A double-header Saturday saw the Saxons take on Clacton as the Warriors struggled to contain Thetford. Capt Jez Hannon’s team were on a rampage as the revitalised Saxons Woodbridge 2XV cemented their place at the top of their league with another bonus point win.
The visitors exerted early pressure their line-out worked well and centre Tom Gelder and full back Will Martin put in some aggressive runs. Penalties in attack frustrated the Warriors, scrum half Adam Plummer and lock Dan Knights pushing hard but Thetford held possession moving the ball quickly for centres Gelder and Josh Clark to press on the left wing. Play stayed central for a while with both teams testing the long kick and running from deep. Tackles were plenty and the ruck was heavily contested – Thetford looking the better drilled, second rows working effectively to clear out. Plummer got sacked at the back of a scrum and Thetford’s backs used rapid hands out to wing Kristopher Minter winning a penalty and Martin took the points. Woodbridge fought for more possession and peppered the Thetford 22 touch, Matt Bowman linking with Hart on one promising dart but the defence held. The half ended with Thetford threatening the home try line.
The men form the forest attacked on the right wing through Minter and then Gelder was at it again, jinking and sidestepping down centre-field. Hart came to the rescue with an excellent touch as things went aerial, Warrior full back Angus Clogg kicking long for his talented opposite number; the omnipresent Martin to recover it, kick on and run in a try on the left. Woodbridge doggedly kept up the challenge, Bowman took over the charge, Capt Tom Stokes worked hard on the ground to get the ball for Hart to battle over and lift the crowd as he scored between the posts. Thetford’s forwards picked and drove forcing the Warriors into their own goal area where a push over scrum saw the ubiquitous Martin in the No8 position score. Woodbridge had a couple of attacks, Clogg running clearances back with Simon Ward, Stokes and Cook in support and established a few attacking line-outs. There was an air of inevitability when Martin received the ball on the 10m line and dodged and served his way to a hat-trick having scored and kicked 26 of the Thetford’s 31 points.
Councillor Jim Bidwell joined Warrior Asst. Manager Kerri Ehret and Warriors Capt Tom Stokes, Tim Johnson and Jono Cooke to unveil new changing room murals today. Kerri has worked hard to collect motivational words from Club members and The Handsome Prints Cokindly donated it’s time to print and fit them
Thanks to Chris North for this report & photos
Woodbridge have not faced Maldon in a long time, so we were not sure what was expected but as always Woodbridge were ready for battle. After a well-respected minutes applause for Josh Gilbert it was time to see what Maldon had in them.
Woodbridge took the kick off, goes short, a thundering tackle from Jez Hannon stops the player, Maldon try the other side and are met by the powerhouse Josh Mr-Morphine Sugrue with a thumping tackle which was heard from the sidelines. Maldon keep fairly camped in our 22. A massive scrum destroys Maldon but they keep the pressure on and are forced to attempt a drop goal and miss. Quick work from Reece Monk sees him link up with John Yorke who offloads to Richard Hazelton who gasses the winger to go over, conversion missed. 5-0 to the good. Maldon come straight back and big pressure sees them go over in the corner, game on! Tony Moseley fights off three defenders and offloads to john who passes to Jack Cranage who runs around the outside to score.
A few changes at half time see’s Jez and Angus Perry come off, Perry himself having a brilliant game.
Maldon restart and the man mountain Tony m returns and Ethan gets loose to score on his first start for Woodbridge,conversion Missed. Another strong return from Tony m see’s Ollie Bennett ( not sure who let him on the pitch) break free and do his best impression of an injured buffalo to get himself over the try line and score, john y coverts. Tony m is on fire with his returns and see,s Ham score his third try of the season. One of the new lads again breaks and John y coverts. Maldon fire into life and go over in the corner and covert. Strong pressure from jack sees Reece get free and goes over, jack coverts. It’s a try fest as Ollie is once again in the open and this time taking his running style from usain bolt scores a beautiful try, conversion Missed. Big pressure from Maldon turned over sees Dan the number 10 break and score, straight from the kick of billy runs over countless players to offload to Jack Jermyn ッ who goes under the post and James converts.
