Aldeburgh v Braintree 2’s 23rd March 2024

23rd March 2024

Result: Aldeburgh 14 Braintree 26

Brass monkeys shiver

3:00pm on Queens Field and a fresh northerly breeze made even the brass monkeys shiver.

Both teams were able to field a full side although Aldeburgh were missing a few regular players due to injury and sickness.  Our Chief Sports Writer (Joe Booth) had also taken to his bed with some terrible affliction, so the baton was handed to cub reporter P Walkden esq.

Aldeburgh kicked off and managed to camp in Braintree’s 22 for the first five minutes but without success.  A break down the left wing by Braintree’s No. 14 resulted in a try which was converted. 0-7 after 6 minutes.

Some good line passing by Aldeburgh followed by a touch down by prop, Aaron Tuck, converted by Fred Precious levelled the scores very quickly.  It was apparent at this early stage we were going to have a closer contest on our hands than the previous meeting between the teams in December when Braintree had handed out a 48-0 spanking to our boys.

Following the kick off we were pushed back to 10 yards out but the first of many penalties was awarded to Braintree for holding on in the ruck.  The resulting line out was stolen by Aldeburgh, leading to a slick passage of play by our boys in green.  A further penalty missed touch and a further try to Braintree in coffin corner, although there was much debate about a Braintree foot in touch.  The first of many decisions by the officials which were hotly disputed by the spectators. So 7 -12 after 20 minutes.

Not daunted Aldeburgh fought back only to have a try disallowed following a knock on.  Minutes later a further try was disallowed as the ball was deemed to have been held up.  By this time Paddy Allen our head coach was bursting a blood vessel at the decisions against us.  By the 29th minute Aldeburgh were deservedly rewarded a try again converted by Fred Precious, substituting as kicker for the injured Ed Robson. A final first half score to Braintree after a skilful interception.  14-19 at half time represented a gritty performance from Aldeburgh.

A good crowd in excess of 80 braved the showers and stayed into the second half.  A period of mysterious penalties awarded to both sides peppered the second half.  An attacking move by Aldeburgh faltered at the line out on their 22 .  The game was then held up for several minutes as Braintree’s No 12 had taken a knock to the head and had to be helped from the pitch to the usual and appropriate applause from teams and supporters. We later found he went on to A&E – we all hope he has recovered.

The rest of the second half became disjointed given the many and curious penalty decisions.  A scrum to Aldeburgh on the 20th minute was lost resulting in a further try to Braintree which again was converted to take us to 14-26 after 22 minutes.  Further potential for Aldeburgh to make a dent in the scoreline was hampered by a yellow card for a high tackle.

Full time 14-26 but sadly a lot of post match conversations revolved around on field decisions. 

Next Match: Saturday 6th April at home to Mistley 2

Aldeburgh v Clacton 2

2nd March – Queen’s Field

Result: Aldeburgh 12 Clacton 14

A frustrating experience – Mark II

Having been found compliant with ECRU regulations in respect of the team it selected the previous week, Clacton brought another strong team to Aldeburgh this week.  While Aldeburgh had a full squad in numbers, it was still patching together some key combinations.

The Clacton pack was big.  It was obvious from the start that they would run hard at the Aldeburgh defence which they did all afternoon.  The key feature of the match was Aldeburgh’s ferocious tackling.  Many of the players had taken this season’s new ruling to heart by tackling low and hard, scything down Clacton attackers time and again. 

The other dominant factor in the game was the number of penalties awarded by the referee.  The spectators felt that they were predominantly awarded in favour of Clacton but the concern was that there was inconsistency which affected the flow of the game.

The Clacton line out worked well, while Aldeburgh’s was mostly ineffective.  Clacton clearly had the ascendancy in the scrum which prevented Aldeburgh from getting much clean ball but, to their credit, the Aldeburgh pack held reasonably firm and were never taken apart, even when short of numbers.

The first quarter was a stalemate, eventually broken by a penalty by fly half Ed Robson from 40 metres out.  We don’t see many penalties taken at this level.  It was a good tactical decision in an evenly matched game.  A few minutes later, he repeated his success from within the 10 metre line. 

After half an hour, the referee issued a warning to both teams about the number of penalties.  The next offence was by Aldeburgh which meant our No 8 received a yellow card.  At the next scrum, Aldeburgh lock Damian Robertson was loudly vocal about the iniquities of Clacton’s approach (with an implication that the referee was condoning them) which immediately resulted in a totally unnecessary yellow card.  Aldeburgh down to 13.  They held on.  Ed missed another long range penalty but slotted one from the 22 before half time.

Early in the second half, he put over another huge kick from the 10 metre line to give Aldeburgh a 12-0 lead.  We had not conceded even when down to 13.  However, Clacton’s size advantage began to pay off.  From a scrum near the Aldeburgh line, a quick move resulted in the first try of the game which was converted.

