Colchester 5 v Aldeburgh - 25th March

A festival to end the season

In the same way as it was the week before, also at Colchester, the vital thing for Aldeburgh to do was to play the match so as to avoid a five point penalty for cancelling. Once they were able to take the field, they knew that they would preserve their current position as their finishing position in the table. Short of players again, it helped that someone who knew the Manns, that excellent source of ‘visiting mates’, was having a party. They told them to bring their boots. They do know some very good rugby players.

Colchester 5 is a tight knit group who do not fill up their numbers from senior teams so they were also short of players. The match was played thirteen a side with uncontested scrums because Aldeburgh did not have a full front row. As previously in this encounter, the contest was between the strong, heavy, somewhat slow Colchester pack and the speedy, young Aldeburgh backs. The scoreline shows what happened.

Because little was riding on the outcome of the last match of the season, the coaching instructions were to enjoy the game. The Aldeburgh team did just that. It was probably not as much fun for Colchester.

It would be tedious to relay the litany of tries. The highlights were a hat trick for Adam Hateley to cap his fine season, a couple for Elliott Clarke-Gifford who has made an impact on his return to rugby this year and a first try for Jono Overbury who has often been a sub but has kept turning up. Good to see him get a reward.

After a tremendous season, scoring tries, kicking goals, marshalling the attack and being resolute in defence, it seemed harsh that Dick of the Day in the last match was awarded to Ed Robson for a restart which not only failed to travel ten metres forward but actually went behind him. As he was driving, he nominated Ben Watts to drink his awful pint. Ben had got over the try line for his first try for Aldeburgh before dropping the ball. Ed and Ben both went on to score tries later in the game. The visiting mates went over for six tries between them. Toby Mann got one as did the Club Chairman for his first of the season. To add to the enjoyment, the try scorers were taking their own conversions. Lee successfully slotted his.

The final tally was 16 tries and 8 conversions. Credit to Colchester that they scored a try during the second half by when they must have just wanted to final whistle to sound.

Colchester 4 v Aldeburgh - 18th March

At least we turned up

On the day when England played Ireland in Dublin, we can remember the famous comment by John Pullin, England’s captain, at the dinner after the 1973 match. The previous season, Scotland and Wales had refused to travel to Ireland because of the security situation. In 1973, England travelled but lost. Pullin’s comment was: “Well, we may not be much good but we turned up.”

Despite a shortage of available players, Aldeburgh did turn up but were not able to get a win. Without a full team but with support from players from Woodbridge, coach Paddy Allen put a team together which included some of the key Aldeburgh players who were able to dictate the style of play. As a result, much of the game was played in the Colchester half without being able to convert pressure into points.

Previous results suggested that this would at least be a close game with Aldeburgh likely favourites. Neither Colchester 2s or 3s were playing on Saturday. The 4s fielded some strong players. Enough said.

Captain Freddie Burgess damaged his ankle in the first half leaving Aldeburgh a player down for the rest of the half. A Woodbridge player was also injured so Colchester loaned two players for the second half. Despite the disruption, Aldeburgh got a consolation try through Adam Hateley.

By being determined to make the fixture happen and getting good co-operation from the other clubs, all the players were able to get a game of rugby. It also meant that Aldeburgh avoided giving away a five point penalty by cancelling.

Next Saturday brings the final match of the season which is also at Colchester against their 5s. It is definitely a game that Aldeburgh can win, having beaten them at home earlier in the season. A win would give Aldeburgh a finish in third place in the league, a loss would leave them in fourth but a cancellation would take them down to fifth place, below Colchester 4, which would be galling. Let’s hope we can get a good result.

Aldeburgh v Woodbridge 2 - 11th February

A dominant win – eventually

Another week with many changes to the playing personnel but with continuity of style and performance leading to a confident win. A good crowd was bolstered by the many who had attended an enjoyable VP Lunch.

