Braintree 2 v Aldeburgh

9th December – Braintree

Result: Braintree 48 Aldeburgh 0

A soggy reality check

After the cold of last week, we had the soggy surface this week.  The rain held off in the afternoon which wasn’t too cold but the pitch was sodden, leaving the mud-soaked teams almost indistinguishable by the end.  Aldeburgh took fourteen players.  Braintree had a strong squad which they shared in the spirit of the Game On protocol.  Nevertheless, their big, strong running backs and powerful forwards were a level beyond Aldeburgh at this stage of our development.

With three tries scored, Braintree were 19 points up within the first ten minutes.  A combination of strong runs by big forwards, linking with speedy backs and making the most of the desperately wet conditions which made handling a nightmare led to quick tries. 

Even when Aldeburgh began to claw their way back into the game by working their way down the pitch, Braintree were quick to make use of the ball with a long kick, smart follow up and hack on to get their next try.

Despite the conditions and the strength of the opposition, the Aldeburgh players dug in to hold Braintree back for the rest of the half.  Unfortunately, on the stroke of half time, Braintree’s hulking inside centre received the ball from a scrum in their own half and ran through untouched to score under the posts.  A half time score of 31-0 in these conditions looked ominous.

The increasingly strong wind was behind Aldeburgh in the second half.  Ed Robson made good use of it to relieve the pressure by pushing play down field.  However after twelve minutes of the second half, a promising move from a line out broke down, Braintree scooped up the ball, moved it swiftly to their left wing who set off to run from his own 22 to score.

A couple of injuries – to Lewis Wardell Bird and Angus Mann – left Aldeburgh with three Braintree players in their ranks.  The subs played their part but it was obviously disruptive.  Nevertheless, the second half was competitive.  Aldeburgh didn’t look like making big inroads but they fought to keep Braintree out.

There were two more tries, similar in that they involved several phases of play which eventually opened gaps in the Aldeburgh defence.  Having shipped five tries in the first half, it was something of a success to concede only three in the second.  While it would be unfair to pick out individual players after such a gutsy, collective effort exception must be made for Callum Goodwin who had another excellent game in the centre both with ball in hand and as a disruptive tackler.  For older readers, he also brought to mind the iconic picture of Fran Cotton in the 1977 Lions tour of New Zealand.  If you don’t know it, search online to get a sense of what Callum looked like and what the rest of the team were experiencing.

One of the aims of these reports is to encourage VPs to come to watch matches.  I realise that by focusing on the appalling weather conditions, I may not be achieving this goal so let me finish by noting that after the match the players and spectators convened in the splendid Braintree club house to enjoy drinks, food (for the players) and good companionship which made the whole experience more than worthwhile for all. 

That was our last match before Christmas.  The first three in the new year are away matches so we are not playing at home again until 3rd February. 

Before then we have our Christmas party next Saturday evening in the clubhouse.  A bring and share supper with bar.  All are welcome.

If I don’t see you there (which may depend on the timing of the arrival of a new grandchild), have a happy Christmas and a splendid new year.

Aldeburgh v Halstead Templars

2nd December – Queen’s Field

Result: Aldeburgh 66 Halstead 8

Sparkling rugby in a cold climate

By God, it was cold! The sparkling rugby played by Aldeburgh warmed the hearts of the goodly crowd of spectators who braved the weather but it didn’t reach their toes. After the match, the Halstead captain congratulated Aldeburgh on a physical encounter ‘which makes rugby worth playing.’ What it is to be young and strong.

Aldeburgh welcomed back James Ledger at prop for his first game of the season. He was soon making his familiar driving runs in the loose. The team continues to be unsettled but with a regular spine which enables a consistent running playing style. Having Jed Gallant and Ed Robson at half back provides an experienced fulcrum around which the whole team can operate successfully. We also benefited from some visitors to add to the mix.

The crowd knew that we were in for some entertaining rugby when, after just a couple of minutes, centre Callum Goodwin arrived like a rocket onto a pop pass from scrum half Jed Gallant, broke straight through, fell over, rolled and set off again before finally being hauled down. Callum’s running and tackling was again outstanding throughout the match. He scored the fourth try and was influential throughout.

James Cook continued his return to rugby with a strong performance in the centre this week. He opened the scoring, running a good line to take a short pass to go over under the posts. Chris Outten is another who has returned to playing, using his physical presence and rugby nous to have an impact across the pitch. He also powered over for the third try.

The story of the match was one of total Aldeburgh dominance. 26-0 up after 20 minutes. After 25 minutes, Alex Cox, playing in the second row this week, had to leave the field injured. With no replacements available, it raised the question as to whether Halstead could make their one player advantage count. They got off to a bad start. Immediately after Alex’s departure, Ed Robson attempted a penalty from far out by the touchline which hit the post. Halstead made a hash of the clearance with the denouement being a clearing kick from behind the try line which went straight up in the air, landing next to an Aldeburgh player who simply had to fall on it to score. 31-0 was the half time score.

It was only two minutes into the second half when Aldeburgh scored their next try. Lewis Wardell-Bird, named Man of the Match for his unselfish work in the scrum and around the pitch, made a strong run before popping up a delightful pass for the full back to run onto and score.

Another highlight of the second half was one of Ed Robson’s long passes, this time to winger Adam Hateley who finished powerfully in the corner. Ed’s ability to see spaces and to execute the pass to open them up is outstanding.

