Ipswich 24 Diss 12
George Solomon, fly half writes -
"The best game that I have been involved with in my time here".
The above is a quote from coach Malcolm Lane at the end of the game today, which I would say is quite an accurate description.
It was brilliant.
Rucking, catching, kicking, mauling, effort, attitude. They were all performed superbly, easily the best this season.
Also, judging from the amount of sound coming from the sideline, no names Mrs Clift, it was a crowd pleaser as well.
In fact the only thing not on our side was the weather. I had mentioned yesterday to my Mum that we hadn't had a match in wet and muddy conditions for ages. Well, we have now, which was even worse for Josh Cowey, because after his shower he realises he'd forgotten his jeans, so a change back into his wet and cold rugby kit was his punishment!
Also, we had some very keen players this morning, none more so than Tom Rice who turned up at about 8.50, then walked in again with a flurry of deja vu at about 9.50. No prizes for guessing why!
Anyway, on with the game. Ben Grimwood, captain for the day, won the toss, electing to kick to Diss, pushing them into their half. From the first ruck, Diss were given a wake up call, as we turned it over. Then, 3 minutes later, Alexander Haywood Smith burst from the back of the ruck, 5 metres out and stretched for the line to score. Conversion missed.
A brilliant start, which we continued, when on 14 minutes the forwards had carried on their dominance, Trung Duc Lee got the ball 10 or so metres out, there was to be only one result. A try between the posts, converted, to make the score 12-0.
For the remainder of the first half, Diss started to slowly claw their way back into the game, but by the break, the score remained 12 - 0.
After a motivational talk from Malcolm we were fired up for the second half, starting like we meant to go on.
We got a scrum situated on the leftish of the halfway line. Cue the "Gaylord" move, a dummy scissors with both centres (sorry if you don't talk rugby) and a little chip stuck us in their twenty two, then a couple of scrums later, the ball was fed to me, cue an M1, to Ben at outside centre, who spotted a gap and broke through straight under the posts, converted, making the score 19-0.
Diss then get a well deserved try on the 48th minute, after a long period of pressure.
Missed conversion, so 19-5, but this gave them renewed confidence, so they came at us again and again.
Pash tried his best to stop the attack with possibly the best tackle I've seen for a number of matches. Diss tapped and went from a penalty, gave it to a big forward, so Pash stepped forward and cut him in half. Well, not quite.
However, we don't all tackle like Pash and after a while of renewed pressure, Diss broke through and scored. This time it was converted and they could smell victory, with the score now at 19-12.
But, we started to fight back, Ben G leading the counter attack with a number of good runs, then we won a penalty on the edge of the Diss twenty two. I began to get ready to call for the tee to kick a penalty. But, as I looked up, Ben was off, having tapped and gone. I followed and got the ball as he drew a tackle and passed off, dummied a kick, then passed to Trung who topped off his superb match with another try.
So then, the final score was 24-12, and if you consider the score from a few weeks ago when we played them, that is brilliant. Also, it means we are now twice as good as Diss. Wooo.
A few mentions:
Pash, for his superb tackle and numerous other ones. Also, fearless rucks leading to loads of turn overs.
Trung, who had a big grin on his face after the match, a result of scoring two tries. Both were not easy to take, especially the first one, where he had to break a good few tackles to reach the line. Also, he caught well from the kicks that came from Diss over the forwards.
James Sadler, who played on the wing, did well, considering he has never played there before. He took the ball in very well numerous times and didn't miss any tackles.
Henry Lane, who rucked very strongly and pushed an awful lot of opposition off the ball.
So, see you all Tuesday (oh no I won't actually, as I'm on school exchange duty in Spain).
George.
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