Haverhill fight back to make it eight league wins in a row
By by Jim Morgan at Castle Fields, Haverhill on Monday, 7th December 2009.
Match report on Haverhill Rugby Club's 19-11 victory over Ipswich YM in Eastern League Division Two on Saturday.
Haverhill 19
Ipswich YM 11
Haverhill started well, winning a penalty inside the first four minutes, only to be penalised themselves for being in front of the kicker. This led to some backchat, which was immediately punished by the referee with another ten metres forward, indicating his authority on the game.
Ipswich kicked to the corner, but knocked on in the line, leading to the first Haverhill scrum on seven minutes, which was a solid set piece. Haverhill broke to 30M out, but were penalised for a hand in the ruck, and Ipswich took the three points on offer.
Haverhill then got some interesting refereeing decisions against them, but as the game progressed, these were consistently 'interesting' for both teams.
Haverhill tried to attack the Ipswich line, but Ipswich fought back, where a great tackle from Alan Burnett stopped the advance. However, Ipswich won a penalty on 20 minutes to make it 0-6.
Haverhill came back from the off and a nice moved between Paul Bergin, Chris Flannery and Burnett, brought a penalty in front of the posts 30 metres out, which was taken quickly, instead of taking the easy points.
Haverhill again won a penalty and again took it quickly, but lost possession for Ipswich to clear. When three points are on offer in front of the posts, they should be taken.
Ipswich kicked forward but another superb catch and clear by just-returned full back Mike Woods led to a penalty after the Ipswich number five came through with a very late challenge.
Haverhill used this penalty to apply pressure on Ipswich, and some great driving forward play led to Haverhill getting to five metres out and winning a penalty, which was quickly taken allowing Plumridge to drive over to score and convert for 7-6 on 35 minutes. This was how the score stayed until the interval.
A clever grub kick at the restart gave Ipswich the chance to win a penalty, which was missed. The 22m drop kick was charged down by Ipswich, who pushed forward, but a nice piece of play by Brodie Patrick to clear the line took the pressure off for a few minutes. On 46 minutes, Haverhill again infringed, and Ipswich missed the points on offer.
Ipswich continued to attack the Haverhill half, and kicked another penalty to touch for a catch and grab line-out, which was superbly defended by the Haverhill pack and cleared out to half way. Ipswich came back, and Haverhill failed to capture loose ball, allowing Ipswich to cross the line near the posts to make the score 7-11 on 56 minutes. Kevin Carr replaced Burnett.
Haverhill finally started to push into the Ipswich half, and the pressure started to tell on Ipswich when Plumridge broke through the line to get to five metres out, but the pass just missed Patrick on the wing for the score.
On 60 minutes, Ipswich tried to break out, but good forward play from Haverhill won the ball in the turnover and allowed Ricky Harris to release to Plumridge, who kicked an inch-perfect ball to the corner of the try-line for Simon Lester on the wing to superbly touch down one-handed, bringing the score back in Haverhill's favour at 12-11, the conversion just missing the upright.
Ipswich won a penalty, but missed the upright again, allowing Haverhill to clear to half way, where they won a penalty, but failed to kick out of play.
Ipswich played out of their 22m line, but were caught by the pack, and the ball moved out to Lester, who executed a nice chip and run kick, putting pressure on the Ipswich full back, who knocked on.
Lester and Adam Hunt cleaned up the ball and laid off to a storming run by captain Raffell, who laid the ball back to Hunt and then Hunt to Lester to score. Plumridge took the extra two points to make the score 19-11 on 71 minutes.
Eight points clear meant Ipswich needed to score twice to win, which they had not looked like doing for most of the second half.
Haverhill continued to apply pressure and stayed in the Ipswich half, making a reply more unlikely. Harris was replaced by Ben Jackson with three minutes to go, but by now, the large home contingent knew the points were in the bag, and took the final whistle to celebrate eight from eight.
