The Warriors camped in the Mersea 22 from the start forcing a penalty and emergency clear out but only as far as centre field from where they rallied, driving back to the Mersea 5 metre line for Captain Tom Stokes to run in on the blind side relatively unopposed. Mersea counter attacked from the restart Jordan busy at scrum half distributing well and winger Matt Wilkin making a long diagonal run before Ben Baker and the front row took up the drive. Kicks from Warriors Taff Lloyd and JP Hart ended the attack and got them back near the Mersea 22 where two high tackles yielded penalties which Mersea defended well before charges by Dan Bond, Bobby Armour and Jono Cooke set up centre Sam Hallows to score. As half time approached Mersea put in repeated attacks to the hosts try line which forced a well-disciplined defence, every player tackling hard and re-setting fast. Tom Stokes especially put in some crunching hits to keep a clean sheet by half time.

Mersea restarted on the attack but poor hands in the windy conditions gave Warrior wing Christian Hoolihan an early score from a rapid cross-field move. A great run from second row Ed Berridge from a scrum on his 22 was rebuffed as Mersea second row lead a counter into the home danger zone but a defensive scrum allowed the Warriors to move the ball up-field where No 7 Olly Gray sprinted 45 metres to score. From the kick off Ed Berridge did the same, gathering the ball and running nearly half the pitch for a well-deserved try. Woodbridge tails were up now, despite most of the possession and territory being held by Mersea who won four penalties in short order only for Woodbridge to ruck away possession and get the ball safely through several hands to Tom Stokes who scored his second. Like the first half the session ended with Woodbridge defending against an all-in attempt by Mersea to get on the score board. The subsequent vulnerability was exploited cruelly as full back Jacob Bodkin used his speed to score and convert a run-away try. Mersea resumed the attack but were denied by an unbreakable Warrior defence; Jono Cooke notable among many putting in some try-saving hits – the final whistle come after a second held-up try attempt by Mersea.

Man of the match Sam Hallows

After a minute’s silence for the victims of terrorism in Paris the Warriors started aggressively with a push up to the Ely 5 metre line and some chancy grubber kicks from fly half JP Hart. Seventh placed Woodbridge knew that an extra effort was required to make a dent in 3rd placed Ely’s positive start to the season. Ely defended well but held on to the ball to concede a penalty which was missed by Jamie Smith.
Ely weren’t to be caught again and Ed Fahy kicked well from hand to put the hosts under pressure and force a 22 drop-out and then a penalty for Matt McCarthy to hit the post. Ely’s well-drilled forwards continued to harry the Woodbridge pack, mauling from the line-out twice before prop Ricky Neale surged over to open their account. Ed Fahy continued to put full back Jacob Bodkin under the high ball but Bodkin gained good ground on the counter supported by flanker Diddy Crowther and some good runs from Olly Gray, Nick Woodley and Dan Taylor. After an abortive attempt on the blind side Woodbridge used fast hands in increasingly wet conditions to get a long lineout throw wide for wing Christian Hoolihan to level the score and give the noisy home crowd something to shout about. Jacob Bodkin repeated his counter run but the large Ely scrum kept possession from the breakdown and won a penalty which Fahy duly converted to make it 5-8 at the break.

Ely dominated early exchanges in the third quarter, their second row Mitch Kennett and Aiden Cooper working well at the line-out to keep possession to their advantage. The Ely pack also shoved well although the Warriors rucked better – James Gilbert, Olly Grey and Nick Woodley grafting to disrupt, steal and win two penalties both of which were missed. Ely broke away through centre Matt McCarthy who made a blistering run in front the clubhouse before being forced into touch. There followed a long period of defence from Woodbridge as Ely scrummaged, mauled and picked and ran at them repeatedly. The referee was frequently unsighted in the dark, wet conditions and awarded the advantage for Ely to repeatedly elect to scrum. Eventually Woodbridge cleared but Fahy reclaimed the territory with some great kicking which kept the Warriors pinned back while their scrum enabled quick ball for centre Charlie Coupland to run a great line to seal the win.