MAY & BAKER R.U.F.C

Match Report Home to Canvey Island (Merit Table) 14th October Lost 5 v 29

Last Saturday an out of form May and Baker entertained Canvey Island. On paper Canvey were two leagues above May and Baker and they have only lost once this season putting them second in their league while we are bottom of league. Despite May and Baker being under dogs, the lads did seem up for the tough battle ahead.

The story of the season so far for Baker’s, in the first twenty minutes the lads launched countless attacks at the Canvey try line. Tragically, Bakers could not make the pressure count as they left the first twenty minutes with only a missed penalty from Lee Dyer. From the resulting twenty two drop out, a well drilled Canvey played a good territorial game and found them selves scoring a penalty followed by a try under the Baker’s posts. It was one split in the defence that game Canvey the opening, they were able to convert.

Against the run of play Canvey were now capitalising on their first try, with another 3 in quick succession. Canvey only failed to convert one. This left the half time score twenty nine – nil. I think the lads dropped their heads after the first try. So at half time Jamie Yates made a few changes and gave a good team talk and the lads looked ready to go again.

May and Baker started the second half aggressively, winning the ball from their kick off. From then on the game seemed to be a battle from end to end. A neutral spectator would have enjoyed watching the game so much. The second half remained pointless until the hour mark. When Andy Yarrow and Alan Johnson had a disagreement with two Canvey lads which ended up in a couple of punches, Baker’s were awarded a penalty which Lee Dyer drilled into the corner. This was an example of Lee’s kicking from hand all day, it was of top class. From the line out Andy Yarrow Tapped down to scrum half Daniel Biggs who released fly half Matt Barrett on a crash ball, that showed the Canvey team were feeling the pressure as they missed two tackles and Barrett dived over the line. You could tell from the faces of the Baker’s lads that this try meant so much to all the players on the pitch. Surprisingly Lee Dyer missed the extra two points

From there on in May and Baker had the edge on Canvey. The opposition looked tired, and the young legs in the Baker’s side looked full of running. Canvey were giving penalties away all over the pitch and Lee Dyer was kicking everyone into the Canvey twenty two. Great throwing at the line outs from Burak Erecci, and solid Jumping from Lee Dyer and Andy Yarrow released the backs on numerous occasions. The lads were just finding in hard to break threw the Canvey line.

Bakers new that pressure from the set plays meant it would only be a matter of time until they broke threw again. When bakers tapped a penalty scrum half Daniel Biggs floated a great pass to winger Ben Seth who ran home and scored under the posts. The referee then called the game back and called the pass ‘forward’? Bakers questioned the decision as the pass was clearly backwards. Later in the bar, after a pack of crisps the ref did say it was a very tight decision. After this decision May and Baked fired at the line until finally a dropped pass ended the game.

May and Baker played out of their skins to with a great second half performance, we actually won the second half five – nil, and if we were able to convert more chances we would have pushed for a victory. All the boys come off the pitch physically tired but extremely proud of the way they represented the club. The forwards played well, but Huw Protheroe and Jamie Yates both shone. At this point May and Baker would like to announce that Tony Burn (known as TB) has retired and we would like to offer him a massive thanks for his years of service to the club. Next Saturday, the boys are on the road again to Old Brentwood’s. This will be a tough test for the Bakers team searching for their first win, but if we can manage half the effort that we gave last weekend then Old Brentwood’s will be under a lot of pressure. So let’s get our first win next week Bakers.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Jamie Yates

SQUAD: Alan Johnson, Burak Erecci, Dick Williams, Andy Yarrow, Ricky Hine, Colin Combden, Lee Dyer, Doug Murray, Daniel Biggs, Matt Barrett, Huw Petherwick, Chris Young, Ben Seth, John (unknown second name), Jamie Yates, Roy Yates, Rob Pattern.