Aldeburgh v Woodbridge 2s Match Report

Aldeburgh v Woodbridge 2s

26th October   Away

Result: Woodbridge 53 Aldeburgh 24

The rain poured down.  Aldeburgh fielded 12 players so a 12 a side match on Woodbridge’s main pitch left acres of space.  In addition to a strong pack, Woodbridge had a couple of fast, elusive backs who carved through.  The points racked up.  The ball got harder to hold as the rain continued.  And yet, despite all that, the final move of the match resulted in Aldeburgh scoring the try that gained them a bonus point.  Tremendous spirit.

There was an ominous start when Woodbridge scored a couple of early tries, one through the backs covering most of the length of the pitch, the other through powerful running by the forwards.  But Aldeburgh bounced back, taking a quick penalty, moving it through the backs to Ben Atherton who ran strongly to score in the corner.

The Woodbridge fly half, who had a huge influence on the game, sliced through for their next try but Aldeburgh came straight back with strong forward running, a blind side move and good continuity to bring the score back to 19-12 after 20 minutes with another try by Atherton.  When Aldeburgh lost their line out from the kick off, a Woodbridge lock barged through to score. 

It was a tribute to Aldeburgh’s persistent defence that the only other score in the half was an unstoppable try created by the Woodbridge fly half and scored by their dangerous winger.  Half time score: 29-12

The first period of the second half was Aldeburgh’s strongest.  Despite losing a man injured, Aldeburgh battled to stay in the match, winning a crucial scrum penalty on their own line.  The forwards kept the ball tight, moving the ball down the pitch with a series of short runs until, from a scrum in the Woodbridge 22, stand in scrum half, Rupert Clogg, wormed his way through and over for a converted try. 

At 29-19, Aldeburgh looked to be in contention, but Woodbridge’s speed and power proved too much as they ran in four more tries.  Great credit to the Aldeburgh spirit that they continued to press, took a quick penalty and drove over for James Ledger to score the bonus point try.

East Suffolk Saxons vs Crusaders Match Report

20th October 2019 King’s Field

Result: Saxons 12 Crusaders 3

The first home match at Aldeburgh for the newly formed East Suffolk Saxons (comprised of players from Ipswich, Felixstowe and Aldeburgh) saw a well-deserved win for the home side.  Given that they only came together to train for the first time in August, this was a composed performance. 

The early encounters stayed close to the forwards with strong running and tackling.  Once the Saxons took their coach’s advice by getting the ball out wider we saw the advantage of their fast, elusive runners.

As a development match, it consisted of four 15 minute periods.  It wasn’t until the third of these that Saxons began to have the confidence to move the ball wider.  Trailing from an early penalty and suffering a couple of injuries to key players, they were hanging on without imposing themselves.  The spark came when a clearance kick was picked up on half way by Saxons’ full back, Manon Kinchin, who weaved her way past the whole Crusaders team to score in the corner.

Saxons then began to keep the ball moving resulting in an opening for the fly half to produce another sparkling run for a try under the posts which was converted. 

The delight shown by the winners should give them confidence for the rest of the season.

Although this was the first Saxons game at Aldeburgh, there was a large, vocal crowd taking pleasure in an enjoyable afternoon’s rugby.