Manor travelled to Southend to take on a side that they had beaten earlier in the season but who still harboured hopes of promotion come the end of the season. Southend had been active on social media during the week expressing their desire to right wrongs and beat Manor. Manor themselves were able to select possibly their strongest squad all season and stoked up by comments made by Southend they put in one of the best performances by a Manor side for a long long time and comprehensively beat Southend and thus completing the double on them.

On a very heavy pitch and in fading light Manor kicked off the match and the early exchanges saw both teams running hard with ball in hand and kicking for territory. Manor’s rolling maul was working well and they soon won a penalty which they kicked to touch for an attacking lineout inside Southend’s 22. With Tom Christopher securing the throw in, Manor set about testing Southend’s defence as Kirk Chettleburgh and Ryan Lee both made powerful runs, but Southend were strong in defence so the ball was moved out to the backs where Callum McKie put a cross filed kick into the dead ball area for winger Jamie Millais to chase, he got to the ball first but knocked it on giving Southend a defending scrum.

Southend’s front row were massive compared to Manors and gave the hosts a large weight advantage at the scrum. But Manors front row of Joshua Permale, Lee and Brad Burrell weren’t fazed by the task ahead and with the support of the rest of the pack drove their opponents back and over the try line and so winning an attacking scrum. This time the Manor 8 held firm allowing Paddy Sheehy to pick up from the back before feeding Nick Horton, he moved the ball along his backs to Aaron Lowe who made his way towards the line, with men free outside him Lowe chose to cut back inside and had the strength to go over the line for Manors first try. With the conversion successful by Cameron Dutch, with 7 minutes on the clock Manor had taken a 0 – 7 lead.

Manors indiscipline nearly cost them when soon after the re-start Manor gave away a penalty which Southend chose to take a shot at goal from. It was an ambitious attempt from close to the halfway line, which just had the distance but not the accuracy.

Southend continued to press and after getting no change from trying to crash through Manors defensive line their flyhalf put a clever grubber kick through Manors defences and with the chase good, a try would have been scored if it hadn’t been for Horton who covered superbly, gathering the ball and clearing the danger.

Manors next score came when they turned defence into attack, with play in and around Manors 10 meter line, the visitors were defending ferociously eventually turning the ball over, it was passed out to Sheehy who moved into the middle of the park before sending out a long pass to Millais out on his wing. From inside his half Millais set off and skinned his opposite number leaving chasing defenders in his wake he ran unto the 22 where he evaded a tackle from the last defender before going over the line and behind the posts for an excellent solo try, and with the extra points added Manors lead increased to 0 – 14.

Southend came back at Manor but thumping tackles from Ollie Waugh and Carley Buisson helped stem the flow but the pressure soon told and it came from a Manor mistake. After being awarded a lineout 10 meters from their line Manor won the ball but were careless with it and didn’t secure it properly, Southend pounced on Manors mistake as their scrumhalf gathered the ball and darted through a gap making his way towards the line, he was stopped by a high tackle and with the ref playing advantage they recycled the ball moving it along the line where one of their gigantic props drove over from 5 meters out to register the hosts first points of the game. The conversion was successful and after 20 minutes the score was 7 – 14.

Things for Manor went from bad to worse as after soaking up a period of pressure from Southend where they again defended like demons, from inside Manors half Southend moved the ball along their line where their centre put in a speculative kick into Manors 22. Dutch had the kick covered but as he approached the ball he slipped on the slippery surface and failed to gather the ball. Southend had chased well and capitalised on the mistake picking up the ball and going over in the corner for a five point score. After 30 minutes Southend were right back in the game 12 – 14.

Manor now upped their game and put pressure on Southend at the re-start, this caused them to knock the ball on, with the ref playing advantage Manor drove the ball on before Dutch spotted Millais in space and fired a pass out to him, with a free path to the line in front of him, Millais set off only to be brought back by the refs whistle for a forward pass.

From the scrum Manor again drove their opposition back and won a penalty which they kicked for an attacking lineout. With the throw in secured Manor went through the phases keeping possession well with powerful drives by Jack Sullivan, Waugh and Chettleburgh before the ball was moved out to flyhalf Callum McKie who tried a drop goal, this was charged down but fortuitously the ball bounced back into McKie’s arms, despite being hit hard he managed to pass the ball out to Dutch who put in a well weighted kick towards Southend’s line, Elliott Brown chased the kick and out paced the defence, he got to the ball just before the line but good footballing skills saw him knock the ball into the dead ball area and dive on the bouncing ball to score Manors third try. The difficult conversion was missed but with the half coming to a close Manor extended their lead again 12 – 19.

For the remainder of the half Manor had to defend Southend’s concerted attacks and gave the hosts an opportunity to add to their points tally through a penalty, but they turned down a shot at goal which they kicked deep into Manors 22 for a lineout. Here Christopher rose the highest and stole Southend’s ball and although possession was untidy Southend knocked the ball on bring to and end a highly satisfactory half.

Southend kicked off the second half and had the perfect start when they won the first scrum of the second half and moved the ball swiftly out wide and caught Manor napping as they went in at the corner for an unconverted try narrowing the deficit to 17 – 19.

