RFU National 2 East - Bury St Edmunds v HRFC (W49-53)
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First impressions is simply a quick short sharp back-brief of a fading memory of 'what just happened on the pitch' for those of you who couldn't get to the game, hopefully to provide a bit of match context before you might wish to look at our images. Sadly there's No time to access match video, hence there might be some mistaken memories, but these are essentially just private thoughts generated from the touchline & certainly not an official match report. #IMHO
Match Story Board: Bury St Edmunds v HRFC (W49-53)
Venue: The Haberden, Southgate Sports Ground
Crowd: Approx 500
Weather: Overcast / Cold
Havant Rugby Football Club
Bury St Edmund RFC
Match images are now available at:
https://windandsurfimages.zenfolio.com/p673073150
First Impressions
First Half:
1. An evenly balanced start with both sides probing the defences, Havant initiated the scoring with a converted catch and drive) but both sides looked fairly well matched and it seemed like the afternoon would be a 'nip and tuck' type affair, with no significant dominance apparent other than perhaps some real quality highlighted in the Bury backs early on, demonstrating their clever ball skills around the park (0-7).
2. Both sides maintained relative parity (3-7) until a subsequent Yellow Card at 17' broke the equality (Ben Holt - not 10 yards after another penalty) and completely shifted the match balance, allowing Bury to begin exposing/exploiting the gaps in our defence, effectively isolating the defensive edge, and then stretching us well beyond our capacity / attacking with relative ease (10-7).
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3. With only limited possession... and now a man down, Havant struggled to generate any meaningful 'Go Forward' ball. Meanwhile Bury kicked up into another gear and we were clearly struggling to handle them - very quickly it started to look like it was going to be a very long afternoon as the opposition scoring opportunities began to mount up. The worried Havant faces around the ground were clearly beginning to wonder just how bad this might become, as the Bury Backs kicked into life, opening up holes to create opportunities and seemingly scoring with relative ease - within 20 mins a sizeable scoreline was already on the board (36-7).
4. Finally there was a shift in our luck(?) - Bury got a Yellow card for a High shot and with less of them on the park and a bit of extra space, Havant could start to regain some composure before generating some meaningful Phase play. In time regaining field position and ultimately finishing off a scoring opportunity out wide with a driving maul (Steve Jenkinson) (36-12) - notwithstanding our reply, Bury still finished the half in the ascendency putting a penalty over to keep the pressure on (39-12).
Halftime: Bury St Edmunds 39 HRFC 12
Second Half:
5. All change! After a bit of blunt 'Changing room direction' to help refocus the minds, Fresh legs were brought on and Havant came out early for the next half complete with a new Frontrow, including the return of Sean Shephard. This game had 'obviously' already got away from us - but this was now a game of damage control and was going to need a complete mental reset (back to basics) and a more proactive response to handling Bury, while trying to keep the score to a respectable level.
The Second half got underway and the early initial bury attacks looked like they had started where they had left off ..and it was going to be 'more of the same' for the next 40 mins.... happily from a Havant perspective, things appeared to be different, even the floodlights seemed brighter - our defence remained solid, we were more resilient at the breakdown, we were competing 50/50 balls and indeed even able to recover the ball, and by applying the basics we subsequently developed field position, eventually sliding into a more normal rhythm that would allow us to play our game.
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6. Now seemingly playing with more intensity and pace... and some confidence (..there was obviously nothing to lose!), Havant were generating a much quicker speed of recycle ball and Bury seemed to be struggling to establish their normal steady defensive set. We looked to be holding onto possession better and our offload inter-play was beginning to make real impact. Not withstanding the disproportionate scoreline - this definitely looked better...maybe there was a credible chance of generating some scoring opportunities ...and possibly (just a hope!) getting a bonus point for our (now improved) efforts. Finally after some concerted pressure, Havant got to the line and scored a well earned try (Ross Parkin) with Joel K converting (39-19). Obviously still no parity, but just nice for the travelling support to see that the game wasn't all one sided!
7. Once Play restarted, we came again - rebuilding our field position and establishing good solid phase play to manipulate the defence. After a short while, we had generated enough space on the edge for Dylan Read to collect the wide pass and sprint over. Believe it or not, that was the 4 Try Bonus Point in the bag! (39-24). Bury were looking a little shell-shocked that we hadn't died away ...and you could see our lads were just starting to believe in themselves. Bury’s Restart and again our reconstituted basics allowed us to build proficiently creating space outside allowing Jack Phillips to go over in the corner. The losing bonus point was now a credible 'possibility' (39-29) and it was clear our bench were having a significant impact - the frontrow carrying well, while the likes of Jamo was able to run hard at the opposition and punching 'Tuilangii' sized holes in the now unsettled Bury defence.
