Walden lose away at Ipswich

Walden travelled to Ipswich still suffering from several absentees through injury and other commitments.
Ipswich were first on the board with a penalty but Walden soon hit back forcing the home team to concede a scrum 10 metres out and from this a series of pick and drives resulted in second row Charlie Potter to force his way over. 3 – 7
Walden were attacking on the half way line with an overlap beckoning but the Ipswich winger intercepted the final pass and cantered under the posts, 2 further tries extended the home teams lead to 22 – 7 after 25 minutes.
Walden got themselves back in the game with 2 Penalties to leave the half time score at 22 – 13.
With the wind and the slope now behind them Walden had high hopes of coming back however this was made difficult when against the run of play Ipswich scored their 4th try with a break down the wing although many thought the winger had his foot in touch before scoring.
Walden used the elements well in the next 20 mins of the game to kick long and pin Ipswich deep inside their half. The next score was created by the forwards providing quick ball to the backs 15 metres out and as the oncoming defence rushed up Fly half and captain Mark Kimberley chipped over the top the ball bounced into his hands to score under the posts.
The Ipswich restart as it did not go 10 and from the resulting scrum on halfway Walden created enough space and time for full back Tom Price to chip the ball forward form half way and once again Kimberley was first on to fly hack it forward and score under the posts to level the game at 27 each.
Walden earned a penalty 30 metres out but the wind got hold of the ball and it hit the upright bouncing into the dead ball area, Walden’s scrum-half Keegan Diggons was first to react having chased the kick and simply dived on the ball to score before the defenders had time to react. 27 – 32.
Ipswich responded by scoring a well worked try to retake the lead 34 – 32, but Walden were not done yet and forced the home team into another penalty in front of the posts to go back in front 34 – 35 with only 15 minutes left on the clock.
Inexplicably this is where it all went wrong and perhaps the deleted squad just had expended to much effort in making a great comeback to get into the lead and Ipswich started using their strong runners scoring 4 converted tries in the last 15 minutes to leave the score at the final whistle 62 – 35.
The final score no way reflected the closeness of the game and whilst Ipswich deserved to win, it rather flattered them at the end.
Walden host Wanstead next week for a 3pm kick off, all support is welcome.

If you fancy getting involved we are always on the look out for new players to play either in the first team in London 2NE or the Saxons (2nd team) in Eastern Counties 1West, if you are interested in joining our friendly club please contact either info@swrfc.co.uk or graham.marshall2@ntlworld.com