MAY & BAKER R.U.F.C

Match Report Away to Basildon (Merit Table) 29th September 2006 Lost 32-5

Last Saturday May and Baker visited league leaders Basildon. Unfortunately, after three early morning cry offs May and Baker were down to the bare 15. Despite the score line May and Baker dominated possession and territory in the first twenty minutes. Worryingly, the only thing missing again was the finishing.

The teams remained even after twenty minutes, and the lads were showing the quality they have as they matched the league leaders. This display shows just what the lads can achieve when they are playing well. As the sides reached the half hour mark the game stopped for about 10 minutes as one of the Bakers players took a hit in the back and it left him on the floor in pain. Remarkably, he was able to get to his feet and finish the match.

From then on Basildon began to show the form which has put them at the top of the league. They scored two tries in quick succession with their prop converting. (Yes I did say prop its remarkable how much the fat boy’s think they can kick!). Shortly after James Lloyd intercepted a Basildon pass and ran in from 50 yards. Sadly, Matt Barrett missed the conversion. After the try Basildon’s number 8 got rather aggressive from elbows, punches, and head butts at 3 of the Bakers players. As the side was down to the bare 15 none of the 3 injuries could come off. Basildon capitalised on this by scoring a further 3 tries in the second half. Ben Seth come close on a number of occasions but good tackling at the line by the Basildon full back ensured May and Baker did not make a come back.

This week May and Baker make their longest trip of the season to Burnham On Crouch. Last year only the reformation of the league saved Burnham from relegation, so this should finally be the win Bakers are looking for to kick start their season so they can try to reach their target and enter the top playoff in the league. So lets see a win this weekend!!!

MAN OF THE MATCH: Mickey Ingwell

Team: Tony Burn, Burac Erreci, Dickie Williams, Keith Apples, Ricky (unknown last name), Colin Combden, Andy Yarrow, Martin Lee, Daniel Biggs, Matt Barrett, Mickey Ingwell, Chris Young, Ben Seth, James Llyod, Jamie Yates, and Roy Yates.

Match Report Home to Westcliff 16th September 2006 Lost 5-17

After a shock defeat to Braintree two Saturdays ago, May and Baker were slightly worried about the visit of arguably the best side in our league (Westcliff). The fact that we had key players missing already threw injury and first team call up didn’t help. However, the whole squad gave 110% threw out the game. Despite the score line May and Baker dominated possession and territory. The only thing missing was the finishing.

Westcliff scored three break away tries when the ball was loose on the floor, they capitalised. From the restart after Westcliff’s first try, May and Baker were awarded a penalty, and with our place kicked out through injury captain Jamie Yates decided to punt into the corner. From the resulting line out Andy Yarrow battled in the air to win good ball, which Jamie Yates used to break the game line and pass a perfectly weighted delivery to Garry Williams who was running a great line and found himself under the posts. Unfortunately the conversion was missed.

From then on the game was a midfield battle with the May and Baker forwards doing a lot of hard work to win ball. Danny Green especially shone, as his work in the rucks and mauls was astonishing. When Paddy Ryan was introduced at half time him Keith Apples and Danny Green began to control the break downs. The lads would have scored another hand full of tries if it wasn’t for the poor handling errors in the final pass. From these sloppy handling mistakes Westcliff eased home two tries in the final half an hour.

Thanks must go to the supporters who made the effort again to turn up and make some noise for the boys. This week May and Baker travel up the road to Chelmsford. The two sides were evenly matched last year so this will be a tester for the lads. As long as we play like we did last Saturday we should be able to earn a hard victory.

May and Baker are still looking for players of a social standard. If you are interested in playing please contact one of the club captains. Dave Maudsley (07904859402) or Jamie Yates (07886761587).

MAN OF THE MATCH: Danny Green

Tam: Tony Burn, Burac Erreci, Colin Combden, Dickie Williams, Keith Apples, Steve Pollard, Danny Green, Andy Yarrow, Martin Lee, Huw Petherwick, Mickey Yates, Chris Young, Ryan Bone, Garry Williams, Jamie Yates, Paddy Ryan, Alan Wilkins.