Manor hit back and again it came after a period of solid defensive work and a tackle by Dutch which dislodged the ball, McKie gathered up the ball and set off up field before feeding the supporting flying winger Brown. He made 20 meters before being closed down and forced towards the touchline, but he again used his footballing skills to kick the ball deep into Southend’s 22 where Horton led the chase outpacing the chasing defenders to cleanly pick up the bouncing ball and dive over the line for Manors bonus point fourth try. Although the conversion was missed Manor had increased their lead to 17- 24 and now looked to pull away from their hosts.

Manor were now playing heads up rugby making the most of the wind behind them by keeping Southend pinned in their half with some intelligent kicking from hand. Both sides were struggling to win their own lineout ball but Manors defensive effort didn’t wane, their line speed was excellent and whenever a Southend player had possession he had at least one Manor player in his face closing him down.
Manors next score came from another stolen lineout, this time inside Southend’s 22. Christopher again stole the throw in and the ball was well set up allowing Manor to start a driving maul which saw play move to within a few meters of Southend’s line. Here Lee, Permale and Chettleburg all made small strides towards the line, then substitute Robb Falls drove low and hard over the line for another Manors score. Dutch just missed the conversion attempt but after 17 minutes the lead had opened up to 17 – 29.

Manor were soon handed back possession when the re-start didn’t go the required 10 meters. Manors scrum was again solid allowing Horton to pin Southend back on their 22. Although Southend tried to attack from deep, Manor kept pinning them back with some more accurate kicking and tigerish defending.

Southend were resorting more and more to kicking deep, here substitute Rhys Davis – Horne gathered a ball that had gone into touch, took a quick line out to himself before making 25 meters taking play deep into Southend’s half before chipping the ball ahead for Brown to chase and as it went over the try line Elliott was just beaten to the touchdown by the covering defence.

Manor soon had an opportunity to add to their total when a Southend attack was again snuffed out by solid tackling allowing Waugh to get over the ball and win a penalty. Dutch took a shot at goal from 40 meters out and although he just had the distance he missed the target by a foot or so.

Manors next score came from yet another wayward Southend lineout, this time Lee was alert at the back of the lineout and when the ball missed its intended target he plucked the ball out of the air and launched an attack from his own 22. He made 15 meters before being brought to ground, Manor quickly recycled the ball out to Millais on the wing, he set off along the touchline beating a number of players before being brought down a few meters short of the line where Manor were awarded a penalty. Here they opted for a scrum and after securing the put in Sheehy drove off the back but was tackled, Manor were there in numbers and after a couple of close quarter drives were repelled, Horton feigned to move the ball out to the openside but darted down the blindside and shipped the ball out to the supporting Dutch who beat his man then dived in at the corner for another Manor try. With the touchline conversion successful the scoreboard moved on to 17 – 34 with just over 5 minutes of the match left to play.

Southend kicked the restart deep and it was gathered by No 8 Sheehy, he then got in on the kicking act and sent a spiralling kick from deep inside his 22 to the edge of Southend’s 22. Manor chased the ball as a unit and put Southend under pressure, not allowing them to get outside their half, Davis- Horne then knocked the ball carrier back in the tackle dislodging the ball in the process, Brown reacted the quickest picking the loose ball up then used his pace to outsprint the covering defenders and go over in the corner for another score. The conversion was missed but the score was now 17 – 41 with time almost up.

Manor were now in total control of proceedings and after winning a scrum, they secured the put in and drove the Southend pack backwards, with the ref playing a penalty advantage Sheehy drove off the back and made 15 meters before linking up with Davis-Horne who after taking the ball on passed out to Brown who scampered along the touchline and was only denied a try as the defence caught him a couple of meters from the line and took him into touch. With the last play of the match Southend tried to run the ball out but Manor were still resolute in their defence and soon caused Southend to knock the ball on and so end the contest.

Manor had come to the home ground of a side determined to achieve promotion and had outplayed them in most areas of the game, their defence was solid and aggressive and they took the chances they created in attack, it was a performance of great quality and one that showed what this team is capable of.

After the game Mark Farrell Eton Manor Director of Rugby was full of praise after the impressive win.
“A very good day at the office for Eton Manor RFC. To bring two sides to Southend and win is something special, to do that twice in the same season is simply outstanding! Full credit to all the players and coaching staff involved.

After last weeks strong win at home to Amersham, we had prepared well for this weeks fixture and it showed. Two tries up inside 12 minutes and then to go on a score a further five tries demonstrated that this team is starting to have the conviction to push on in London One.
North Walsham are quite rightly the top of the pile, but the race for second place and a crack at promotion is wide open, any one of six sides could take that spot.

Third place Southend were no push over, but with our strong defensive platform, we demonstrated more self belief, more desire and far more determination than our opponents, combine this kind of mindset with a strong team cohesion, we were simply too strong for our opponents today. The boys will quite rightly enjoy their beer tonight, but tomorrow we will park the result as we start our preparation for next Saturdays home fixture with Ruislip RFC and the next step on the league ladder.”