Manor travelled to whom many believed were the pre-season league title favourites Colchester knowing that only their best would do to give them any chance of gaining points at their hosts impressive new ground. Cheered on by 200 plus diners at their pre match lunch, Colchester certainly were going to give Manor a stern test.

Manor kicked off the match giving possession to Colchester who soon showed their power game as they ran the ball back hard at Manor, but the visitors defence was solid and after failing to make ground Colchester boxed kicked the ball back to Manor. Cameron Dutch and Nick Horton combined to take play to halfway where they won a penalty which they kicked for a lineout. With the throw in won Manor drove the ball forwards but eventually knocked the ball on resulting in the first scrum of the day.

With honours even at the first scrum Colchester had a period of attacking pressure but good defending again kept the hosts in check as they struggled to make much ground, eventually Manor drove a ball carrier into touch for a lineout. After winning the ball Manor used their forwards to drive up the field where a knock on halted their attack.

Colchester won their scrum and moved the ball out to their flyhalf, his attempted clearance kick was charged down by Jake Kane and with the ball bobbling inside Colchester’s 22 Manor closed the defenders down catching the player in possession and winning a penalty. Manor opted for a lineout which misfired giving Colchester the opportunity to clear the danger by way of a scrum With ball secured Colchester tried to run the ball out but Kirk Chettleburgh tackled the man and got over the ball winning a penalty. Manor took a quick tap allowing David Ogufere to power over the line but Colchester did well to hold him up. From the goal line drop-out Chettleburgh gathered the ball and drove forwards and when tackled he won a penalty as Colchester didn’t release the tackler. From 25 meters out Dutch stepped up and slotted the kick at goal taking Manor into an early 0 – 3 lead.

Colchester tried to hit back from the restart but a thundering tackle by BJ Tunde won Manor a scrum at which they won a penalty allowing them to kick up field for a lineout. With Alex Leo securing the ball Manors forwards set up a rolling maul taking play 20 meters on, when this was eventually stopped the ball was moved along their backline where wingers Jordan Sullivan-Warner and Ire Onabajo linked up to take play into Colchester’s 22, the attacked was stopped and a ruck formed, Toto Odulaja picked up the ball going down the blindside, faced by a defender his quick feet saw him round the defender leaving him routed to the ground as he raced over the line for Manors first try of the game, although unconverted Manor had extended their lead to 0 – 8 after 17 minutes.

As expected Colchester came back hard at Manor eventually winning a scrum, here they put the Manor pack under extreme pressure causing them to give away a penalty. Colchester’s flyhalf took full advantage and scored Colchester’s first points, 3 – 8 after 22 minutes.
Colchester kept up the pressure on Manor eventually crossing the line but good defence by Manor held the ball up. This just delayed what seemed inevitable as from their next attack Colchester worked their way into Manors 22 and after a series of powerful drives by their forwards, Colchester’s fullback got his hands on the ball and jinked his way through Manors defence to score Colchester’s first try of the match which was converted taking them into a 10 – 8 lead after 30 minutes.

Colchester continued to attack Manor and their efforts were soon rewarded after Manor gave away another kickable penalty which was successfully taken and with the half going into injury time Manor now trailed 13 – 8.

With enough time to re-start the match, Leo chased the kick and won the ball and as Manors forwards drove the ball on, they won a penalty for a high tackle. They opted to kick for a lineout but lost the throw in allowing Colchester to box kick out. The ball was collected by Onabajo who made ground before Manors forwards took up the attack, driving Colchester’s tacklers backwards, the ball was then moved out to Manors backline where Dutch change the focus of the attack by sending out a long pass to Onabajo on the wing. He set off making his way into Colchester’s 22 where he was met by 2 tacklers, he broke through the first tackle then knocked in the air by the second but he was able to pass out of the tackle to the supporting Dutch who from 15 meters out outpaced the covering defence to dive in at the corner for Manors second try. He couldn’t add the extra points the ref blew immediately for half time with both teams locked at 13 – 13.

