Manor travelled to Southend this week looking to get their campaign back on track after last weeks shock loss, but they came up against a good Southend side who eventually deserved their victory. Not only did Manor suffer defeat but their burdening injury list increased with the news that Jack Sullivan had broken his arm during the game ruling him out for the rest of the season and hooker Jon Berry suffering a shoulder injury which could side line him for a while.

Manor started much the better of the two teams playing fast paced rugby where forwards and backs combined well to test Southend defences. From an early attack Nick Horton sent in an excellent 40 – 22 kick winning an attacking lineout. Manor secured the ball before feeding it to their backline where Scott Smith broke a couple of tackles then let his forwards continue to drive towards the line where Southend gave away a penalty. Horton stepped up and converted the chance putting Manor into a 0 – 3 lead after only three minutes.

Southend came back at Manor and although their defence stood strong, they gave away a kickable penalty but the opportunity was missed.

From the 22 dropout Horton sent a long raking kick up field which went into touch close to Southend’s 22. Manor pressurised the throw in and although Southend won the ball and tried to dive it back at Manor, the visitors got over the ball and won a penalty which they kicked for an attacking lineout. Alex Leo won the ball before feeding David Ogufere who broke through a couple of tackles before losing the ball close to Southend’s line. The ref had been playing advantage to Manor who took a quick tap but again lost the ball allowing Southend to kick the ball deep into Manors half. Elliott Brown fielded the ball and set off along his wing, he chipped the ball over the on coming defenders, gathering his kick he broke through 2 tackles before feeding the supporting Aaron Lowe who ran in under the posts from 30 meters out. Horton was successful with the conversion and after 18 minutes Manor led 0 – 10.

Manor continued to have the upper hand and it wasn’t long before they increased their lead. Another fine break, this time from Toto Odulaja, who was playing out of position at fullback, took play close to Southend’s 22, here he linked up with winger Ire Onabajo who cut inside beating his opposite number and sprinted in at the corner for Manors second try. Horton just missed with the touchline conversion but at 0 – 15 after 20 minutes Manor were in control.

Southend now upped their game and soon scored their first points of the match. After a series of good runs they won a penalty which they kicked for an attacking lineout. Here they won the ball and after another series of hard drives they eventually crossed the line for a converted try closing the score line to 7 – 15 after 26 minutes.

Manor hit straight back from the re-start where Odulaja won the kick off knocking it back to Onabajo who broke a couple of tackles before his forwards took on the attack where George Cosma and Jon Berry both made powerful runs before Manor were awarded another kickable penalty. Horton obliged and added the 3 points to stretch Manors lead to 7 – 18 with 10 minutes left to play.

Manor still had the better of play with their forwards still causing Southend problems but as the half came to a close Southend hit Manor with a sucker punch when after building the phases they found a way through Manors defence to score a 7 point try and with the ref immediately blowing for halftime the 14 – 18 score line didn’t reflect Manors efforts.

Southend kicked off the second half and although Manor secured the ball it was soon turned over allowing their opponents to exploit a gap in Manors defence and go over for a 7 point score after only 1 minute of the half.

Manor came back at Southend and worked their way into Southend’s 22 but their play was sloppy allowing Southend to turn the ball over and clear the danger.

Southend were now putting Manor under more pressure than they had done in the first half and this pressure soon paid dividends when they worked the ball out wide to score another try in the corner. With the difficult conversion successful Southend increased their lead to 28 – 18 after 15 minutes of the second half.

Southend were now having the better of things and looked the more dangerous of the two sides taking advantage of Manors poor play, they managed to break through a couple of weak tackles which set them up to score again in the corner. Another excellent touchline conversion stretched Southend lead to 35 – 18 after 20 minutes.

Manor did have some good periods of attacking play but all too often they were let down by their own mistakes and after giving away another kickable penalty Southend stretched their lead 38 -18.

Manor did finish the game on the attack but they gave away another penalty inside Southend’s 22 which allowed the hosts to kick the ball dead to bring the game to an end and record a victory to the hosts which was deserved on their second half performance.

After the game Manors D.O.R. Mark Farrell was in a reflective mood,
“ I thought we played some excellent rugby in the first half, we were clinical and took the game to Southend, scoring a couple of very well made tries. From leading and dominating at half time, we started slowly in the second half, allowing Southend to get a foothold in the game. They took their chances and once we fell behind, we found it hard to get back to parity with them.

We won’t be crying in our cornflakes, after two away games we return to Nutter Lane next Saturday with a home fixture against Brentwood, our focus will be on getting back on track as we enter the final third of our league campaign.