The start made by Woodbridge belied the fact that they had been unable to field a team many times this season. First impressions were that this was going to be a competitive scrap. Then after only four minutes Toby Mann, flanker, went over for an unexpected try which Ed Robson converted. One of the many changes, Ed was filling in at scrum half with Danny Collett back in the team at 10.

Despite the try the rest of the half continued to be closely fought. It required solid tackling by Aldeburgh to keep them out. Ed attempted a penalty from near half way without success. Aldeburgh suffered some injuries. Ben Watts, returning to the team in the centre, had to depart after 20 minutes with a cut to the ear. He was replaced by New Lad (from the same source as Visiting Mate who featured in the match at Mistley on 5th November) who played a solid game. A few minutes later play was stopped while Aonghus Anderson, the other flanker, was cleaned up after suffering a bloody nose from a flailing arm which the referee adjudged to be accidental.

The scrums were well-contested with Aldeburgh just having the edge. Woodbridge were better at gaining the ball in the loose and at winning their line outs. Aldeburgh extended their lead with another penalty from wide on the 22. From then on, Woodbridge were in the ascendant only being kept out by frantic tackling on the Aldeburgh line. The dam finally broke when they took a scrum against the head from which the scrum half picked up and ran straight over.

The final attack of the first half was a missed opportunity for Woodbridge. Their big No 10 broke through with one man to beat. Rather than take him on and look for support, he opted to kick over but failed to regain the ball. Aldeburgh conceded a penalty close to the line which Woodbridge chose to tap and run. The next infringement saw the half end without a further Woodbridge score. 10-7 to the home team at half time, the result remained uncertain.

Having put in a shift at prop in the first half, Lee Buckle threw in his scrum cap but it was a change in the Woodbridge front row which led to uncontested scrums for the whole of the second half. The match continued to be close but Aldeburgh increased their lead through a couple of penalties by Ed Robson, one of which was made possible when we gained ten metres as a result of back chat to the referee by Woodbridge. Penalties have not featured much in the scoring this season but Ed’s accuracy recently has added a dimension to Aldeburgh’s game.

It was clear that Aldeburgh were on top, beginning to exert pressure, when the turning point of the match came 20 minutes into the second half. Woodbridge’s big No 10 put in a scything tackle on Barnaby Knight, centre, using his legs in such a way that would have earned him a yellow card on a football pitch never mind in rugby. Inexplicably, he seemed disgruntled as he departed.

All the play was now in Woodbridge’s 22. One move saw the final pass miss an unmarked Adam Hateley and go straight into touch. Woodbridge tried to run the ball out from deep but were tackled into touch about 30 metres out. Danny Collett took a quick throw to Barnaby Knight who ran incisively before spinning out a superb pass to Ed Robson who scythed through to score.

A few minutes later, Barnaby featured again when it looked as though he had missed a chance by checking to come back inside when he had the opportunity to take on the Woodbridge defence out wide. It worked. He beat another couple of men to get within ten metres of the line. The ball was quickly recycled and Callum Goodwin powered over to score. Callum is another player who has returned to rugby after a break. Normally a centre, he filled in in the second row. His fierce tackling, powerful running and try deservedly saw him named as man of the match.

Having scored two tries during the time Woodbridge were down to 14, Aldeburgh were unlikely to lose a lead of 30-7 when Woodbridge were back to full strength. They did not have to worry. Within a minute of being back on the pitch, their No 10 had a go at an Aldeburgh player to gain his second yellow and compulsory red card.

Woodbridge held on for the last 10 minutes of Aldeburgh pressure, finally buckling to allow Adam Hateley to score. Adam had another fine game, this week in the centre, featuring his trade mark tackling and powerful running. Another player who had a good game was full back, Stephen Anker. Always reliable under the high ball, his versatility in either running back at the opposition elusively or kicking to a good length for the chasers provides a sturdy defence. The less said about his drop goal attempt the better.

This was a tremendous team effort from Aldeburgh with everybody, starting XV and all the replacements, showing commitment to the end.