransome and McDonagh for Flannery and Cooper and the fresh legs proved vital, with the dominant scrum turning into a snarling, unstoppable unit.
The Haverhill front row were now in their element, with Smith, Bergin and Jackson breaking out with ball at will, setting phase after phase and laying the foundations for the next try by Bergin on 69 minutes. Ewens converts to make the score 15–18.
Bergin and Jackson started the next attack, with the team breaking out to allow Joe Brown on the wing to break close to the tryline and the quick Woods ball being driven to five metres for Ricky Brown to crash over the line for a Ewens converted try and 22–18 on 74 minutes.
Davenport, Bergin and Jackson featured from the restart and before long, Haverhill were close to the whitewash, but a knock-on led to a Sudbury scrum.
This, in effect, was a Haverhill scrum due to the inability of the Sudbury pack to hold and Davenport broke out on the blind side and laid off the perfect pass to Joe Brown who scored in the corner.
A superb Ewens conversion made the score 29–18 and the crowd were jubilant as the whistle went for the end of the game.
With the spectre of Jake Plumridge on the side, after breaking his leg in a pre-season friendly that has ended his rugby career, Haverhill were up for a fight in front of a large crowd at Castle Fields.
Playing into the strong wind, Haverhill started well, winning a penalty from the off and Kieran Ewens duly took the points on offer to make the score 3-0 after one minute.
Confusion at the restart with two calls for the ball led to a Sudbury scrum. Haverhill controlled the scrum and wheeled it round, but Sudbury broke from the back and before Haverhill realised, Sudbury were over in the corner to make the score 3-5 on four minutes.
The Haverhill scrum was performing superbly as a unit and new signing Luke Davenport at number eight quickly showed all watching he is a great addition to the Haverhill pack, with deep penetration from the back of the scrum.
With the wind, numerous kicks to touch were failing on both sides and it was not until 15 minutes that the first line-out was conceded. Haverhill’s stalwart, Carl Anderson continued where he left off, catching all Haverhill ball and most of Sudbury’s ball in the line.
Haverhill were guilty of transgressing the new guidelines on the gain line, giving away penalty after penalty and this, coupled with the wind, allowed Sudbury to camp in the Haverhill half.
But great work by the backs kept the ball in play and one awesome tackle from Ewens stopped the Sudbury attack dead, leading to Haverhill turnover ball.
A really lovely piece of play saw a great break-out with Mike Woods feeding to Davenport to Hope, Hunt, Potter and finally to winger Joe Brown, only to be stopped ten metres short of the try line.
With the Haverhill scrum winning all the ball, the expectant hope of further attack was spoiled as Haverhill were penalised for engaging too early, allowing Sudbury the chance to clear their line.
Fullback Brad Gibson left the field, causing a major reshuffle, with Woods moving to fullback, Hope to scrum half and winger Ewens to fly half, with the replacement Paulo Guerra going on the wing.
A Haverhill penalty was not taken advantage of when the kick failed to find touch. This proved costly, as the Sudbury clearance deep into the 22m was not caught allowing the ball to bounce perfectly into the arms of the speculative Sudbury runner and over the line for a converted try and 3–12 on 30 minutes.
Insubordination leds to the next score when a forward pass was upgraded to a penalty ten metres up the field of play and this pressure caused an infringement in front of the posts and a 3-15 score at the turn.
It is not known what Haverhill coach Tony Hope said at half-time, but from the restart, a Ransome catch laid the foundation for Davenport, Jackson, Ramsome and Bergin to gain hard yards and then Davenport to break out 50m towards the Sudbury tryline.
As Davenport went to ground, Ewens set the ball for Woods to pass to Hunt and over the line for 8–15 on 42 minutes. The Ewens conversion failed in the strong wind.
On 47 minutes, Haverhill were penalised for holding 30 metres out and Sudbury took the three points on offer, making the score 8-18.
Haverhill came back to the Sudbury line, but again spoiled a five-metre penalty scrum by engaging early, allowing Sudbury to clear to half way.
On 60 minutes Haverhill had the luxury to swap second row pairing Ransome and McDonagh for Flannery and Cooper and the fresh legs proved vital, with the dominant scrum turning into a snarling, unstoppable unit.
The Haverhill front row were now in their element, with Smith, Bergin and Jackson breaking out with ball at will, setting phase after phase and laying the foundations for the next try by Bergin on 69 minutes. Ewens converts to make the score 15–18.
Bergin and Jackson started the next attack, with the team breaking out to allow Joe Brown on the wing to break close to the tryline and the quick Woods ball being driven to five metres for Ricky Brown to crash over the line for a Ewens converted try and 22–18 on 74 minutes.
Davenport, Bergin and Jackson featured from the restart and before long, Haverhill were close to the whitewash, but a knock-on led to a Sudbury scrum.
This, in effect, was a Haverhill scrum due to the inability of the Sudbury pack to hold and Davenport broke out on the blind side and laid off the perfect pass to Joe Brown who scored in the corner.
A superb Ewens conversion made the score 29–18 and the crowd were jubilant as the whistle went for the end of the game.
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