With Colchester kicking off the second half it was they who had the first scoring opportunity of the half when Manor were penalised for crossing inside their 22. The relatively easy penalty kick was somehow missed by Colchester’s kicker, this was to be the last chance Colchester had to take the lead.

Both sides now undertook a series of kicks trying to gain an advantage over their opponents which Manor came out on top when they were awarded a penalty just inside Colchester’s half. With the wind behind him Dutch stepped up to take a shot at goal from over 45 meters out and the ball sailed between the posts with distance to spare to take Manor into a 13 – 16 lead, one that they would not lose.

Manor were now the dominate side as their forwards relished the challenge of driving into Colchester’s tacklers and almost added to their tally when Horton kicked the ball deep into Colchester’s dead ball area which was chased from 25 meters out by hooker Jon Berry, he won the race to touch the ball down only for the ref to award a penalty to Colchester saying that Berry was in front of the kicker.

Manor should have added another try to their total when after good defence on their 22 they turned the ball over and launched a fast paced attack through their backline before Berry took the ball on making a further 20 meters before Kane made good yards then passed back to Berry, he raced into Colchester’s 22 then sent the ball out to Sullivan-Warner but he couldn’t hold onto the pass with the try line beckoning.

Colchester’s almost made Manor pay when from the subsequent scrum their No 8 made a powerful break off the back of the scrum making great ground taking play close to Manors 22 but Manors scrambling defence managed to regroup and repel Colchester’s dangerous attack.
Manor gradually worked their way back into Colchester’s territory but didn’t look after the ball well enough allowing Colchester to turn it over and kick the ball into Manors half. The ball was gathered by Dutch who set off on a jinking run taking play close to Colchester’s 22, here he linked up with substitute Jack Sullivan who bashed his way towards Colchester’s line, although brought down a few meters short he popped the ball to Horton who, despite the attention of a few Colchester defenders had the strength to get over the line and score Manors third try which was converted for Manor to increase their lead 13 – 23 with 19 minutes gone.

Again Colchester came back at Manor who gave away a couple of penalties, putting themselves under pressure, injuries were also mounting up with flanker Chettleburgh having to leave the pitch to be replaced by utility back Ale Mimns. Again the pressure told as Colchester added another 3 points from a penalty bringing them back to within one score at 16 – 23 with 30 minutes played.

Manor had to withstand more pressure from Colchester but they managed to keep them from scoring.

With time moving on Colchester were attacking Manor inside their 22 but with the ball carrier isolated Scott Smith got over the ball and won a penalty. Dutch sent a spiralling kick into Colchester’s half for a line out. Tunde won the throw in allowing Manors forwards to drive the ball up and win another penalty, Dutch took a shot at goal but missed with his attempt.

Colchester kicked the 22 restart deep where Dutch and Horton launched an attack, after some interplay between the two, Dutch sent a long pass out to Sullivan-Warner on his wing. From just outside the 22 and faced with a number of defenders he crashed through the first two attempted tackles, drove towards the line but looked to have been stopped 8 meters out but somehow managed to stay on his feet and ride the last tackle before diving over the line for a brilliant try. He was engulfed by his team mates as Manor knew that they had now won the match. Dutch added the extra points taking the score to 16 – 30.

To Colchester’s credit they came straight back at Manor and after some powerful runs took advantage of a tiring Manor defence to go in at the corner for an unconverted try.

There was still enough time left to restart the game and Manor managed to see out the remaining time to record a thoroughly deserved victory against a very good Colchester side.

After the match a very happy Eton Manor Director of Rugby Mark Farrell said
‘An outstanding performance from 1-18, To come to Colchester the same day as their well attended Xmas lunch and get a bonus point win is huge for us! We worked hard as a team today, cohesive and dogged in our defence, we forced Colchester into making mistakes and when we did have the ball, we looked sharp and always looked liked scoring, our four tries all created whilst on the front foot.

Great to finish the first half of this campaign in 3rd place, but with one more game to finish out 2021 and with our second XV putting in another huge 69-0 score against Woodford, the training ground will be buzzing as we turn our attention to next weeks home game and the visit of Brentwood”. UTM.