Haverhill out-muscled by aggressive rugby
By Ian Wade on Monday, 8th October 2012.
EASTERN COUNTIES RUGBY LEAGUE DIVISION TWO: Mistley 27 Haverhill13. Match report.
Haverhill travelled to Mistley hoping to recover from their narrow defeat by the young, fit, rugby-savvy side of Norfolk Medics last week, but it was not to be.
They met a physically larger size of rugby team which, although not greatly skilled in the finer arts of the game, set out to muscle their way through their opposition and by the end of the afternoon had succeeded manfully.
The Haverhill side, with a number of absences due to injury and non-availability, were never quite able to stand up to the size, weight and aggression of the home team.
From the kick-off they found themselves on the back foot, defending against probing, well-supported runs and despite some heroic tackling Mistley forced their way over, after seven minutes, for an unconverted try to make it 5-0.
From the restart Haverhill repeatedly attempted to attack and had their best period of the game.
Strong defensive work by Kieron McDonagh stalled a Mistley breakout and ripping the ball from his opposite number he passed to captain Adam Hunt who, finding his way blocked, chipped ahead before winning a close race to the ball and touching down for a try to level the scores.
Another attack was launched from deep, by Haverhill, and Ewans and Hunt combined to carry the ball to the Mistley ten-metre line before they were pulled down and a penalty in the ensuing ruck was converted by Ewans for a lead 0f 5-8.
The game then settled into a pattern of Mistley attack and Haverhill defence. The Haverhill scrum, vastly outweighed, held their own in the set pieces although any ball won was not allowed to flow as the home loose forwards had scant regard for the binding laws and smothered the Haverhill half backs.
The line-outs were a different story with Haverhill losing most of the ball to the taller opposition - two more tries, one converted, were scored by Mistley, following these set pieces, before half-time and the teams turned at 17-8.
The second half saw more of the same with everyone in the Mistley side running forward with the ball at every opportunity and using any means to retain possession in the loose.
The referee had to pick them up on a number of occasions for foul play and talking back but, despite their indiscipline, a further three tries were scored to give them an unassailable 34-8 lead.
With ten minutes to go Simon Potter went over in the corner from a rare Haverhill line-out win and Weans was unlucky to hit the post from wide out.
The referee eventually sent off the most persistent law-breaker on the Mistley side but it was too late to make any real difference to the game which Mistley won 37-13 after converting a penalty attempt.
Haverhill will have to up their game by November when Mistley come to Castle Fields for the Suffolk Shield semi-final.
Haverhill travelled to Mistley hoping to recover from their narrow defeat by the young, fit, rugby-savvy side of Norfolk Medics last week, but it was not to be.
They met a physically larger size of rugby team which, although not greatly skilled in the finer arts of the game, set out to muscle their way through their opposition and by the end of the afternoon had succeeded manfully.
The Haverhill side, with a number of absences due to injury and non-availability, were never quite able to stand up to the size, weight and aggression of the home team.
From the kick-off they found themselves on the back foot, defending against probing, well-supported runs and despite some heroic tackling Mistley forced their way over, after seven minutes, for an unconverted try to make it 5-0.
From the restart Haverhill repeatedly attempted to attack and had their best period of the game.
Strong defensive work by Kieron McDonagh stalled a Mistley breakout and ripping the ball from his opposite number he passed to captain Adam Hunt who, finding his way blocked, chipped ahead before winning a close race to the ball and touching down for a try to level the scores.
Another attack was launched from deep, by Haverhill, and Ewans and Hunt combined to carry the ball to the Mistley ten-metre line before they were pulled down and a penalty in the ensuing ruck was converted by Ewans for a lead 0f 5-8.
The game then settled into a pattern of Mistley attack and Haverhill defence. The Haverhill scrum, vastly outweighed, held their own in the set pieces although any ball won was not allowed to flow as the home loose forwards had scant regard for the binding laws and smothered the Haverhill half backs.
The line-outs were a different story with Haverhill losing most of the ball to the taller opposition - two more tries, one converted, were scored by Mistley, following these set pieces, before half-time and the teams turned at 17-8.
The second half saw more of the same with everyone in the Mistley side running forward with the ball at every opportunity and using any means to retain possession in the loose.
The referee had to pick them up on a number of occasions for foul play and talking back but, despite their indiscipline, a further three tries were scored to give them an unassailable 34-8 lead.
With ten minutes to go Simon Potter went over in the corner from a rare Haverhill line-out win and Weans was unlucky to hit the post from wide out.
The referee eventually sent off the most persistent law-breaker on the Mistley side but it was too late to make any real difference to the game which Mistley won 37-13 after converting a penalty attempt.
Haverhill will have to up their game by November when Mistley come to Castle Fields for the Suffolk Shield semi-final.
Comment on this story
[board listing] [login] [register]
You must be logged in to post messages. (login now)