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8. Notwithstanding our resurgence ...the game was obviously not all one way traffic - and BSE backs were still posing a significant threat whenever they collected our loose kicks - Bury maintained pressure wherever they could slotting a penalty when given the chance (42-29). With memories of the first half Rout were still foremost in our minds, we continued to carefully build steady pressure before Bury collected another Yellow Card for a High Shot - and once again the relative balance of attack shifted to Havant's favour, such that we were able to get another try but not the conversion (42-34) ... still not at the losing bonus point yet.
The game continued with the BSE backs threatening any loose ball in broken play and sadly we still hadn’t cured our defensive edge, giving them a way through to score a well-earned try in the bottom corner. At this point the BSE crowd looked to settle back into the relative comfort that their 'Bury Boys' were back in control as their fly Half slots a great conversion (49-34)
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9. At this point fatigue and scoreline reality normally kicks in ....but it seemed none of the travellers were lying down and there was still plenty of Havant Dog left yet. Patient phase play, quick recycling and we generated another well worked try in the far corner - still rebuilding our hopes for that losing bonus point (49-41). Another card and the balance shifts in havant’s favour whereupon we work the ball towards the corner, and get another score. This is better - the Losing Bonus Point is now definitely an option (49-46), the Bury players are querying the scoreline and becoming unsettled, noting that Havant are now in with a chance of the losing bonus point. We miss the conversion - but Bury know the momentum is firmly back with us.
10. ...My sense is most Havant supporters would have been cheering the miraculous recovery to secure 2 bonus points away from home ...and would have probably in all honesty have left this end of darkest Suffolk content that it had not been a wasted journey....But it would appear the lads hadn’t read the script. Another restart, more possession and patient phase play and then another Bury Yellow on the 80', offered a penalty in their 22 out wide. Game on! Having already secured 2 bonus points and clearly riding on a wave of game momentum - we now had more players in-hand on the pitch... and the clock was running down - we go to the corner for the win with a catch and drive! #brave #credibledecision
Bury looked stunned - whereupon we simply had to execute a flawless lineout (in hindsight, a somewhat brave call, considering our lineout had been a bit 'hit and miss' most of the afternoon!) and conduct a standard 'catch and drive' towards the line - but in this case Bury countered well, fighting hard to defend their win and there really was nothing doing - so the ball is recycled into the backs - letting our heavy gang reposition themselves ready to carry on the next phases. Sure enough our midfield carry well into defensive traffic, retain possession and set up the next breakdown, and after a number of pre-cursor carries, Luka Shplka collects and heads over the line with a little help from his friends, to put the icing on the cake! The final conversion goes over W49-53 and the clock is dead and that's a 5 point league win. #whowouldvethought
Definitely a game of two Halves and 5 well-earned league points - not a bad return for such a long drive up here #upthehill #fullspectrumofemotions #BZ
Read the official club match report for all the detail.
Full Time: Bury 49 HRFC 53
Extras:
Not sure anyone really knows what happened here - Its obvious that Rugby at this level is now dominated by process and procedure, and consequently the subsequent loss of a player can have a significant disruptive action on those finely tuned processes. The subsequent loss of Ben Holt (yellow) clearly impacted our coherence and effectively helped open the door for BSE to exploit, quickly putting 4 tries over in a 15 min period - similar to how Guernsey raiders had punished our mistakes earlier this season. In a similar manner, our second half change in intensity and pace coupled with their subsequent loss of players to cards, had a similar effect on their processes, mainly their defensive ability to counter our attacks - that said even when they were men down, their backs remained a very credible threat who could exploit any loose ball from anywhere on the park - probably the best set we have seen to date on today's showing.
As we keep reminding ourselves, there are no easy games at this level and based on the first half performance - we would probably have been happy to just take away a single bonus point today, as the second half regain and build in confidence was something we just weren't expecting! It was great to witness and great for the team - as the match progressed, so too did the team belief and confidence across the 20 man squad. Everyone was playing their part, there were no exceptions - and looking at the mountain they have just climbed to take this victory - this won't have gone unnoticed across the league! 102 points in any game is odd... but even more so when you consider it was a 'fight back' from a standing start at 39-12 at HT.
Not counting any chickens just yet! - While obviously there's some significant work to be done to resolve / prevent the 'initial meltdown' that got us into this position - based on the quality of this fight back, the muscle memory now built into this team and the confidence generated across the squad to be able to compete at this level - my sense is the coaching team will be happy (as much as they can be) that we are now much better acclimatised to this level of competition and should expect a good solid competitive run-up (league points accumulation) to consolidate a mid-table position by Christmas. #upthehill
Match Image slideshow:
https://windandsurfimages.zenfolio.com/p673073150
Next Job: Henley (Hooks Lane)
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