Aldeburgh v Ipswich 3

26th October – Queen’s Field

Result: Aldeburgh 28 Ipswich 15

A great day at Aldeburgh

A close fought game, played with commitment and good spirit, preceded by the first VP lunch of the season with a very special guest, made this an Aldeburgh afternoon to savour.

Club President, Derek Wyatt, (a former Ipswich player himself) invited one of the English game’s greats, Budge Rogers, to the VP Lunch. Budge played 485 times for Bedford (where he and Derek played together), was the most-capped England player of the amateur era, captained England, toured South Africa with the Lions in 1962 and, after retiring from playing, was, among many other things, a chairman of England selectors and President of the RFU. After lunch, he gave a charming and witty speech then stayed to watch the match with obvious enjoyment.

There was much to enjoy. Aldeburgh fielded a full team for the first time this season with the new lads who have joined recently showing that they were building their skills and coming together as a team. There was a rumour that the Ipswich second team match had been cancelled with the third’s squad being strengthened as a result. If so, it worked out well for both teams by ensuring that there was a good balance between them.

Aldeburgh’s lack of specialist front row forwards meant that scrums were uncontested. Ipswich made use of their powerful forwards in the loose to good effect. On the other hand, Aldeburgh moved the ball swiftly in the backs. A loop by fly half, Ed Robson, behind his inside centre, Ben Watts, gave Ed room for a kick deep into the corner leading to a period of sustained Aldeburgh pressure. Eventually, from a scrum they moved the ball briskly along the back line to winger, Adam Hateley, with Ed following up to take the pass and score in the corner. He kicked the conversion from the touch line.

Despite the score, the match remained even. After twenty minutes, the Ipswich scrum half ran wide from a scrum ten metres out then switched direction to slice through the Aldeburgh line and touch down under the posts. The conversion was missed.

Ten minutes later, Ipswich showed the potential of their backs when they got the ball to their right wing who was seriously quick. He was finally tackled just short of the line but the big No 8 won the ball and powered his way over the line. Another missed conversion left a narrow lead of 10-7.

After more Aldeburgh pressure, a clearance kick was fielded by Adam Hateley who linked with full back Stephen Anker, always dangerous when running from deep. He made ground, kicked, Ed Robson was involved and new winger, Kieran Ellis, looked as though he had scored in the corner but had put a foot in touch. All was not lost as the referee had been playing a penalty advantage. He brought the teams right back across the pitch to a point ten metres out. A tap penalty was taken which the Aldeburgh forwards drove over with Toby Mann, flanker, getting the touch down. Ed again converted to give the home team a narrow 14-10 half time lead.

The second half followed a similar pattern with Aldeburgh probably just having the edge in the backs but the forward battle being evenly balanced. Both sides tackled ferociously. Aldeburgh made the first breakthrough after five minutes with a good break by Toby then the ball was kept alive with some stunning short passing which was so quick your correspondent didn’t manage to note who was involved. The try was scored by Ed who again converted.

At 21-10, the game could have run away from Ipswich but nothing of the sort. Following sustained Ipswich pressure, Aldeburgh conceded yet another penalty, caused problems for themselves by arguing which lost them another ten metres putting Ipswich within striking distance of the line. They capitalised on it by taking a tap penalty and piling over. The conversion was missed which could have been costly as, at this stage of the game, the only points difference was from the three conversions.

However, Aldeburgh settled the game beyond doubt with a fourth try after 25 minutes of the second half. They were pressing the Ipswich line. Jon Hunt, back in the pack at No 8, threw one of his trade mark dummies but was still held just short of the line. From the ruck, scrum half, Fred Precious, got the ball way to Ed who supplied a razor sharp quick pass to Ben Watts running a good line to break through and dive over. Ed again converted.

Despite their continuing efforts, neither team could get a further advantage leaving the final score 28-15.

Aldeburgh v Bury St Edmunds 4

19th October – Queen’s Field

Result: Aldeburgh 43 Bury St Edmunds 21

A splendid afternoon’s entertainment!

After a morning of rain, the sun broke through to light up a match that ebbed and flowed to provide a good contest for the players and a splendid afternoon’s entertainment for the spectators.

