The Colchester development squad were today’s visitors to Humber Doucy Lane.
With rain in the air and a keen wind, would the twenty three strong squad of Ipswich prove to be too strong for Colchester?
Two minutes silence was observed by all present among the various age groups at eleven o' clock, immediately prior to kick off. Maybe the gravity of remembering those who had died during conflicts for their country, over the years, puts the battle of a rugby match into perspective, but nonetheless, coach Dave Solomon was able to lace the subject into his pre-match words of motivation, and having chosen to play with the assistance of the wind for the first half, hosts Ipswich soon showed they had started today with collectively, a very positive and determined approach to the game.
Flyhalf George Solomon, back from absence in Spain, took only one and a half minutes before he started the score board ticking over, by scoring a well worked try in the right hand corner. This had come about after the pressure Ipswich had exerted in the Colchester twenty two had seen a clearance kick fail to reach touch. The kick, in fact went exactly where it shouldn’t have gone (from a Colchester perspective), which was right down the throat of the again impressive Tom Rice. This recent convert to the number fifteen shirt loves nothing more than hoovering up high balls in space and running them back with interest.
Tom’s run had got the attack right back in the twenty two and No. 10 George S was well placed to finish off the attack with a foxy, side-stepping run evading many tackles to touch down in the corner. The conversion kick was narrowly missed by him from the difficult angle. 5-0.
Six minutes in, James Sadler made a strong run towards the right corner when again showing strength and an eye for a sharp break, he linked well with the supporting Trung. Trung seems to be back to his best, as he needed no second invite to hare into space on the wing and touch down for a high quality try, wide right which George S converts. 12 - 0
At this point, Ipswich were guilty of taking their collective foot off the pedal somewhat. Colchester began to get more of a foot hold in the game, as play was confined to the central half of the pitch. The deadlock was broken at twenty one minutes though, and in some style.
Again, Tom R was instrumental as he broke through the mid-field. His run was cleverly supported by full debut making Aiden Tynan, who after receiving the vital pass from Tom, was able to demonstrate his considerable pace and then strength in the contact as the tackles came in vain. A fabulous try, again on the right side, by an exciting new player who has caught the eye in his short time with us. Converted by George S. 19 - 0
The main talking point of the match cropped up close to the end of the half. Again, Tom R was involved. He had burst out from his home twenty two, and well beyond the half way line, appeared as if he may make it all the way to score. In accordance with best practice though, James was making a strong supporting run, virtually at the side of Tom, when a most bizarre occurrence took place. “What happens next” on Question of Sport would seem a suitable place to watch this one unfold: James gets felled from behind by a dangerous looking high grab of the shoulder which yanks him backwards to the ground!
Whether the defence thought he had received the ball is unclear, but maybe the ref, Mr Paul Carr did, as he immediately stopped the play and awarded a penalty to Ipswich which a dangerous tackle would usually result in. The on-looking supporters and players seemed bemused though, as Tom did in fact, still have the ball, and would surely have scored but for the whistle being blown.
Half time score then, Ipswich 19 Colchester 0.
For the second half, the coaching staff allowed all boys, who had not started, on as replacements. With Colchester remaining settled and virtually unchanged in line-up throughout, the wholesale changes by the home side were always likely to destabilise the ship somewhat. Ferdous Ahmed had other plans however and from the freedom he found at full back, in the space of two minutes of the half kicking off, he had twice caused mayhem with strong, jinking runs which the defenders looked to have very little answer to.Colchester soon scored though, with some strong back play, with a converted try, and six minutes later again made easy work of breaking through a now fragmented looking Ipswich defence. As the lethal Colchester kicker made it two from two, the scores grew dangerously close at 19 – 14.
Around this time, Ferdous had unfortunately and without malicious intent, been guilty of carrying out a nasty looking high and dangerous “clothes line” type tackle. The referee had thankfully not seen fit to send Ferdous off but coaches Dave Clift and Dave S took the decision to effectively sin bin him voluntarily and take the opportunity to explain to him both the danger caused to opponents and the potential punishment from a strict referee, that such tackles may cause.
The hectic scoring of the second half eventually goes the way of the home side on forty fiveminutes. From an Ipswich line out which had come about by a sliced defensive kick from a Colchester boot, the Ipswich hooker Kyle Hedgeswas adjudged to have not thrown in straight. The resulting scrum from this though, was well turned over and the ball provided by scrum half Allan Cawthorn to the backs, allowed a slick scissors move to be created between George S and Ben Grimwood. As Ben careered towards the Colchester line, he still seemingly had far too much work to do, but his skill and strength should never have been doubted as he scored in a reasonably central position, which George S converts. 26 - 14.
Just when a twelve point lead began to feel comfortable, back again came the hard working Colchester side, who refused to lay down, and scored another converted try. So, with a little less than ten minutes to go, and only five points now separating the sides, coupled with the consistency of the conversion kicking by both sides, it seemed certain that the next score from either team would surely decide the tie.
The match was ultimately decided, when at fifty nine minutes a penalty was awarded to Ipswich close to the Colchester twenty two. George S took no time to point towards the goal posts and as he prepared to take this important kick, coaches and spectators could be heard to mumble about the dangers of the ball being picked up from an unsuccessful attempt and run back to the other end of the pitch for a Colchester victory!
We shouldn’t have worried as in addition to the referee ending the match as soon as the ball landed, George had been resolute under pressure and slotted the kick between the posts to complete his fourteen point haul.The final score then was Ipswich 29 Colchester 21.A great game of rugby, played in good spirit with all Ipswich players making significant contributions to the match.
Final Score: Ipswich 32 Colchester 21
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