Manor travelled to 2nd placed Shelford this week with selection hampered by the unavailability of a number of front row forwards, a situation only made worse when substitute prop Geoff Hughes pulled up injured during the warm up. Luckily Jamie Hulse had travel to the match and was able to fill in on the bench as the front row substitution.

Shelford kicked off the game and it was soon apparent that they were second in the league for a very good reason, with their big ball carrying forwards and fast backline they caused Manor problems from the off. That being said Manor defended very well and repelled all that Shelford threw at them. After giving away a number of penalties Manor were penalised again for an infringement at the breakdown, this time Shelford took a shot at goal and somewhat surprisingly missed a relatively easy chance.

Shelford continued to test Manors defence with the visitors having trouble get a foothold in the game, but their opportunity finally came when they were awarded a penalty at a scrum inside their 22. From deep Manor chose to run the ball where livewire scrumhalf Toto Odulaja took a quick tap and swerved through attempted tackles taking the ball to his 10 meter line before kicking ahead, he won the footrace and dived on the bouncing ball then popped it up to the supporting Nick Horton who moved the ball along his backline out to Jordan Sullivan-Warner on the opposite wing, after beating the first defender he tried to kick in behind the next line of defence but the ball hit a defender and bounced back onto him and into touch for a defending lineout. After 12 minutes of play Manor had at last showed their attacking side of their game.
Shelford won their lineout and drove the ball forwards but Alex Leo isolated the ball carrier and got over the ball to win a penalty. From 40 meters out and with the wind advantage Cameron Dutch took a shot at goal which sailed through the middle of the posts and after 14 minutes of play Manor held a 0 – 3 lead, much against the run of play.

As expected the home side came back at Manor who although were defending well and knocking their opponents back in the tackle still couldn’t get any meaningful possession. When Shelford knocked the ball on after a ferocious tackle, it looked like Manor were going to be able to clear the danger from a scrum, but the Shelford 8 won the ball against the head and as turnover ball was moved swiftly along their backline, they found a gap in Manors defences and went over for a well deserved try which was converted. They now took a 7 – 3 lead after 20 minutes which was nothing less than their superior possession deserved.

Manor contested the restart and put Shelford under pressure, a poor box kick gave possession to Manor who ran the ball back at pace and won a penalty which they kicked for an attacking lineout. Tom Christopher caught the throw in allowing Manor to set up a driving maul but as it got close to the line Shelford managed to turn the ball over and clear the immediate danger.

Shelford again resumed their onslaught on Manors defences and despite good aggressive tackling Manor were unable to keep them at bay and they crossed for their second converted try and after 33 minutes they had extended their lead to 14 – 3.

Manor again competed at the restart and under pressure Shelford knocked the ball on then picked it up from an offside position giving Manor a penalty which they kicked for an attacking lineout. Unfortunately they were unable to capitalise on good field position when they infringed at the lineout allowing Shelford to clear the danger.

With the half coming to a conclusion, Shelford tried to attack off of a lineout inside their own half. With the ball secured they moved it quickly along their back line but Manors centre, Jake Kane anticipated a pass and manged to intercept the ball before showing a clean pair of heels to the chasing defenders as he raced under the posts from 35 meters out. With Dutch successful with the conversion Manor had somehow found themselves only 4 points adrift 14 – 10 as the rest of the half was played out without any major incident.

Manor kicked off the second half playing into a strong breeze and it wasn’t long before Shelford had an attacking lineout inside Manors 22 which they secured and eventually went over for an unconverted try 19 – 10 with 3 minutes of the second half played.

Things looked bleak now for Manor especially as the breeze was getting stronger and things weren’t helped when the kick off didn’t go the required distance giving Shelford a scrum on the centre spot. But Manor now decided to play, they turned the scrum over freeing Kane to make ground before getting support from Hulse who trundled the ball on then David Ogufere got in on the act and bashed holes in the defence eventually winning a penalty which was kicked for a lineout.

It was Manors turn to show that they could play rugby and put their hosts under pressure close to their line but left empty handed when they were penalised at the breakdown. Although they didn’t capitalise on their chances they were now playing at a level equal to or above their opponents.

Manors next score was by far the best of the match, from a scrum deep inside their 22, Ogufere picked up off the base and made the initial hard yards before substitute fly half Matt Kaye combined well with Scott Smith before Jack Sullivan came to the fore bashing through tackles. Odulaja added pace to the attack before feeding Smith who from 15 meters out drifted through a gap in the defensive line to score out wide. Dutch couldn’t add the extra points but at 19 – 15 Manor were right back in the game with 10 minutes still to play.

From the restart Manor again took the game to Shelford, hooker Jon Berry was relishing the physical contact as he bashed through attempted tackles, and supported by his fellow forwards Manor again camped inside Shelford’s 22. Sullivan-Warner was proving a handful on the wing, he combined with Dutch who kicked the ball into the dead ball area for his winger to chase and was just beaten to the touchdown by a Shelford boot which kicked the ball dead.

Manor won the subsequent scrum and a penalty at the scrum but when they took a second scrum Shelford held their own, Ogufere picked and drove off the back towards the line, being stopped just short, but frustratingly Manor were penalised at the breakdown giving Shelford breathing space as they kicked the ball out for a lineout.

This turned out to be Manors last attacking opportunity as the game was soon brought to a close with Shelford running out winners 19 – 15, but it was a classic game of two halves where by Manor were out played in the first period but were the better of the two sides in the second half and with a bit more composure could have won the game.

After the game Manors D.O.R Mark Farrell said;
"A very tough day away to a very well supported & organised side. Yet again, even with the wind behind us, our opposition started the better and we found ourselves a couple scores down quite quickly. An excellent finish by Jake Kane kept us in the hunt at half time. The second half saw us come back and we played some really good rugby, getting into our attacking patterns we stretched our opposition and played the kind of high tempo game we know we are capable of, ultimately creating two really decent chances to take the points! The relief on the faces of Shelfords coaching team at full time, showed how close this game was.

A second loss on the road, but certainly enough was shown by this team to see we have some exciting times ahead of us"

Manors Man of The match was awarded to Jake Kane.