Manor travelled to play unbeaten Amersham & Chiltern in the first league encounter between the two sides knowing that they were in for a tough test against a side that had averaged nearly 50 points a game in their previous matches. With further changes to the team debuts were given to Moe Alothman in the starting line up and Matthew Radley from the bench.

Manor kicked off the game with the wind behind them but playing up the slope. Although Manor had the better of the early exchanges they gave away a penalty allowing Amersham to kick deep into Manors half and set up a sustained period of pressure inside Manors 22. As you would expect from a side that played in the National Leagues last season they were very well drilled using big ball carriers who were comfortable offloading in the tackle and had close support to retain possession and work through numerous phases of play. But up against them was a Manor team who were now beginning to gel, they tackled with aggression and power with Ollie Waugh to the fore making Amersham fight for every meter made. Manor were also being penalised constantly by the ref and each time the hosts turned down a shot at goal opting to keep up the pressure from attacking lineouts. Eventually the ref lost patience and yellow carded Harry Reid for repeated team offences.

With Manor a man down Amersham again went for a lineout but this time Alfie Hutcherson stole the throw in and as Nick Horton cleared the ball Amersham were caught offside giving Horton the opportunity to clear the ball close to the hallway line half for a Manor lineout.
Manor won their thrown in and after an initial drive Waugh broke off the back of the maul driving the ball up field before linking up with John Robertson who made good ground but as Manor looked to continue the attack a knock on gave a scrum to the opposition. With 15 minutes gone and although under pressure for the most if the time, Manor had made sure that the game remained scoreless.

From the scrum Amersham won a penalty that they kicked to the halfway line where they won the throw in but as they looked to release their backline Garth Tucker put in a thunderous tackle on the ball carrier, knocking him backwards and winning a penalty. From the halfway line Nick Sheppard took a shot at goal and although the distance was not a problem, the ball went just the wrong side of the posts.

Amersham soon came back at Manor and again camped inside Manors 22 and although Manor again repelled wave after wave of Amersham’s attacks after 5 minutes of constant pressure Amersham finally breached Manors defence as their second row went over from close range for the first try of the match. The conversion from close to the touchline was successful and after 25 minutes of play Manor were 0 – 7 down.

From the re-start Manor competed and made life difficult for Amersham who chose to kick the ball out of defence, Reece Reed was covering and launched a counter attack winning a penalty on the halfway line. Sheppard again took a long range shot but yet again the ball just went wide.

Manor began to assert themselves in attack but some poor handling saw promising periods of play come to an abrupt halt allowing their hosts to clear the danger. Even so Manor continued to attack and with the ball inside Amersham’s 22 Sheppard made ground before linking up with first Waugh then Misiona Evagelia driving the ball on towards Amersham’s line, when the attacked was stopped just short of the try line the ref brought play back to a penalty for Manor. This time Sheppard made no mistake and registered Manors first points of the game and after 37 minutes the score was 3 – 7.

From the restart Amersham soon won back possession and after winning another potentially kickable penalty they again decided to go for an attacking lineout which Manor defended and saw out the rest of the half going into halftime with a slender deficit of 3 – 7.

Amersham kicked off the second half allowing Manor to set up an early attack through winger Michael Eghan taking play close to halfway before Sheppard and Alothman combined to continue the attack bringing their forwards into play with George Cosma driving through a few tackles before the ball was set up and moved swiftly along the backline where an overlap had been worked leaving Eghan with a run to the line, unfortunately before the ball could reach him a poor pass was knocked on and a potential try scoring opportunity had been messed up.
Amersham soon hit back at Manor where further indiscipline was punished when they gave away a penalty which the Amersham fly half kicked through the posts from 35 meters out to increase their lead to 3 – 10 after 5 minutes of the second half.

Manor were now seeing more of the ball in attack with second half substitute Callum McKie putting in a long cross field kick into Amersham’s half which Eghan chased, gathered the ball and set off along the wing, when he was finally stopped inside the 22 he tried to offload the ball but the pass bounced awkwardly and was knocked on and another attacking opportunity had been lost.

Manor continued to attack down the slope and when Rhys Davis-Horne was tackled high Manor were awarded a penalty and the Amersham second row was shown a yellow card. Manor won the subsequent lineout and after a good break by Radley, the ball was fed out to Alothman who put in a grubber kick into Amersham’s 22 giving the defence no option but to run the ball out of play. Manor won the lineout through Harry Reid and set up a driving maul before the ball was fed to the backs where Sheppard made inroads into Amersham’s defence before quick ball was fed out to McKie who sent a long pass out to Eghan on the wing and from 15 meters out he crashed through the first tackler then powered his way over the line despite the efforts of the defence to stop him. Although the touchline conversion was missed with the score at 8 – 10 after 19 minutes Manor were right back in the match.

The game continued at a frantic pace and ferocity with neither side playing at their best and cancelling each other out but Amersham did create another try scoring opportunity but were penalised for a deliberate crossing which prevent the defence making a tackle. Manor cleared the danger and took play into Amersham’s half.

The game continued and tempers flared as both packs got to grips with each other, but after the stoppage in play no further action was needed by the ref.

Amersham attacked again and although they could not break through Manors impressive defence, the visitors did give away another kickable penalty that was well taken by Amersham’s fly half to give the hosts some breathing space 8 – 13 with 8 minutes of the game remaining. This was soon followed by another penalty attempt that was sent wide, but time was running out for Manor.

As fulltime approached Manor mounted one last attack from deep inside their half with Liam Marshall combining well with Davis-Horne and Alothman taking play along the touchline before feeding the supporting Sheppard who was engulfed by defenders who drove him towards the touchline, but Sheppard had the strength to free his hands and send the ball back infield only to see it knocked on thus bringing the game to an end.

Although Manor had lost they had competed all the way with Amersham who were a very good side and will certainly be in the mix for promotion come the end of the season. There were many positives to take out of the game not least their defence which was now operating at a level that this side always knew they were capable of which had gained them a losing bonus point.

Next week Manor face newly promoted South Woodham Ferrers who have made an impressive start to life in a higher league. If Manor can maintain and improve on this weeks performance then they are capable of gaining another victory but they must not be complacent as they will face a stern test from the league newcomers.