UPMINSTER-32 v WOODFORD-14

MEN OF THE MATCH: Louis Blake & Vincent Novotny- 2nd row, solid as a rock!!

As the headline says it, it was a very harsh scoreline for the boys considering some of the wonderful rugby that was played.

Things got off to a great start as we dominated early possession. This dominance was indeed rewarded as Domingo Lapadula, playing on the wing for the first time I think, took the ball at pace, he broke the Upminster defences on the half way line, shrugged off a late challenge and literally zoomed down the line like speedy Gonzales to plant the ball in the corner. Lewis Walcott was left with a very tricky kick from almost the side line but he stroked it home with a sublime kick.

We continued to press Upminster and looked firmly in control, however the gods were not smiling on us as Lewis was about to send a kick downfield to add to the pressure on our hosts when his standing foot slipped on the wet surface and the ball bobbled straight to an Upminster back who had a clear path to our line, 7-7. Still Woodford pushed on but another bit of misfortune for the boys in purple was waiting, we charged down an Upminster kick only to see the ball fall once again perfectly for the home team to gather and score. 12-7 at half time, however our hosts knew they had a game on their hands.

Second half started pretty much the same as the first ended, quite evenly matched teams with both playing some great rugby, in all fairness Upminster showed some great running with and without the ball but our lads were equal to it and held them at bay. It was at this point that we feel a somewhat bizarre decision by the ref to award a penalty to Upminster from our line-out turned the game. The ref gave a penalty after claiming that the throw was not straight, even though line-outs are uncontested. Upminster capitalised on this and planted a kick for touch on our line which they duely converted into a try. Then followed a mad ten minutes for the Woods as Upminster's tails were up, our hosts played some great rugby, doing dummy runs and running onto the ball at pace in the centre. They really made the most of this time of possession as they scored two more tries in quick succession, two being converted, they aren't unbeaten and league leaders this season for no reason.

Ed gathered the boys in an attempt to calm things down and the boys emerged from the huddle determined to stop the rot, they did indeed get back to the style and strength of play they had showed in the first half as we surged towards the oppos line, up the slope of the pitch. The strength of the forwards was truly amazing as we totally won all scrums given and mauls started, this enabled us to make several metres of territory as we pushed onwards and upwards. The move was rewarded as Cade Carter-Thomas powered across for a try, once again coolly converted by Lewis Walcott. 29-14. Not beyond the realms of possibility but time was against us, we needed to make sure we made the most of the ball being kicked backed to us from the restart, unfortunately the opposite was the truth as instead of the ball being caught it was actually knocked forward, Upminster held the scrum, the ball was moved wide quickly and another try was scored, game over!!

A summary of the game would be that it was great to watch, both sides played excellent youth rugby, the spirit of the game was brilliant as both sets of players showed great respect & sportsmanship towards each other, Woodford are going from strength to strength as the boys are building a huge bond with each other, even eating together in the changing room after the game!! I can honestly see us turning one of these excellent performances into points in the very near future, don't forget we are playing in Division 1 with the best of the best in Essex, we maybe lost a few games at the start of the season which I feel would be much closer if they were played now, let's have faith and work towards the surely impending success this group of lads deserve.

Not forgetting of course the ultimate highlight of the day.......the dad's making a tunnel for the glorious Vinny Novotny as he emerged from his half time trip to the toilet, one of many I might add!!!!

Well done Woods.