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| Eastbourne 2 |
| League, Home |
| 31st January 2009 |
| Lost 22-3 |
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| Starting 15 |
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| 1 |
Monkey |
| 2 |
Debs |
| 3 |
TinTin |
| 4 |
Big Gay Al (capt) |
| 5 |
Rich Nutter |
| 6 |
Royster |
| 7 |
Dan |
| 8 |
Mooey |
| 9 |
ChiChi |
| 10 |
Timbo |
| 11 |
Pops |
| 12 |
Bosh |
| 13 |
Chemist |
| 14 |
Ryan |
| 15 |
Yiddley |
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| Impact Players |
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| 16 |
Jerry |
| 17 |
Jim |
| 18 |
Kevin |
| 19 |
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| 20 |
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| 21 |
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| 22 |
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The Norfolk turned a corner with a massive improvement in
performance and effort this week despite missing an enormous amount of players
through injury. Even though the game was eventually lost, the mood afterwards
was a generally positive one and as a captain you cannot ask any more than
maximum commitment, passion and effort, all three of which were shown in full.
The game this week started at a fairly high pace, with the Norfolk who are not
always fast starters applying early pressure on the opposition and forcing
mistakes which eventually led to the first chance of points. McMichael missed
the shot at goal but was on target minutes later with his second attempt.
Eastbourne rode their luck though for the first try of the game, a part charged
down kick from Laker bounced into the grateful arms of the opposition fly half,
who gathered, kicked on and gathered again to score and convert. The first half
continued in a similar vein but with the Norfolk pack dominant in the scrum
winning several turnovers. The backs created several chances from the extra
possession, but unfortunately where commitment was not lacking, the handling
skills to finish chances were. The last pass invariably went forward or was
knocked on, or merely forced the catcher to slow down giving the defence time
to close down the space.
The first half ended 7-3 in favour of the visitors but the feeling of not being
out of the game was strong during the half time talk. The second half was very
similar in terms of pressure and possession but again the Norfolk were unable
to convert pressure into points despite maintaining the dominance of the scrum.
Eastbourne created a good overlap for a deserved second try and demonstrated
what their backs could do when the pack delivered good ball. They scored again
minutes later when another knock on gave them field position and territory to
launch an attack. They kicked their final points from a penalty which followed
a harsh decision where without the ball touching his foot, White was judged to
have attempted to restart the game improperly and the opposition awarded a
scrum on the 22. Hodson came closest to the line following a good lineout drive
but the momentary touch of ball on line was not enough to convince the referee
that a try had been scored.
There are several people worthy of mention this week after such a good game and
the whole team looked fitter and sharper than we have since before Christmas,
the belief was always there that we could score a try and turn the match at any
moment. Man of the match Tim Laker had a lively game at 10 and his decision
making was good throughout. Matt Hodson carried the ball tirelessly and led the
pack in defence using his experience to get himself in the right areas of the
pitch whenever he was needed. Martin Newark had easily his best game in the
number 9 jersey for a long time and showed guts and commitment to match his
wealth of experience. Ryan Smits made his club debut along with some powerful
hits in defence and got stuck in like a seasoned member of the team. Well done
boys on a gutsy display which deserved more than the 3 points and the loss. We
need to work a bit on handling but still our Achilles heel is our handling of
the referee. The referee can only give what he sees and we should have learned
by now that they do not see everything. However if you listen when they call
'hands away', regardless of whether you agree or not, our penalty count will be
drastically reduced. See you all at training I hope. |
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