Last play see’s Maldon go over but miss the conversation, final score 58-17.
Woodbridge lost when they last played W Norfolk in 2014. The hosts started strongly, pressuring the visitors and drawing a penalty after a dart by flanker David Evans and full back Jake Richardson who sadly broke his leg in the ruck and play was delayed an hour. After the ambulance left Sam Moses took 3 points. Aggressive Warrior tackling earned a penalty line-out and a great drive from Dan Knights and Owen Scott saw JP Hart pass quickly to Lee Barton who scored. Game on. Woodbridge kept Norfolk pinned in its half despite them getting the better of the scrums. Possession was kicked away and the Warriors welcomed the attacking opportunity, Matt Bowman made 20m, moved the ball wide, Barton nearly scored again. Woodbridge harried and rucked well to disrupt and frustrate – Captain Tom Stokes, No8 Jono Cooke, lock Aldis Salavejs and front row led with charges until a line-out was moved quickly cross field via Hart for Bowman to dot down and Jamie Smith convert. West Norfolk worked themselves upfield to camp on the Woodbridge 5m line where Luke Lovell, Paul Denton and Paul Bridges drove hard and nearly crossed the line. A reset and fast hands from 9 Olly Ridout and Moses gave Olly Denton the try. Played stayed central with both sides working hard to keep ball in hand but being forced to kick. A Warrior ruck eventually gave clean ball for Hart to Sam Hallows who scored.
The second half started with a barrage of Woodbridge belligerence as they worked well at the breakdown and kept the ball winning a penalty under the post for Smith to take 3 points. Norfolk countered on the left with big prop Paul Bridges putting in some strong carries and breaking tackles. The penalties began to mount and yellow cards were received by both teams as frustration raised tension. In the final ten minutes Woodbridge received a succession of penalties in defence and Norfolk capitalised with a forwards strike through Edney Costa in the corner. Not enough to deny Woodbridge their first 2017/18 win.
We wish Jake Richardson W Norfolk full back a speedy recovery from his injury
West Norfolk 13 v Woodbridge Warriors 22
A Rugby Aware Course is being held at the club on Wednesday 4th October, starting at 19:00. Refreshments will be available
The Amazons got their season off to a flying start at Hatchley Barn on Sunday with a nine try rout of Norfolk side, Lakenham Hewitt. This was as comprehensive as the 47-5 final outcome suggests, with the hosts bettering their guests in every aspect of play.
Despite losing some influential players in the offseason, the balance of the Woodbridge side looked excellent in this match. Solid at the set piece, the pack looks up to scratch and skipper Claire Brickley must be thrilled to have some absolute flyers around her in this seasons back division. From the outset it was all Woodbridge, and after just minutes had passed, the referee allowed advantage to be played after a Lakenham knock-on, resulting in centre Beth Clapson scoring out wide. The Amazons gained possession after the restart and worked the ball wide again. A crossing penalty halted that attack, but when the Lakenham kicker missed touch it was returned with vigour until Clapson straightened to grab her brace. Normally a winger, already Clapsons pace was proving a major asset in this game. Pressure mounted further but play was stopped when the visitors number eight went down with a serious knee injury. From the resultant scrum, Lakenham tried to clear the ball but the kick was fielded by Kirsty Brierley who tore into the heart of the defence. Again the ball was worked wide, Robyn Gordon, then scrum half Rheann Claydon both made good ground, before an inside pass had Brickley running a nice line for try number three.
The Amazons forwards created a solid platform for the backs to exploit, scented opportunities themselves and showed how they could play a tight game, as well as the free flowing outside play that had delighted everyone present. Kat Sidoli, Roisin and Toni Bell made inroads, before Alex Saunders touched down for the fourth try of the half. After a Woodbridge penalty was reversed for backchat, a fired up Amazons side produced the try of the match as forwards and backs combined, great support play and handling resulted in Roisin getting try number five. A first conversion from Stacy Robinson padded the scoreline.
