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Saxons 51 v Brightlingsea 14 16/01/16

17th January 2016 Simon Ballard — No Comments

Despite a number of fixtures being called off, the sun-drenched Woodbridge pitch saw this Eastern Counties Greene King Division Four South game kick off in ideal conditions. Brightlingsea started energetically, challenging the Saxons in their own 22 and clearly playing a forwards game. They suffered the first of many scrum penalties however to allow the hosts to charge, Jono Cooke putting in a gritty tem metres before his pass was knocked on. Another scrum penalty for foot up saw Woodbridge spin the ball through the backs for centre Sam Jackson to score. Two minutes later they repeated the tactic for Barney Harper to take another five points. Brightlingsea rallied, winning a free kick and challenging the Saxon’s try line with their big forwards picking and driving at the blind side. Woodbridge defended well and countered back to the visitors half where prop Tony Moseley carried for Jez Hannon to score. The kick off was taken cleanly, passed to Sam Jackson to dashed 40m offloaded to Captain John Yorke for Alex Clifford to touch down. The next kick off suffered the same fate – Tony Moseley thundering down the right wing to score a try for the front row. Clearly rattled Brightlingsea’s pack made a concerted effort and camped in the Woodbridge 22 forcing repeated penalties from the Saxons to win a penalty try. Saxons 29 Brightlingsea 7 at the break.

A fluffed kick off saw the second half start with a scrum midway from which fast hands released Luke Garnham to re-open the account for Woodbridge. Undaunted, Brightlingsea kept the pressure on the right wing, forcing the Saxons down to 14 men, using the maul effectively and tackling well to contain the counter attack especially from the boisterous Garnham. Eventually the Woodbridge backs found space, scoring through Matty Redshaw and then using a long cross field pass to gain territory before a long kick forward bounced well for Redshaw to score again.

Brightlingsea substitutions saw Jacob Bodkin stretch his legs and run through four of his team mates to score for the visitors, converted by Bart. It was left for Woodbridge to end the game with a break-away try by Barney Harper to finish up a sunny game in temperament as well as weather.

Woodbridge Saxons 2XV 51 v Brightlingsea 14

Woodbridge Warriors 18 v Swaffham 12

10th January 2016 Simon Ballard — No Comments

Warriors on top after an entertaining clash EADT 12_1_16 resizedSwaffham started in earnest; catching Woodbridge from the off and earning a penalty 3 points from full back Joe Milligan in the first few minutes. Swirling wind frustrated Warrior fly half JP Hart’s kicking from hand so it was left to flanker Olly Gray to carry them deep into the visitors 22 and score after some nifty running from wingers Jamie Smith and Christian Hoolihan.
Swaffham rebuilt the attack through its scrum, front row Max Thompson, Welshie Bird and Tom Murray shoving their opposite numbers repeatedly to hold possession and win too many penalties which gave Joe Milligan six more points as the lead moved back and forth. Woodbridge seemed frustrated by poor handling which gave Swaffham opportunities to turn over or intercept, however the Warriors did start to act quicker at the scrum and hold possession while being pushed back. No 8 Jono Cooke worked better with scrum half Josh Bruce to reduce Swaffham’s forward dominance. This first allowed Hart to narrowly miss a kick-through chance that went dead and then saw a move from a failing scrum through the three-quarter to winger Smith who sold a dummy and scored out wide.Warriors 18 Swaffham 12 9_1_16-2163
The Woodbridge backs restarted with their tails up, Captain Tom Stokes lead an assault down the right frustrated again by penalties. Woodbridge up 10-9 at the break.

