Manor welcomed Colchester to the New Wilderness this week knowing that they were in for a tough match as they were one place above them in the league and still unbeaten. As the final score showed, Colchester were a very good side and on balance deserved their victory.
Colchester kicked off the match and Manor were soon on the front foot after a good box kick by Nick Horton was chased and won by Michael Eghan, he then made ground before linking up with his forwards who drove at the Colchester defence. After a ruck was set up Robb Falls drove off the back and won a penalty as Colchester infringed at the next breakdown. From 30 meters out Cameron Dutch slotted the ball between the posts giving Manor a 3 – 0 lead after 4 minutes of the match.

From the restart Ollie Waugh drove the ball forward before Dutch sent a long kick into Colchester’s half which went into touch off of a Colchester player. Manor won the lineout through Harry Reid before setting up a driving maul, this gave the platform for centres Oscar Townend and Aaron Lowe to both make ground with ball in hand. Prop Michael Byrne took up the charge proving difficult to bring down. Dutch was again involved when he broke through a gap in Colchester’s defence and although he was stopped a few meters short of the line he fed the ball to Misiona Evagelia who dived over in the corner for Manors first try. Although Dutch couldn’t add the extra points Manor had increased their lead to 8 – 0 after 8 minutes.

From the restart Manor again controlled the ball but as they drove forward knocked the ball on. At the first scrum of the game Colchester showed what a powerful front row they had, causing Manor all sorts of problems and winning a penalty. The three points were taken from 40 meters out and Colchester were on the scoreboard 8 – 3.

Manor were soon back inside Colchester’s 22 after winning a penalty which they kicked for a lineout. Here Manors forwards Jack Sullivan and Brad Burrell drove at Colchester’s defence before feeding the backline where Dutch put a grubber kick in behind Colchester’s defensive line for Luigi Martelletti and Elliot Brown to chase but with the line beckoning the ball bounced awkwardly and into touch before either Manor player could gather it.

Although Manor were having the better of play it was Colchester who scored next and as a result of a Manor error when the ball was knocked on inside their 22 after a long Colchester clearance kick. With the resulting scrum won Colchester’s No 8 drove off the back and although Manor stopped him, he was well supported and after a couple of forward drives Colchester went over the line for the try that levelled the scores at 8 - 8 after 24 minutes.

The game was being played at fast pace with play switching from end to end, Manor looked dangerous in attack with their backs including Brown, Martelletti and Eghan in particular looking threatening whenever in possession, but their opponents didn’t have the best defensive record in the league for nothing and managed to repel all that Manor threw at them.

As the half wore on Colchester began to impose themselves on play, Manor weren’t helped by injury to fullback Brown who after treatment had to be replaced by Jack Emmerson. Manor were defending well, but giving away a number of penalties. With Colchester now in full flow it wasn’t long before they increased their tally after taking a quick tap from a penalty and moving the ball along the line to outflank the covering Manor defence to score another try. The conversion from out wide was good and after 35 minutes the visitors had taken the lead for the first time, 8 – 15.

Manor now made a change in their front row with a product from their youth programme Calvin Bradley coming on for his first team debut, replacing Matt Oaks in the front row. This had the desired effect of stabilizing the scrum allowing Manor to win their own put in.
With the half coming to a close, although Manor had been on the attack, it was Colchester who grabbed the final try of the half after Manor gave away a penalty allowing Colchester to kick for an attacking lineout a few meters out from Manors line. With the throw in secured Manor could do nothing to stop the powerful drive which took the ball over the line for another try. With the ref blowing for halftime the score was 8 – 22 in Colchester’s favour.

Manor kicked off the second half soon winning back possession allowing Horton to break upfield before linking up with Martelletti, he stepped inside his man and raced into the oppositions 22 before being brought down short of the line but with his support slow getting to him he was penalised for holding on.

Colchester now upped their game and after a good run by their impressive fullback Manor soon found themselves further behind when their winger went in the corner for a try. At 8 – 27 Manor knew they had to score next to stop the game running away from them.
Manor were still looking dangerous in attack but being let down by their precision of play when all too often a knock on or penalty stopped any promising attack.

Colchester registered the next points of the game when from another attack again instigated by their fullback saw forwards and backs combine well in a fast paced attack which saw another try in the corner for the visitors. With the difficult touchline conversion missed, Colchester now held a commanding lead 8 – 32 with 15 minutes played. They soon added another try taking the score to a match winning 8 – 39.

Manor continued to attack whenever possible and were soon rewarded for their efforts when after a series of forward drives play moved close to Colchester’s line. Here Bradley, Burrell and Reid all drove towards the line without success but Waugh did manage to break through Colchester’s tight defence and score Manors second try, with the conversion missed the scored moved to 13 – 39 after 25 minutes.
Manor soon had a man advantage when Colchester’s blindside flanker was yellow carded for a late tackle on Horton. Manor took advantage kicking for a lineout inside Colchester’s 22. Here Manor built up the phases and again after Manors drives for the line were repelled they moved the ball along their backline where Lowe broke through an attempted tackle on him before outpacing the covering defence to go in for Manors third try. Dutch was successful with the conversion reducing the deficit to 20 – 39 after 30 minutes.

Colchester came straight back at Manor, controlling play before working their way into Manors 22 where again they worked the ball out wide and scored in the corner. With the conversion successful Colchester has stretched their lead to 20 – 46.

The game finished with Colchester having the majority of possession, but Manors defence was sound with both Falls and Byrne winning penalties at the breakdown denying Colchester any more scoring opportunities.

Manor had lost their unbeaten record to a good Colchester team who will be in contention for automatic promotion come the end of the season. Manor though played their part in an entertaining game and scored more points against Colchester than they had conceded in their previous six league matches. There are plenty of things to work on this week during training before Manor face another stern test away to North Walsham, but if they can get the long journey out of their systems quickly, there is no reason why they can’t gain a victory at a ground that is notoriously difficult to win at.