10th February – Queen’s Field
Result: Aldeburgh 64 Colchester 0
New players, similar dominant performance
Fielding several new players, Aldeburgh maintained their flowing style of rugby to record another big win in front of a large crowd of VPs, many of whom had just enjoyed a splendid lunch in the clubhouse.
With many members of the squad unavailable each week for one reason or another, it has been a feature of the season that the club has continued to attract new players. A core of regulars provide the stable base. Regular props Peter Mann and Matt Elias anchored the scrum which was solid throughout the match. The back line revolves around Ed Robson who showed his vision in the first couple of minutes with a long pass to create space resulting in new skipper Ben Watts scoring the first of his four tries.
Playing at centre, Ben scored his second after ten minutes, finishing off a good move in the backs. His powerful running was a threat throughout the match which Colchester struggled to contain.
The third try a few minutes later was driven in by the forwards with Matt Elias the scorer. The remainder of the first half saw Aldeburgh increasingly in charge through their ability to move the ball swiftly, combined with powerful runs by both forwards and backs. The fourth try typified this with a superb move in the backs linking to No 8 Charlie Blakeley who gave the final pass to Ben. Charlie made several powerful runs during the game as did new hooker, Aaron Tuck, who made his presence felt in the loose.
On 28 minutes, the ball was again moved rapidly down the back line, brought back in then out again to create the overlap for new full back Ramsey Bourke to go over. There was time for another sparkling back move to put Ben through for his fourth try of the half with enough space to run round under the posts before dotting down.
38-0 at half time suggested that it could be a mammoth score but Colchester continued to resist stoutly to the final whistle, never letting the game get completely away from them. Special mention must be made of Colchester’s prop who played the full match at the age of 76 (yes, that’s right, he is seventy six years old). What an inspiration.
It took ten minutes of the second half before Aldeburgh could get another score. From a quick penalty, Toby Mann, showing his versatility by playing at centre this week rather than his recent back row position, powered over. Almost immediately, another stunning move in the backs saw Ben link with Ed Robson who put flanker Alex Cox in the clear with time for an extravagant swan dive.
He got back to his feet all smiles but was smiling less broadly a few minutes later when Colchester took a quick penalty and Alex was unable to resist the urge to tackle the penalty taker before he had taken a couple of strides. His yellow card was somewhat harsh but undoubtedly fair. Despite being a man down, Aldeburgh got the next try. Ed Robson began it by hacking on a loose ball, chasing 30 metres to tackle the full back who spilled the ball. A covering player managed to get to the ball but somehow spilled it backwards over the line where Toby Mann dived to get his hand on the ball first.
Colchester managed a period of pressure without seriously threatening to score but they did pin Aldeburgh back for large parts of the final quarter. Nevertheless, the final score of the game was another scintillating Aldeburgh try with full back Ramsey Bourke making a superb run before linking with Toby Mann who gave Adam Hateley the chance to show his speed and strength. With Ed Robson contributing seven conversions, the score at the final whistle was 64-0.
Following the match the players enjoyed another of Paddy and Freddie’s delicious match teas and the chance to watch England beat Wales on the big screen. Another splendid day at Aldeburgh Rugby Club.
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