With Aldeburgh again short of a full squad, Bury lived up to the spirit of the Game On principles to ensure that the match could be played competitively. They supplied a player to Aldeburgh and scrums were to be uncontested.

Bury began as they always play – busy, competent, moving the ball around but ultimately not getting anywhere. There was a long early period in which Aldeburgh simply tackled. The ball did not move far out of the Bury half.

There was an early injury to Ed Collings (last week’s man of the match) who took no further part. From then on, as other players came and went, only the keenest eyed of the spectators would have known exactly how many players each team had at any time. Neither side ever appeared to have a disproportionate numerical advantage.

Bury did manage to advance to near the Aldeburgh line before being repulsed. When the Bury No 10 made a good run, we realised that he was the one to watch. After 16 minutes, we watched him run from his own half, throw a series of dummies and cross under the posts for the first try which was converted.

Although there was not a huge disparity in size, Bury had the edge which they used ten minutes later to bludgeon their way over the line for another converted try. At 14-0 after half an hour, things looked ominous for Aldeburgh who had not yet threatened the Bury line.

Somehow Aldeburgh got themselves back into the game, gaining field position to put some pressure on Bury which finally resulted in Jon Hunt powering over for a try which Ed Robson converted. Bury responded by pressing Aldeburgh back until Ed relieved the pressure with a huge clearance which Aldeburgh did well to follow up, tackle the ball carrier, regain the ball, put some slick passes together leading to a neat pop pass to Freddie Burgess who burst through and over the line. Ed converted again to bring the scores level.

With half time approaching, Bury threw over the top of a line out. Jon Hunt, playing scrum half – not his usual position, was the first to react. Again Aldeburgh moved the ball well, with Freddie and Ed linking to put Stephen Anker into a scoring position which he finished well. It is good to see Stephen back in the team after missing much of last season with an injury. The conversion hit the post but Aldeburgh still went to the break with a surprising 19-14 lead.

The sense that the momentum had shifted was confirmed early in the second half when Ed made an excellent run before putting the new blond winger in a position to go over in the corner.

As the half wore on, Aldeburgh’s backs got into their groove, linking well, moving the ball around. Ed and Ben Watts moved the ball out to Adam Hateley on the wing who made one of his signature powering runs only to be stopped on the line. The ball came back to Stephen Anker who went over for his second which Ed converted.

Aldeburgh used the throw over the top of the line out ploy effectively with Jon Hunt making twenty metres. Another superb run down the wing by Ed Robson got him almost to the line. He managed to get the ball inside towards Ben Watts who kicked on and got the touch down. Ed again converted. It seemed to be a one way street but Bury did not give up, bouncing back to get another try by forcing one of their big guys over the line.

Towards the end it got a bit scrappy until Aldeburgh again moved the ball swiftly through their back line to release Ed for the final try. In the battle of the No 10s, Ed came out on top by imposing himself on the game, getting the ball in positions where he could make a difference. The Bury No 10, after his early dazzling run, did not ever get himself into a position where he could use his skills.

A somewhat scrappy game with Aldeburgh’s core players making the difference with their skill and intent. Next week’s match sees us playing Ipswich 3 who are second in the league, to Aldeburgh’s fifth. It may give us a clearer picture of how the season will go.

Thanks are due to Paddy Allen and the Bury coach who each refereed half the match in the absence of a Society ref. It is hard to get a ref at our level these days which is tough on the coach who would much rather be doing his job on the touchline than taking on the refereeing role.

Braintree 3 v Aldeburgh

12th October – Braintree

Result: Braintree 24 Aldeburgh 41

Hard fought game at Braintree

After a somewhat soggy match; which was hard fought by both sides, greenmachine came out on top this afternoon.

Ed Collins is our man of the match this week, he put in a tremendous shift, tackled like a man possessed and made metres with the ball in hand. The highly coveted honour of d!ck of the day once again goes to our skipper Freddie Burgess, who, whilst unsuccessfully auditioning for a spot in the back line; kicked the ball, this misdemeanour was later followed by a goose step, the execution of which was questionable at best, but saw him metres from the opposition’s try line… where he subsequently spilt the ball.

Our next game is at home Saturday 19th October against Bury St Edmunds IV- see you there