Halstead stuck at it, kicking a penalty for their first points after 10 minutes of the second half and finally breaking through for a try with 10 minutes left. Further excellent running from Aldeburgh’s full back and flankers provided yet more entertaining tries.

As the fret closed in, almost obscuring the play in the far corners of the pitch, the referee blew the final whistle on a victory which takes Aldeburgh to the top of the league again with a game in hand. Next week’s away match at Braintree will be the biggest test of the season so far. There will then be the Christmas break followed by a run of away matches in January.

Next match: Saturday 9th December Away to Braintree

Christmas Party 16th December

A bring and share supper with bar on Saturday 16th. All welcome. More details to follow.

Aldeburgh v Ipswich 3

11th November – Queen's Field

Result: Aldeburgh 55 Ipswich 7

A Special Day in the Life of our Club

The first VP Lunch held in our own clubhouse was followed by another dominant win by Aldeburgh which took us to the top of the league. A great deal of work was put in by several members of the committee to make the lunch happen. It brought the VPs, many regulars plus some welcome new faces, into much closer contact with the team – a contact which we all want to foster.

Before the lunch, the Club President, Derek Wyatt, was presented with two framed photographs by Beccy Smithers, the wife of the late Eamonn McCabe, the great sports photographer whose last assignment was when he graciously spent an afternoon at our club last year. They will be embellishments to our clubhouse of which we will be rightly proud.

On to the rugby. It has to be said that yet again Aldeburgh had several changes of personnel with only 14 on the pitch at the kick off, two of whom were playing in their first home match for the club. Nevertheless, there is an underlying strength in the squad which enabled Aldeburgh to dominate from the kick off. The improved commitment to training began to show through on the pitch.

The first line out was stolen by Aldeburgh. Ed Robson, playing another commanding game at fly half, put a cross kick into touch deep in the Ipswich 22. A messy line out was cleared up by hooker, Elliott Clarke-Gifford, who made ground and linked with the backs enabling scrum half, Fred Precious, to go over for the first try after just 9 minutes.

Ipswich had a big, powerful set of forwards who pushed Aldeburgh back in the scrums but not quite enough to disrupt the ball. No 8 Chris Outten was rightly named as man of the match for the way in which he controlled the feed from the scrum, ran powerfully and generally made his presence felt across the field. After 14 minutes, scrum ball came back to full back, Ben Watts (another whose strong running made an impact throughout the game) who linked with outside centre, Callum Goodwin, who in turn timed his pass to perfection to put new flanker, Kylan Saunders over with space to run under the posts to score. After a long break from rugby following a knee injury, let’s hope that this taste of scoring will encourage him to regain his fitness and play more.

The next try came from a superb kick chase by Callum Goodwin (who was outstanding all afternoon). He tackled the full back so hard the ball was dislodged. Ed Robson followed up to dribble the ball over the line and get to it first for the try.

A few minutes later, yet another powerful run by Callum was followed up by Fred Precious who delivered a delightful pass out of the back of his hand for Kylan to go over for his second. Ed converted again to establish a lead of 24-0 after 25 minutes. Ipswich had not been in Aldeburgh’s half.

Ipswich had no answer to Aldeburgh’s strong and intelligent running. When Ipswich did get the ball, their big men simply ran straight into the man in front of them. Aldeburgh (both backs and forwards) picked better lines to hit spaces, crossing the gain line with every run. The pressure soon told when Fred Precious took a tap from a penalty awarded at the line out, passing to Jon Hunt who charged over. Jon was playing in the second row and captaining the side in the continued absence through injury of Freddie Burgess.

Two minutes later, Fred featured again, rescuing the ball from the back of a retreating scrum to set winger Adam Hateley away. Adam got the ball back to Fred who moved it on to Toby Mann for him to get the try. Toby played well in the centre (rather than his usual back row role) and joined the line outs as principal jumper. An all round performance.

When we thought there was no time left for any more scores, a forward surge saw the other new flanker, Alex Cox, cross the line. A magnificent first half of running rugby saw Aldeburgh score seven tries, three of which Ed converted, without Ipswich threatening once. We even finished the half with 15 men. One of the new players texted a mate before kick off to say we were short. He came to the ground via his mum’s to pick up his kit which he had not worn for some years, came on late and scored a try in the second half.

After such excitement in the first half, the pace could not be kept up in the second. Ipswich began to make ground with their bludgeoning tactics. After 10 minutes, Alex Cox was shown a yellow card, harshly to the minds of the home supporters, for bad language. There was a stalemate while he was off. When he returned, Aldeburgh scored again as a result of a move through the backs which provided the ball to stand in winger, James Squires. Unfortunately, Alex then put in a tackle which was high leading to his second yellow, reducing Aldeburgh to 14 for the last 15 minutes. Ipswich took advantage by finally making their forward weight tell, with the large No 3 flopping over the line.

The final score was Aldeburgh’s when Ed flung out one of his huge passes to Callum who gathered it and bounced the defenders out of the way to score. Ed put over a final conversion. With only a minute left, another yellow card saw Chris Outten leaving the field for inadvertently making contact with an opponent’s face while trying to jackal the ball out of the loose. It made no difference to the outcome.

This was a great team performance – exhilarating in the first half, brave and dogged in the second. It puts Aldeburgh three points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand. The next three Saturdays will bring sterner challenges. Away to Clacton next week who have had some good results. Then both of the teams which were relegated last year who should provide the toughest tests of the season.

Next match: Saturday 18th November Away to Clacton 2

Next home match: Saturday 2nd December v Halstead