Manor travelled to Old Priorians this week, a ground that has in the past proved difficult to win at and unfortunately this week proved no different as Manor were defeated in a game that was short on quality from both sides.

With Manor kicking off into a stiff wind it was the hosts who had the better of the early territory and possession but after a period of defence, Manor tuned the ball over allowing flyhalf Cameron Dutch to dart through a gap in Old Priorians line taking play 40 meters up field before linking up with the supporting Garth Tucker, after he continued the attack the ball was moved along the line only for a knock on to bring a promising attack to a halt. From the scrum it was Old Priorians backs turn to show how dangerous an attacking force they were after their winger broke a number of tackles in taking play to Manors 10 meter line where again a knock on halted the attack.

Manor now had a period of ascendancy using their lineout and maul to good affect taking play inside Old Priorians 22 where another catch and drive threatened the try line but when the ball was moved out wide another knock on stopped Manors momentum. From the scrum Old Priorians again made an excellent line break, this time from one of their centres which was only stopped by a defensive tackle on Manors 10 meter line by Elliott Brown, Brad Burrell assisted and won a penalty as he competed for the ball. Manor kicked for another attacking lineout which they won and again drove towards the line but gave away another penalty which stopped a potential try.

Old Priorians took advantage of Manors indiscipline and launched a fast paced attack taking play deep inside Manors half where after a sustained period of pressure they won a penalty in front of the posts. Luckily for Manor the kick was missed and after 20 minutes the game remained scoreless.

From the 22 drop out Old Priorians ran back at Manor but when they knocked the ball on Dan Peasnell gathered the loose ball and with the ref playing advantage broke upfield then linked up with Dutch, he again made ground before putting in a testing kick into Old Priorians 22 which Brown chased and as the ball bounced he won the race to gather it cleanly and sprinted in at the corner for the first score of the match. Dutch was unable to add the extras from out wide so after 22 minutes Manor led 0 – 5.

Almost immediately Old Priorians hit back, this time profiting from a Manor knock on they gained possession and worked through the phases pounding at Manors defence and although the visitors defended well the pressure eventually told as the hosts went over for a seven point score to take the lead 7 – 5 after 25 minutes.

The last part of the half belonged to Old Priorians as they kept up the pressure on Manor and they scored another two well worked try’s, one of which was converted to finish the half 19 -5 in front.

With Old Priorians kicking off the second half into a wind that had subsided a lot they put Manor under immediate pressure causing Manor to give away a couple of penalties allowing the hosts to kick for attacking lineouts inside Manors 22. From one of these, they drove towards the line and although Manor stopped the drive the ball was moved out to the middle where after a couple of powerful drives Old Priorians went over under the posts for another 7 point score and after 5 minutes of the second half Old Priorians led 26 – 5.

Manor now had some possession inside Old Priorians half but despite some good runs from Jamie Millaise, debutant Ed Grassby and Frank Webber they were met by a well organised Old Priorians defence and couldn’t break through and couple with a number of handling errors made sure that Manor didn’t trouble the scoreboard.
Eventually Manor made good use of their possession when from an attacking lineout they drove off the back and after drives by George Cosma and Millaise the ball moved out to Dutch who took the ball forward before dinking a little grubber kick in behind Old Priorians defensive line allowing Brown to again chase and win the scramble to the ball and dive over the line for Manors second try. The conversion was again missed but Manor had narrowed the gap to 26 – 10 after 18 minutes.

From the re-start Manor immediately gave Old Priorians the chance to add to their total when they knocked the ball on the gave away a kickable penalty in front of the post but again Old Priorians didn’t take advantage of it and missed the shot at goal.

The game now descended into a poor quality affair with both sides unable to produce any quality play as the game became camped in the middle of the park, eventually frustrations boiled over after Frank Webber was upended by a high tackle, players from both sides became involved in a dust up which resulted in Manors prop Cosma being shown a yellow card and Old Priorians prop was shown a red card for punching.

Manor had the better of the closing minutes and although they continued to attack Old Priorians line a combination of good defence and poor handling meant that Manor didn’t add to their tally and as another attack broke down the ref brought to an end the contest.

Old Priorians were deserved winners as they took their scoring chances well and their defence was well organised and difficult to breakdown. Manor did have enough possession to have won the game but were unable to take advantage of the openings they created, often being let down by basic errors.
With a rest week ahead Manor now have to plan for the arrival of the currently unbeaten league leaders Rochford in two weeks time.