Warriors 18 Swaffham 12 9_1_16-2055The Warriors opened the second session with a rushing dart from fullback Jacob Bodkin to score from the first play. Now Woodbridge’s backs were beginning to get some space, fed from their repeatedly-pressurised pack and, with the wind, Hart was able to use touch to make territory despite some sideways runs from Swaffham’s energetic scrum and fly half pairing of Paddy Simons and Piers Fountaine. Penalties continued and Joe Milligan missed an attempt from the halfway line as both sides upped the tempo in midfield before Woodbridge won a few attackable penalties for Cooke, Nick Woodley, Gray and Tim Johnson to lead a couple of charges and then call on Angus Clogg to slot a kick with Swaffham down to 14 players. Despite this Swaffham retaliated, their forwards mauling aggressively into the Woodbridge half for Milligan to take another 3 points. The last five minutes saw Woodbridge challenge again to hold the 18-12 win in an entertaining match that was anyone’s right to the end.

More pictures here

Woodbridge Warriors 18 v Swaffham 12Warriors 18 Swaffham 12 9_1_16-2151

Available Pitch areas Sunday 10 Jan 2016

8th January 2016 Simon Ballard — No Comments

Calling all player and parents – please note the available Pitch areas for Sunday.
The Grounds Team have made it clear that Pitch 1 and 80% of Pitch 2 are NOT to be used. We are trying to allow repair time and therefore cannot have ‘Warm-ups, touch’ or training being played on Sunday. Please be aware and avoid crossing or walking on these areas where possible.
Cheers, Alex Brigginshaw

U14 Warriors score v YM

15th December 2015 Simon Ballard — No Comments

At the weekend Ipswich YM hosted Diss and Woodbridge for a 3 way mini tournament in the glorious mud and rain.

The Warriors put in two very spirited displays against two good teams.  The heavy conditions favoured our forwards with Woodbridge doing most of the pressing, with some handling areas and needless penalties being the only key difference.

Ipswich YM 17- 0 Diss

Ipswich YM 17 – 7 Woodbridge (Max Irwin try, Ethan con) Woodbridge 0 – 17 Diss

Despite finishing 3rd overall, Woodbridge found out they were the only team to have scored a point against YM all season.  Something to build upon for next year.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy and victorious new year from all the U14 players and officials.

Chelmsford 7 v Woodbridge Amazons 39

14th December 2015 Simon Ballard — No Comments

Ending 2015 with an Epic win 7-39 one half of the league season done let’s bring on 2016 , we all want to get that top of the league spot !

Warriors 29 v Newmarket 0 12/12/15

12th December 2015 Simon Ballard — No Comments

 

Woodbridge Warriors 29 v Newmarket 0 

The Warriors started nervously conceding too many penalties and letting Newmarket centre Simon Guenigault have a couple of strong runs. Early scrums went to the visitors as they made the most of their size and both sides struggled to get throw-ins straight in gusty conditions. The Newmarket fly half Danny Brookes missed a couple of opportunities to kick points and Woodbridge did better at the breakdown, Jamie Gilbert, Olly Gray and Nick Woodley having more than their fair share of turnover ball. This allowed No10 JP Hart to launch a couple of attacks with Tom Stokes supporting and win a penalty which Jacob Bodkin kicked. Despite losing scrums the Warriors salvaged plenty of possession from rucks and resisted a two sustained attacks before Hart broke to run 30m offloaded to Jamie Smith and received the return pass to score and put the Warriors eight points up at the break

Newmarket’s forwards restarted with an attack on the left, second rows Brad Munday and Adam Moss galloped through which drew some crunching hits from Woodbridge who scavenged the ball and cleared to midfield. Here it was lock Jono Cooke that linked with his backs that Jacob Bodkin off on a storming run to score. Caught in their 22 again after a long kick from Danny Brookes the Warriors lineout worked well and they mauled 20m as the opposing pack started to tire. Another clearance from Hart and a couple of penalties saw Woodbridge on the attack, scrum half Adam Plummer directing the charge in the Newmarket 22 only for some poor hands to lose possession and be kicked back. Woodbridge backs smelled blood and the newly substituted Luke Garham nearly scored with his first touch before a lineout yielded an arcing run from Stokes, Hart and Smith for Sam Hallows to touch down. A frustrated Newmarket kept their resolve, kicking long to get field position for their front row, Reeves, Richardson and Terenzi to press. However with their fast runners Woodbridge saw any possession as an opportunity, Bodkin put in some testing challenges, but it was a 50m dash from Adam Plummer that closed the game with a bonus point fourth try.