27-0 at the halftime break and there looked just the one winner in this season opener, the visitors playing with just fourteen and barely hanging on. After the break the free flowing attacks became even more surgical as centre Anna Dewberry registered a score to make it 32, before Gordon capped a superb break from firstly Roisin, then Jess Delaney to make it 37. Gordon, a former Rosslyn Park winger who joined this year, is a real speedster and grabbed her second score when Brickley sprinted blind from a scrum on halfway. A deft pass out to the Irish flyer saw her outpace the cover easily to advance the score again. Regular substitutions had ensured the Amazons would finish strongly and Clapson rounded out the hosts scoring when she registered her first hattrick with another excellent effort. Ill discipline marred the final few minutes, and the Norfolk side even managed a consolation try from Jess Underwood, but this was an awesome performance by Woodbridge and a fantastic curtain raiser for the season ahead – Bravo!
Many thanks to Chris North for the match report.
Woodbridge Saxons turned up to a very cloudy looking Colchester RFC, as in the past Colchester are not to be taken lightly and today was no exception. Colchester took the kick to start the game, the ball not collected from Woodbridge and Colchester collecting it and running it back, a Colchester player going for the kick through and totally missing it. Josh picking up and breaking through, handing many players and off-loading to Tony Moseley and simple hands from Angus, John through to Dewing to score and converted! 7-0 to the good. Shortly after a beautiful effort from all for Ben to go over for the 2nd, Dewing just hitting the post. A cheeky grubber through from 15 saw him pick and score his own try. Pressure firmly in Colchester’s half and a old school break saw Jez score a simple try and a easy kick for Dewing. Josh smashing through and scoring and Dewing kicking. Dan Cummings next to do his thing and go over and Dewing to kick. Colchester kick into life and come back full steam, great defence from Woodbridge but a Colchester forward ploughs over. Another big effort sees Ben score and Dewing to kick. Strong pressure from Colchester kicking over the top and using the forwards to break and score. Strong pressure again from Colchester seeing them score again. Woodbridge did push back and score more try’s, final score 67-29 Massive effort form the boys today, played out of their skins!
Heavy rain made opening exchanges very slippery as Woodbridge started with a penalty attempt and intercepted the ensuing Stowmarket 22 drop out to maintain pressure through Tim Johnson and Tom Stokes. Stowmarket cleared with both sides using the boot but Stowmarket was penalised for holding on and offside. Woodbridge failed to take points despite several frustrated visits to the Stow 22. It was the visitors that drew first blood with the Warriors conceding an offside penalty kicked by full back Dan Garrard. The aerial bombardment continued with both sides fighting for an advantage from the wet conditions, runs from Warriors Tom Stokes, Jono Cooke and Sam Hallows coming to nothing. Territory and possession remained fairly even as both sides increased the physicality, substitutions and tempers became frayed. Towards the break Woodbridge conceded another penalty for Garrard to take three more points. Stowmarket‘s forwards renewed their onslaught, pressuring the home defence with a superior scrum, Ben Honeyball, Jack Hayward and No8 Colin Clarke driving hard and winning a penalty try for side entry – 0-13 at the break
Woodbridge’s backs launched three moves down the left wing from the restart but it was pressure on the right that released Matt Bowman with a long pass to Lee Barton offloading to hard working Jono Cooke to score. Clean ball became harder for Woodbridge to secure with the Stowmarket scrum dominating. The visitors made significant runs into the home 22 spinning the ball confidently across field, running back clearances and peppering the home touch. They very nearly scored on the left after pushing Woodbridge back three times on their own scrum followed by a 30 metre stampeding run from busy fly half Tom Crowe. Woodbridge’s backs made a couple of breaks on the left and Smith kicked a penalty but it was Stowmarket that battled their way back up field and put in several forward phases before releasing quickly to Scott Woolnough to score wide on the left. Play stayed in the home 22 with several more big pushes from the Stow pack but the Warriors defence held to end a rather bad-tempered match 8-20.
Woodbridge Warriors 8 v Stowmarket 20
Can anyone help Garry Sykes with the following tasks?
If so contact Garry Sykes on 07789 543037 – garrysykes1963@gmail.com