Dereham vs. Haverhill – Eastern Counties League II
1. Luke Dore
2. Ben Jackson (Mark Anderson)
3. Alex Wong (Ben Jones)
4. Martin Ransome
5. Chris Flannery
6. Carl Anderson
7. Ryan Raffel
8. Matt Reynolds
9. Simon Lester
10. Jake Plumbridge
11. Brodie Patrick
12. Chris Clayden
13. Adam Hunt
14. Joe Brown (Bradley Gibson)
15. Mike Woods
Dereham 3 Haverhill 34
Fine display of rugby in Norfolk.
Dereham DG – Paul Derbyshire
Haverhill T Brown, Woods 2, Clayden, Plumridge C - Plumridge 3 P - Plumridge
Haverhill travelled the 60 miles north to Dereham with some regular players missing, but still with a great looking team. Notoriously, Haverhill have come back from Norfolk with nothing, but amassed five tries scored by the backs, three conversions and a penalty, against one drop goal.
From the kick off, the Haverhill pack punished Dereham for slack play out of the scrum, with Matt Reynolds carrying the ball 30 metres towards the line and Captain Ryan Raffel immediately showing his intent, punching a hole to within inches of the line. The resulting maul sees the first phase ball out quickly through the backs and into the corner with Joe Brown crossing the line after only one minute, unconverted by Jake Plumbridge. Unfortunately Brown got up limping with a dead leg being replaced by Brad Gibson on 10 minutes when he could carry on no longer.
From the restart, Haverhill did not immediately catch the ball, but full back Mike Woods cleared to 30 metres of the Dereham line. The resulting line out was won against by Haverhill and a penalty conceded by Dereham, for Plumridge to take the three points on offer for 0 – 8 on five minutes.
Dereham show what they are capable of with a big crash and drive in the forwards, with a chip kick to the corner being made safe by Woods for the 22M drop out.
12 minutes in, Haverhill cross the line again with a fine display of flowing rugby, with Chris Clayden showing his class with an impressive run, then a grub kick to the corner for Woods to ground for his first of two tries on the day. Plumridge failed to convert for 0-13.
From the off, Haverhill fail to control the ball, and then are penalised for dropping the scrum, resulting in a lot of pressure from Dereham. Haverhill defends superbly, with some great catching and clearing from Brodie Patrick on the wing, keeping Dereham outside of their 22. Finally, from a maul 30 metres out, Dereham’s Paul Derbyshire drops a goal to bring the score to 3-13 on 18 minutes.
Again Dereham come back at Haverhill and continue to pressurise, but on 25 minutes, Martin Ransome turns over the ball in the maul, and breaks out, releasing Plumridge on half way, for a superb jinking run and dummy pass to score under the posts for a converted try. 3-20. Wong is replaced by Ben Jones due to a rib injury pick up when Wong was tackled in the air earlier in the game.
Haverhill again defends well, with great play by Reynolds and Clayden, with Clayden running 30 metres through Dereham. Unfortunately the pass did not go to hand as Haverhill had a 4 man overlap, and a certain try.
Dereham again camp in the Haverhill half, and a miss timed kick over the scrum by Lester leads to a clear try scoring opportunity for Dereham failing due to the outside centre dropping the ball. Haverhill are again penalised in the front row for dropping the scrum, and the resultant penalty leads to Dereham crossing the line, only to be held up by a superb try saving tackle by Ben Jones, ensuring he got his body under the ball to stop the try.
Dereham keep the pressure on, but stoical defence from all, with Ben Jackson showing how good a player he is in the attritional game of tight forward play keeps the ball from crossing the Haverhill line, until a great defensive tackle from Bradley Gibson, and a superb run up field from Woods is only thwarted just before the Dereham line. Dereham clear and take the half time whistle.
Interestingly, during the break, the referee asks the Haverhill team for clarification on any decisions, and the continual penalisation of the Haverhill front row is clarified.
Haverhill again let the ball bounce from the kick off, and Dereham make them play with huge pressure, however Luke Dore picks the ball up from a resulting maul and runs over 50 metres up field ably assisted by Clayden and Reynolds, but Haverhill get penalised for laying on the ball, and Dereham clear into the Haverhill half.
The Haverhill scrum is working as a very polished unit by this stage, bossing the scrum and open play, but a ball that comes straight out from the Haverhill put in, is played on by the referee, resulting in a penalty on 5 metres for Dereham, who again cross the line, but that man Jones is there to defend and hold up the ball.
Another penalty 5 metres out has Chris Flannery, Carl Anderson and Reynolds defending to a supreme standard, keeping the ball away from the line, until finally, on 60 minutes, Haverhill manage to pass the ball into the back line and break out, with a superb chip kick forward by Plumridge, intercepted by Clayden, laid off to Adam Hunt, with Woods and Patrick overlapping, Woods takes the ball and Patrick draws the defence for Woods to cut inside for his second try under the posts, converted by Plumridge. 3-27.
If Dereham did not know they were onto a hiding by now, a huge joint tackle by Raffel and Reynolds on the Dereham No.8 left the crowd wincing and the home team reeling in the aftermath. Dereham win a penalty on half way, and decide to run, only to be stopped dead by Ransome and losing the ball. There was a bit of funny stuff, admirably dealt with by the referee.
There then follows a piece of play that I would be happy to see at Twickenham, that involved literally every player of the Haverhill team. Ransome again puts in a huge tackle with Ben Jackson clearing up the ball and running across into the Dereham half. The ball is driven quickly between the forwards and Haverhill drive to the left side of the Dereham 22 metre line. On about the 7th phase of play, Raffel picks and runs, laying the ball off to Plumbrige and then out to Clayden, who dummies the ball and slips through the inside to touch down under the posts, for Plumridge to convert. 3-34. Jackson limps off is replaced by Veteran Mark Anderson for the last 3 minutes of the game.
Dereham still try to play forward and in the last minute, break out, only for Woods to pick up and carry three Dereham players 20 metres back up the park for the clearance, a few cheap shots from the Dereham boys, and the final whistle.
The League now has a two week break, with Haverhill hosting the Gt. Yarmouth Broadlands side on November 14th at 2:30pm. Admission free and all welcome.
Assistant Director of Rugby Tony Hope quote “We are top of the league because we are playing great rugby, and today was a superb performance in Norfolk.”
Echo Man of Match – Matt Reynolds
Jim Morgan Moorgate Road, Dereham, Norfolk
Flanners
Great write up Jimbo and a good win. Although I have to point out Jimbo our last try wasn't from a pick and go from Ryan. It was Lester out of a ruck to Flannery at fly half with a burst of place and pin point pass to Raffell.... and so on!!!!!!
well done guys great result.
Jimbo
Dang. I missed the pinpoint pass bit. I knew lots of people were involved, trouble is, I can not write down every move, so sometimes I see it as it starts to open up, and obviously missed Jester and Flan doing their stuff just before.
