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| Eastbourne 2 |
| League, Away |
| 11th Octoberber 2008 |
| Won 30-18 |
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| Starting 15 |
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| 1 |
Scrabble |
| 2 |
Monkey |
| 3 |
Porty |
| 4 |
Big Ga Al (capt) |
| 5 |
Horse |
| 6 |
Dan |
| 7 |
Mooey |
| 8 |
Matty Laker |
| 9 |
Jez |
| 10 |
ChiChi |
| 11 |
Soap |
| 12 |
Bosh |
| 13 |
Chemist |
| 14 |
Tunde |
| 15 |
Yiddley |
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| Impact Players |
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| 16 |
Roy |
| 17 |
Tintin |
| 18 |
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| 19 |
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| 20 |
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| 21 |
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| 22 |
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After a shaky start the Norfolk showed good composure and
self belief to close out a tricky match thanks to the boot of McMichael and
three tries from Stewart, Robotham and McMichael who himself had a tally of 20
points.
Eastbourne showed their attacking ability and willingness to run the ball from
the very first kick off as well as putting pressure on a usually strong Norfolk
set piece. In the opening quarter of the game it was the home team who exerted
the most pressure and when a couple of defensive errors gave Eastbourne space
to attack, they first came away with a penalty. McMichael missed with his first
attempt following some good attacking play from the Norfolk and it was
Eastbourne who scored a try this time following an attacking lineout from a
penalty.
The Norfolk simplified things and for a period exerted some pressure of our
own, Matt Laker was at the forefront with some good running at 8 and a very
good kick and chase which led to Norfolk possession and a penalty for McMichael
to kick. Simon Robotham then showed his pace and elusive running to score
another wonder try from the half way, McMichael converted to take the lead but
then Eastbourne again found a gap in the defence and went through to score. On
a day of shaky lineouts it was Mike Slator who won a clean ball inside the
opposition 22 to give a good platform, the pack drove on before Stewart passed
the ball out to the backs and McMichael hit the line at pace from a fantastic
pass from Newark.
At 17-13 going in to half time the Norfolk had started to find their feet in
the game and improvements in communication had set a much sturdier defence. The
second half started much the same as the first with pressure coming from the
home team which eventually gave over to points when they scored in the corner.
Minutes later and another fine run from Laker and the opposition infringing at
a ruck gave McMichael a chance to take the lead again. The kick was good but an
unnecessary banter with a member of the crowd and the captain caused the ref to
award Eastbourne a penalty on the half way. In the last twenty minutes the
Norfolk produced a fine display of control against an Eastbourne team who were
rapidly losing it, strong rucking from the pack and backs alike forced
turnovers and when Eastbourne infringed again, Slator set of on a quick tap
which led to Jez Stewart scoring under the posts following some excellent
handling. McMichael had the last word with another penalty to secure the result
and the final act of the game saw the Norfolk play their true style of rugby.
What is impressive is the way when this team goes behind in a game or concedes
a soft try; the ability to come straight back and score and still back each
other with the ball is very obvious.
The belief was always there and that is a great thing to be part of. Another
positive performance with still lots of things to work on, but you will never
get everything right. Well done lads! |
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