Manor welcomed Gravesend to the New Wilderness this week strengthened by the long awaited return of Ben Thomas who was starting his first game for the first team in over a season, and Callum McKie who had been injured since the beginning of the season, as had Rory More who was on the subs bench.

The game could not have started much worse for Manor as from the kick off they knocked the ball on then picked the ball up from an offside position giving a penalty attempt for the visitors. The kick from distance was successful and after less than 2 minutes Manor trailed 0-3.

Most of the play was inside Manors half, but they defended well and when given the opportunity drove the ball back at Gravesend where Jonathon Kopra was prominent with ball in hand. Manor were being hindered by the number of penalties that they were giving away, one which was in range for the Gravesend kicker, but he was wide of the mark.

Manor were competing well in the set scrums against much heavier opponents, often getting the nudge on, but were penalised at a scrum on their 22 and with the ref playing advantage Gravesend shipped the ball out to their fly half who took a well struck drop goal increasing the visitors lead to 0-6 after 10 minutes.

From the restart Manor won a scrum and then attacked Gravesend, good ground was made in the centre by Thomas before winning a penalty. Nick Horton kicked to touch for a Manor lineout. Louie Southerland won clean ball and Manor drove the ball 15 meters before the maul was brought down, with the ref seeing nothing wrong he gave a defending scrum allowing Gravesend to clear the immediate danger. Manor continued to attack inside Gravesend’s 22 with winger Louis Haddow showing his power with some forceful runs, but Manor could not break through the Gravesend defences. Manors efforts were eventually rewarded when Gravesend tried to run the ball up field but with a player isolated, Paul Pritchard got over the ball and won a penalty 35 meters out. Horton took a shot at goal and registered Manors first points of the game, 3-6 after 20 minutes.

Gravesend now went on the attack and after a sustained period of pressure which they tested Manors defences to the limit their fly half put in a cleaver kick in behind the posts. Fortunately Manors Elliott Brown was alert to the danger, scampering back and beating the oncoming attackers to the ball he then had enough pace to run into play and clear the danger with a fine touch kick to halfway.
Although Gravesend were having the majority of the attacking play, Manors defensive line was looking more solid than in previous matches repelling all that was thrown at them and when the opportunity arose Manor made ground through their forwards where Damian Horton and Kopra combined well making 20 meters before Nick Horton pinned Gravesend on their 22 with a good grubber kick.
Gravesend now worked their way up field and after a sustained period of pressure inside Manors 22 they eventually worked an overlap out wide going over in the corner for the first try of the match. The conversion was missed but after 34 minutes the visitors led 3-11.
Manor attacked from the restart turning the ball over before working their way into Gravesend’s 22. Here Haddow came in off his wing, taking the ball at pace breaking through three tackles before being brought down 5 meters short of the line. Here Gravesend killed the ball illegally giving Manor a penalty in front of the posts and the offending player sent to the sin bin. Horton took the three points on offer and with half time soon reached Manor were very much in the game at 6-11.

Manor started off the second half the better of the two sides and had the first scoring opportunity when after working their way up field the ball found its way to Haddow on the wing, as he raced towards the line Gravesend scrambled across to the wing and despite having space outside Haddow chose to cut back in and was stopped, but Manor were there in numbers and recycled the ball to the middle of the park, here John Robinson punched his way up the middle before the ball was again shipped along the line to the wing, but as the Manor player dived over the line for a try, the Gravesend defender managed to dislodged the ball and the scoring opportunity had been missed.

Gravesend were awarded a scrum 5 meters out, here the Manor 8 drove their opponents backwards winning a penalty. Manor opted for another scrum and won clean ball allowing No8 Southerland to power over the line, but as he was tackled by two defenders he was unable to ground the ball and Manor were awarded another scrum. From here the ball was moved along the line but another crunching tackle by Gravesend caused Manor to knock the ball on, this gave them the opportunity to clear the danger from the subsequent scrum.

Manor continued to harry Gravesend, keeping them in and around their 22. Manor turned the ball over and fed substitute winger Tom Bateman who beat his opposite number, raced into the 22 and chipped over the last defender and would have won the race to the ball if he hadn’t pulled a hamstring in the act of kicking ahead, and pulled up clutching his leg. Gravesend duly cleared the ball and with Bateman now on the ground they launched a flowing attack that took play close to Manors try line. Here they won a penalty which they took quickly but couldn’t force their way over Manors line and as a result of solid defending Manor won a penalty. It had not been noticed that Manors fly half Callum McKie was being treated for a head injury back in Gravesend’s 22 and after lengthy treatment left the field. Manor had now lost two of their backline and in the subsequent re-shuffle influential forward Jack Tovey had to cover out on the wing.

With Manors backline now disrupted Gravesend soon took advantage and after a series of attacks inside Manors 22, they worked space out wide allowing their winger to go over in the corner to score. The conversion was missed but after 15 minutes of the second half the visitors had increased their lead to 6-16.

Gravesend continued to press and after some good tactical kicking won a lineout 10 meters from Manors 22. With Manor slow to react, they took a quick lineout allowing them to race over the line for their third try. With the conversion successful the score moved on to 6-23. Manor then suffered a further blow when winger Haddow had to leave the field injured meaning Manor now had two forwards playing in the backline.

Gravesend were now on top, playing the game inside Manors half and soon increased their lead when from a lineout drove the ball towards Manors line, here the ref judged that Manor pulled the maul down illegally and awarded the visitors a penalty try. With the simple conversion added Gravesend had taken the score to 6-30 with 15 minutes of the match still to play.
With the visitors pushing to score more points Manors Southerland was yellow carded for a high tackle, but despite mounting pressure, Manors defence held firm and won a free kick on their 22. Here Elliott Brown took a quick tap and showed electrifying pace to run through the Gravesend team, taking play to inside the visitors 22, here with just the full back to beat, he drew his man, but instead of a simple pass, he tried to flick the ball out of the back of his hand to the supporting Chris Jones, who could not reach the misplaced pass, another clear cut scoring opportunity had been squandered.

With the final few minutes of the game passing without incident of note, the game finished with Gravesend running out comfortable winners by 6-30.

When Manor look back at the game they will realise that they created enough opportunities to have troubled Gravesend and run them very close and possibly have won the match. At this level scoring opportunities do not come often and when they do they must be capitalised upon. When Manor do make the most of the opportunities they are creating, they will start achieving the results that the rest of their game play deserves.

With a week off next week Manor have time to rest and recover and hopefully welcome back one or two more of their injured players before the visit of Wimbledon.