Manor travelled to Sudbury this week, keen to continue their winning streak but a poor second half performance combined with 2 red cards contributed to a very disappointing defeat.

The hosts kicked off the match and whilst they had the better of the opening exchanges, Manors defences were not troubled too much. Manor soon won a penalty which allowed them to kick for an attacking lineout just outside Sudbury’s 22. With the throw in secured Manor set up a powerful driving maul taking play close to Sudbury’s line and with the ref playing advantage for an offside Jack Emerson attempted a drop goal which went just wide. Mitchell Din stepped up and converted the penalty giving Manor a 0 – 3 lead after 4 minutes.

Manor continued to keep up the pressure and kept the play in and around Sudbury’s 22 but after defending well Sudbury broke away with their flyhalf making a clean break up the park making 40 meters before linking up with his supporting winger who raced over the line for the hosts first try. The touchline conversion was successful and Sudbury had taken the lead 7 – 3 after 10 minutes.

From the restart Manor were penalised for being in front of the kicker allowing Sudbury to build an attack that saw play reach Manors 22, here Manor gave away a penalty but this was reversed when one of Sudbury’s second rows threw a punch and was yellow carded for his efforts.
Manor were having the best of possession and territory helped by regular penalties being given away by Sudbury and when Emerson was tackled late Nick Horton found an excellent touch 6 meters from Sudbury’s line for an attacking Manor lineout. With the ball secured at the tail Manor drove the ball forwards and when the drive was stopped Garth Tucker powered off the back and dived over the line to score Manors first try. Din missed the conversion but Manor now lead 7 – 8 after 22 minutes.

From the restart Sudbury secured the ball and had a period of attacking play, but again Manors defence coped well and eventually won back possession after the ball was knocked on. From the scrum Manor attempted to run the ball out then an infringement by Sudbury gave Horton the opportunity to send a long raking touch kick 40 meters down field. With Manor securing the throw in Horton put in another clever kick into Sudbury’s 22 where the defence had no option but to kick the ball into touch. Again the throw in was secured allowing Manor to drive the ball forward. Twice Sudbury gave away a penalty and on the second occasion their blindside flanker sent to the bin. Manor again kicked for a lineout, this time Paddy Sheehy won the ball then fed Tucker who drove to the line and despite three or four defenders trying to stop him, Tucker had the strength to power towards the line and score Manors second try. This time Din was successful with the kick and with the first half drawing to a close Manor now led 7 – 15.

Manor still kept up the pressure with most of the play inside Sudbury’s 22 where Brad Burrell, George Cosmo and Tucker all carried strongly but were unable to break thorough Sudbury’s defence and when chances were created the final pass wasn’t accurate enough and scoring opportunities went begging.

After being under the cosh, Sudbury made a good break upfield and only good defence by Elliott Brown and Din halted the attack but at the breakdown a ruckus broke out and the ref showed a very contentious red card to Manors Daniel Peasnell for an alleged use of the head, it was a decision that would turn the tide in Sudbury’s favour. With no further scoring opportunities the first half drew to a close.

With Manor kicking off the second half they were soon on the attack after a good break by Din who then linked up with Brown who sped down his wing into the Sudbury 22 where he linked up with his forwards, here Manor attacked the line with good runs by Robb Falls, Jack Sullivan and Cosmo who was stopped just short of the line, with the ball recycled Horton moved towards his backline but fed the ball behind him to Burrell who crashed over the line to score Manors third try. The conversion was missed and Manor now held what should have been a commanding lead 7 – 20 after 5 minutes of the second half.

As the half wore on Sudbury began to get the upper hand and were making their extra man count and after 15 minutes their winger scored in the corner for an unconverted try reducing the deficit to 12 – 20.

Manor were now on the back foot being pressurised into making silly errors, from a defending lineout Manor chose to throw the ball long and with the target man missed Sudbury were quickest to react to the loose ball and after securing possession they set up a couple of drives and eventually broke through Manors defence to score another try which was converted to bring the scores to 19 – 20 with 25 minutes played.

The score seemed to wake Manor up and they competed well at the re-start winning a scum. Tucker broke off the back of the scrum and after making good yardage fed the supporting Aaron Lowe who broke a number of tackles and with the ref playing a penalty advantage Lowe chipped the ball into Sudbury’s dead ball area and won the race to the ball getting downward pressure and looked to have scored a try but yet another contentious decision by the ref disallowed the try deeming Lowe to have knocked the ball on and coming back to the earlier penalty.
Manor kicked this to touch and from the lineout set up a number of drives towards the line but Sudbury’s defence was resolute and eventually turned the ball over then launched a quick counter attack through their fly half who made 40 meters upfield before winning a penalty. This led to a period of possession for Sudbury inside Manors half where they won a couple of kickable penalties, one which was missed but the second one was successful and after 33 minutes Sudbury had taken the lead 22 – 20.

From the restart Manor competed but Sudbury won the ball and kicked it deep into Manors half where a forward pass gave the initiative back to the hosts. From the subsequent scrum Sudbury set up a good attack and with their backs running good lines they scored the game winning try and although not converted Sudbury now led 27 – 20.

There was still time for Manor to score again so they attacked the restart and after securing possession a ruck was set up, here the ref again penalised Manor and showed a yellow card to Sheehy, words were then exchanged and the ref showed Sheehy a red card, Manor would have to see out the game with 13 players.

Although Manor tried to attack in the final moments to get the score they needed to bring the scores level, they were unable to break Sudbury’s defence and the game ended without any addition to the scoreboard.

Manor had lost a game that should have won, the host should be credited for taking their opportunities to win the game. Manor were hampered by the first red card and were always going to find it difficult to win the game playing the whole of the second half with 14 men, but even so they still had ample opportunity to win the game.

With Manor welcoming Ruislip to the New Wilderness next week they will be up against a side who scored a 100 points this week in a win over Luton so despite their lowly league position, they will not be easy to beat.