Match Report Thetford 10 Warriors 34

5th December 2015 Simon Ballard — No Comments

The Warriors started well in the gusty conditions playing against the wind and keeping possession for Tim Johnson to feed Conner O’Reilly from a lineout who scored a run away try within the first 5 minutes converted by Jacob Bodkin. The wind caused havoc with the lineout, yielding scrum after scrum as hookers failed to keep it straight but the Warriors kept the pressure on despite a series of long wind-assisted clearance kicks, chasing under the chip for JP Hart to charge down a kick and score. Thetford rallied quickly exploiting a knock on from the restart to feed scrum half Chris Thomas who scored on the blind side within minutes to keep the home supporters keen. Fired up by this Thetford kept up the pressure forcing some strong defence from Jono Cooke, James Gilbert and Olly Gray as Thetford’s flankers Dan Field and Sean Groomfield harried and battled to keep possession away from the thieving Warrior No 8 Nick Woodley. Eventually Jacob Bodkin broke to take play back into the Thetford 22 where repeated carries from their forwards was eventually rewarded with a storming try from Jono Cooke. Minutes later Thetford were again under the cosh and conceding penalties deep in their own territory, their locks Dan and Ash Cotton defending hard for full back Reg Gardener to take play up field only for Jacob Bodkin to hand off and sprint 50m from the lineout and score before the break.

With the wind behind them Woodbridge fly half JP Hart and centre Connor O’Reilly kept the kicks long and chased hard allowing Jacob Bodkin to take 3 points from a penalty as Thetford lost a player to the bin. Thetford still looked dangerous on the break but the Woodbridge defence held, keeping possession in the set pieces and always on the hunt for a turnover or break which came as Jono Cooke ran 10m to offload to the hard-working Nick Woodley who scored a converted try putting the match out of reach. Thetford never looked downhearted and maintained pressure to the last but at the whistle it was the Warriors relentless spirit that won the day.

Thetford 10 v Woodbridge Warriors 34

Woodbridge U14 8 – 14 Colchester U14 MATCH REPORT

2nd December 2015 Simon Ballard — No Comments

Well what can I say… Woodbridge U14 gave their all (and some) against Colchester A in the remaining Suffolk Plate qualifying match. With both sides having comfortably defeated Brightlingsea, it was a winner takes all scenario for a space in the Plate final.

From the outset, it was all Woodbridge with the forwards winning the breakdowns, putting Colchester on the back-foot throughout. Woodbridge were rewarded for their efforts with a try from Charlie, making an excellent debut appearance at No.8, diving at the line after great work down the right wing. Minutes later, Ethan added a penalty to give Woodbridge a well-deserved 8-0 lead. On one of the rare forward moves from Colchester, a charge down from a Woodbridge clearance was rewarded with a try under the posts shortly before half-time making it 8-7 at the interval.

With the wind at their backs in the 2nd half, Woodbridge were confident and controlled much of the half in a well contested battle. Excellent last ditch defending by Colchester on the try line thwarted Woodbridge time and again, with the Warriors were unable to gain further advantage which their dominant possession deserved. As Woodbridge continued to pour forward trying to kill the game, a breakaway try down the left wing completely against the run of play saw the Colchester team steal victory at the death, and break the hearts of the Woodbridge players, coaches, and parents alike.

Despite the hugely disappointing result, our U14’s walked off the pitch with their heads held high, knowing they had given one of the tournament favourites a real scare. It was impossible to name a man of the match on the day so the clubhouse duties were left to Captain Alex on behalf of his team.

Thanks to Jerry for refereeing, and many congratulations to Colchester on their victory. We wish them all the success in the Plate final.”

Jonathan Brookes