Haverhill made to pay for two errors
By By Jim Morgan at Castle Fields on Monday, 23rd November 2009.
Match report on Haverhill Rugby Club's narrow 13-12 home defeat by Southwold in the Suffolk Plate quarter-final on Saturday.
In rather pleasant weather after the previous weekends deluge, Haverhill fielded a strong side to play their Division I rivals Southwold in the Suffolk Plate quarter-final.
Last season, Haverhill were roundly trounced by the Suffolk coastal side, so this was an opportunity for coach Price to see how his side had improved over the summer.
Haverhill started well from the off, with a turnover ball by Haverhill's Ryan Raffell leading to a Southwold infringement being signalled by the referee, where Jake Plumridge took the opportunity to drop kick for a 3-0 lead on one minute.
Haverhill were soon able to stamp their authority on the game, with a Southwold scrum being turned over by a huge push that destroyed the Southwold scrum completely.
On eight minutes, Southwold managed to get into the Haverhill half for the first time, and an infringement for holding onto the ball was punished by Southwold, who made the score level at 3-3.
By this stage though, Haverhill were dominant in all aspects of the forward play, with line-out, scrum and the loose ball all being won at leisure, with Raffell, Martin Ransome and Carl Anderson putting in some immense work rate in the open and set play, and the front row of Grant Deeks, Paul Bergin and Luke Dore dominating the set play.
On 18 minutes, Haverhill's Ransome turned over the Southwold ball, a hand in the ruck was spotted by the referee and Haverhill's Plumridge slotted the three points to make it 6-3.
Haverhill's Ricky Harris at scrum half was working extremely hard, with very quick ball from the phase that would not let Southwold settle and the attacking kicking of Plumridge was causing problems for the Southwold defence.
On 25 minutes, a great move in the backs led to Kieron McDonagh breaking through and Simon Lester on the wing falling just short of crossing the Southwold line.
Southwold were looking very rattled, as yet another turn-over from Haverhill led them to infringe and for Plumridge to make the score 9-3 on 33 minutes.
A penalty to Southwold was kicked into the Haverhill half, allowing them some possession, however Brodie Patrick on the wing, putting in another excellent game, caught the ball over the line but kept it in and started another attack on the now punch-drunk Southwold team. Haverhill finished the half attacking Southwold.
From the off, Haverhill were back at Southwold, and on 45 minutes stretched the lead to 12-3 with another penalty by Plumridge.
Talking after the game, Southwold admitted they had no answer to the Haverhill forward domination, and decided the only way to counter was to try to run the ball wide and attack down the wing.
When the referee gives a penalty, the side who has committed the offence should do nothing more than retreat ten metres, spread out and face the opposition. On 55 minutes, this did not happen.
A penalty on half way was quickly taken, and moved left, where a chink in the Haverhill defence line was ruthlessly exploited. Southwold continued to attack and, with the Haverhill defence on the back foot, crossed the line, the conversion being missed, to make the score 12-8.
Haverhill continued to dominate the play, but the loss of Ransome (Matt Stephenson) and Reynolds (Ben Jones) within a minute of each other required some shifting of the pack positions and some tiredness started to show.
On 68 minutes, again Haverhill held onto the ball in the tackle near half way, and Southwold knew a try would put them ahead. They took the quick penalty and exploited the mistake of not turning and facing, and within a few seconds crossed the line in the corner to make the score 12-13.
Haverhill came back at Southwold and continued to win penalties at will through the superb forward play, but of the three that were won, two scraped the outside of the upright and one hit the bar, although not winning a 250K prize. The final whistle went with Haverhill trying to attack from the deep.
It was a disappointing result but a very good sign for the rest of the season.
Haverhill resume their table-topping journey in Eastern Counties League Division Two on Saturday away at the Stour estuary Essex side of Mistley. Kick off 2.30pm.
In rather pleasant weather after the previous weekends deluge, Haverhill fielded a strong side to play their Division I rivals Southwold in the Suffolk Plate quarter-final.
Last season, Haverhill were roundly trounced by the Suffolk coastal side, so this was an opportunity for coach Price to see how his side had improved over the summer.
Haverhill started well from the off, with a turnover ball by Haverhill's Ryan Raffell leading to a Southwold infringement being signalled by the referee, where Jake Plumridge took the opportunity to drop kick for a 3-0 lead on one minute.
Haverhill were soon able to stamp their authority on the game, with a Southwold scrum being turned over by a huge push that destroyed the Southwold scrum completely.
On eight minutes, Southwold managed to get into the Haverhill half for the first time, and an infringement for holding onto the ball was punished by Southwold, who made the score level at 3-3.
By this stage though, Haverhill were dominant in all aspects of the forward play, with line-out, scrum and the loose ball all being won at leisure, with Raffell, Martin Ransome and Carl Anderson putting in some immense work rate in the open and set play, and the front row of Grant Deeks, Paul Bergin and Luke Dore dominating the set play.
On 18 minutes, Haverhill's Ransome turned over the Southwold ball, a hand in the ruck was spotted by the referee and Haverhill's Plumridge slotted the three points to make it 6-3.
Haverhill's Ricky Harris at scrum half was working extremely hard, with very quick ball from the phase that would not let Southwold settle and the attacking kicking of Plumridge was causing problems for the Southwold defence.
On 25 minutes, a great move in the backs led to Kieron McDonagh breaking through and Simon Lester on the wing falling just short of crossing the Southwold line.
Southwold were looking very rattled, as yet another turn-over from Haverhill led them to infringe and for Plumridge to make the score 9-3 on 33 minutes.
A penalty to Southwold was kicked into the Haverhill half, allowing them some possession, however Brodie Patrick on the wing, putting in another excellent game, caught the ball over the line but kept it in and started another attack on the now punch-drunk Southwold team. Haverhill finished the half attacking Southwold.
From the off, Haverhill were back at Southwold, and on 45 minutes stretched the lead to 12-3 with another penalty by Plumridge.
Talking after the game, Southwold admitted they had no answer to the Haverhill forward domination, and decided the only way to counter was to try to run the ball wide and attack down the wing.
When the referee gives a penalty, the side who has committed the offence should do nothing more than retreat ten metres, spread out and face the opposition. On 55 minutes, this did not happen.
A penalty on half way was quickly taken, and moved left, where a chink in the Haverhill defence line was ruthlessly exploited. Southwold continued to attack and, with the Haverhill defence on the back foot, crossed the line, the conversion being missed, to make the score 12-8.
Haverhill continued to dominate the play, but the loss of Ransome (Matt Stephenson) and Reynolds (Ben Jones) within a minute of each other required some shifting of the pack positions and some tiredness started to show.
On 68 minutes, again Haverhill held onto the ball in the tackle near half way, and Southwold knew a try would put them ahead. They took the quick penalty and exploited the mistake of not turning and facing, and within a few seconds crossed the line in the corner to make the score 12-13.
Haverhill came back at Southwold and continued to win penalties at will through the superb forward play, but of the three that were won, two scraped the outside of the upright and one hit the bar, although not winning a 250K prize. The final whistle went with Haverhill trying to attack from the deep.
It was a disappointing result but a very good sign for the rest of the season.
Haverhill resume their table-topping journey in Eastern Counties League Division Two on Saturday away at the Stour estuary Essex side of Mistley. Kick off 2.30pm.
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