Haverhill 1st XV have a week off next week and then play away, at Hadleigh, in Eastern Counties II on Saturday, December 19, kick-off 2pm.
Haverhill 19
Ipswich YM 11
Haverhill started well, winning a penalty inside the first four minutes, only to be penalised themselves for being in front of the kicker. This led to some backchat, which was immediately punished by the referee with another ten metres forward, indicating his authority on the game.
Ipswich kicked to the corner, but knocked on in the line, leading to the first Haverhill scrum on seven minutes, which was a solid set piece. Haverhill broke to 30M out, but were penalised for a hand in the ruck, and Ipswich took the three points on offer.
Haverhill then got some interesting refereeing decisions against them, but as the game progressed, these were consistently 'interesting' for both teams.
Haverhill tried to attack the Ipswich line, but Ipswich fought back, where a great tackle from Alan Burnett stopped the advance. However, Ipswich won a penalty on 20 minutes to make it 0-6.
Haverhill came back from the off and a nice moved between Paul Bergin, Chris Flannery and Burnett, brought a penalty in front of the posts 30 metres out, which was taken quickly, instead of taking the easy points.
Haverhill again won a penalty and again took it quickly, but lost possession for Ipswich to clear. When three points are on offer in front of the posts, they should be taken.
Ipswich kicked forward but another superb catch and clear by just-returned full back Mike Woods led to a penalty after the Ipswich number five came through with a very late challenge.
Haverhill used this penalty to apply pressure on Ipswich, and some great driving forward play led to Haverhill getting to five metres out and winning a penalty, which was quickly taken allowing Plumridge to drive over to score and convert for 7-6 on 35 minutes. This was how the score stayed until the interval.
A clever grub kick at the restart gave Ipswich the chance to win a penalty, which was missed. The 22m drop kick was charged down by Ipswich, who pushed forward, but a nice piece of play by Brodie Patrick to clear the line took the pressure off for a few minutes. On 46 minutes, Haverhill again infringed, and Ipswich missed the points on offer.
Ipswich continued to attack the Haverhill half, and kicked another penalty to touch for a catch and grab line-out, which was superbly defended by the Haverhill pack and cleared out to half way. Ipswich came back, and Haverhill failed to capture loose ball, allowing Ipswich to cross the line near the posts to make the score 7-11 on 56 minutes. Kevin Carr replaced Burnett.
Haverhill finally started to push into the Ipswich half, and the pressure started to tell on Ipswich when Plumridge broke through the line to get to five metres out, but the pass just missed Patrick on the wing for the score.
On 60 minutes, Ipswich tried to break out, but good forward play from Haverhill won the ball in the turnover and allowed Ricky Harris to release to Plumridge, who kicked an inch-perfect ball to the corner of the try-line for Simon Lester on the wing to superbly touch down one-handed, bringing the score back in Haverhill's favour at 12-11, the conversion just missing the upright.
Ipswich won a penalty, but missed the upright again, allowing Haverhill to clear to half way, where they won a penalty, but failed to kick out of play.
Ipswich played out of their 22m line, but were caught by the pack, and the ball moved out to Lester, who executed a nice chip and run kick, putting pressure on the Ipswich full back, who knocked on.
Lester and Adam Hunt cleaned up the ball and laid off to a storming run by captain Raffell, who laid the ball back to Hunt and then Hunt to Lester to score. Plumridge took the extra two points to make the score 19-11 on 71 minutes.
Eight points clear meant Ipswich needed to score twice to win, which they had not looked like doing for most of the second half.
Haverhill continued to apply pressure and stayed in the Ipswich half, making a reply more unlikely. Harris was replaced by Ben Jackson with three minutes to go, but by now, the large home contingent knew the points were in the bag, and took the final whistle to celebrate eight from eight.
Haverhill 1st XV have a week off next week and then play away, at Hadleigh, in Eastern Counties II on Saturday, December 19, kick-off 2pm.
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