Aldeburgh looked as though they had extended their lead when scrum half Jed Gallant, who had been under the cosh all afternoon behind a retreating pack, made a scintillating break, leading to our crossing the line only to be brought back for a forward pass.

There had been an edge throughout the game which boiled over into a fight after 15 minutes of the second half.  A player from each side was given a yellow card.  Unfortunately, Aldeburgh’s was Damian so his was turned into a red. 

Clacton then managed a second converted try, despite what those on the touchline saw as a blatant knock on.  For the final quarter, the score remained the same.  The drama came from penalties.  Aldeburgh chose to run a penalty from in front of the posts and so nearly scored a try but it was deemed to have been held up over the line. A late penalty from a difficult position on the touchline was unsurprisingly missed.  Clacton hung on for a win by the narrowest of margins.

From the players’ and coach’s point of view, this must have been an incredibly frustrating game.  For the spectators it was a gripping spectacle, full of the physical confrontation that good rugby provides.  Aldeburgh continues to bring in new players who are blending into the team’s style.  We also had a new volunteer behind the bar.  Every contribution is vital to the success of our small club.

The result leaves Aldeburgh third in the league.  If we win our remaining five matches we will be promoted.  However, we have to play Braintree who are top of the league and beat us at their ground.  The key fixture will be against Halstead away on 16th March.  Depending on other results, it could be the promotion decider.

Next match: Saturday 9th March v Harwich away.

Next home match: Saturday 23rd March v Braintree

Clacton 2 v Aldeburgh

24th February – Clacton

Result: Clacton 38 Aldeburgh 21

A frustrating experience

A small band of Aldeburgh players made the journey to Clacton to ensure that the match was played so that we avoided losing five points by cancelling. We had been informed in advance by Clacton that they had a large squad because they wanted to give people a game. They sportingly provided loan players in accordance with the Game On principles to ensure an even encounter. However, we were also told that their First XV had completed its league fixtures for the season. Many of them were to play against us.

Despite the size of the Clacton pack, Aldeburgh pressed them back to start with. Ed Robson, fly half, kicked for position and then found a good touch from a penalty. His tactical kicking made an impact throughout the match. Less good was that hooker, Elliott Clarke-Gifford, pulled up with a hamstring strain from the kick off and five minutes later Dean Wilkins, in the back row this week, had to leave the field with a bad knee injury. To lose two strong players from a depleted starting XV was a blow.

Clacton soon built pressure with the breakthrough for a try coming after 7 minutes. Aldeburgh did respond with a loan player making a strong run, Ed chipping over the top and holding Clacton back on their line. It couldn’t last. The weight of Clacton’s scrum enabled them to push a set scrum over the line for the second try. 14-0 after a quarter of an hour with a mismatch in pack sizes looked ominous.

Apart from Aldeburgh’s brave tackling, what held Clacton back was the quality of their passing. Time and again they moved the ball slickly only to drop it at the crucial moment. As a result, there was stalemate right up to half time. Just before the break, the luck went with Clacton. From a line out, they moved the ball along the backs until Ben Watts, centre and skipper, so nearly made an interception. Instead, the Clacton fly half hacked on, picked up and scored. Nevertheless, 19-0 at half time was respectable.

Within a minute of the restart, Clacton had crossed again. Simple, direct rugby enabled them to keep going until Aldeburgh ran out of tacklers. The floodgates remained shut tight. There were no more scores for 20 minutes but injuries had by then left Aldeburgh a man short. Numbers were soon evened up when, for reasons which were not obvious from the touch line, a Clacton player was sent off. All we saw was a player tearing off his shirt, swearing loudly as he left the pitch with the referee brandishing a red card at his retreating back.

Most of the game was played in a good spirit with the only altercation being between Clacton players on opposing sides. ‘See you next Tuesday’ was clearly heard from the touchline. Training could be combative next week. Despite the red card, Clacton broke through almost immediately to score another try. 31-0 with twenty minutes left.

Surprisingly the next score went to Aldeburgh. The guys kept plugging at it. Sustained pressure led to a scrum in the Clacton 22. Scrum half, Fred Precious, was quickly round the blind side to charge down the clearing kick, following up to pick up and score. A couple of minutes later, he did it again when he took a quick penalty, outpaced the defence on the outside and scored in the corner. Ed Robson converted from the touchline to add to his previous conversion.

Clacton managed one more try before Aldeburgh finished the scoring. David Rix, having another excellent game as flanker, picked up from a ruck in his own half, broke free and ran deep into the opposition half. He linked with Fred Precious who looked for a moment as if he was going to get a hat trick but he fired the ball to Ben Watts whom it hit and bounced up but somehow he was able to grab it and touch down. Ed again converted.

What looked at one point like being a cricket score against us, turned into quite a tight game. All the players worked tremendously hard and were a credit to the club. We were left with the frustration of knowing that if we had played against Clacton’s regular second team we would have seen a different outcome.