After what seemed to be an incredibly positive pre-season for the senior squad, the Saxons travelled to East London to take on Woodford in the opening round of their Regional Anglia 2 campaign.
After positive performances throughout August, most recently against Rochford, expectations for the Saxons are high, however, going to Woodford was never going to be a straightforward task having lost at home to them back in February.
The Saxons kicked off from right to left into the corner looking to apply pressure from the get-go, the hosts looked to clear their lines early, supplying the Saxons with the first real attacking opportunity from a lineout. After working through several phases, a dropped ball on the hosts 22 allowed them to fly hack through on the loose ball twice which the Saxons failed to clear up resulting in Woodford registering the first points of the game. This disappointingly set the tone for the majority of the first half. The hosts made use of some very poor discipline, kicking well into Saxons territory and it wasn’t long before Woodford ran straight through the midfield to secure another seven pointer. Alarm bells began to ring, especially when the hosts registered a third try of the afternoon breaking through out wide and running around the last man to score. Significant defensive lapses were costly and at times unrecognisable. Woodford were deservedly 19-0 up, though from a Southend point of view, did not have to work hard for their opportunities.
Finally, the Saxons began to enjoy some possession working their way into the hosts 22 and some excellent kick chasing from winger Rory Inwood gave the Saxons good attacking opportunities. The set piece struggled to function at times, however, with an advantage being played the Saxons looked to move the ball wide quickly, where new hooker, John Kenward, found himself with work to do, but finished superbly skimming a back and managing to keep his balance to register the visitors first points of the afternoon. Phew, did we need that! Minutes remained of the first half as the sun continued to beam down, a penalty before the break gave Woodford the chance to extend their lead once again, going in 22-7 up at half time.
An element of concern was clear to see on the coaches faces at the break and rightly so, but whatever they said in the changing rooms had an immediate positive impact as the Saxons returned, rejuvenated and ready to kick start. The visitors played with real purpose and intent, and it wasn’t long before we got a decision go our way, allowing the Saxons to get into the Woodford 22. An excellent driving maul saw John Kenward dot down again and suddenly there was some real belief emerging. This was followed by an excellent line break by Matt Wagstaff getting the Saxons well into Woodford territory again. The visitors were patient before Chris Vaughan superbly cross field kicked into space allowing Tom Day to register the Saxons third. Tom Ramsey soon followed suit completing an excellent team try in the corner and an important try bonus point. In a matter of fifteen minutes the Saxons were leading 22-26! A superb response after a dismal first half.
It was now you felt another score was going to be important, to open a gap and break away. This unfortunately wasn’t the case as the Saxons were reduced to 14 men. A lineout in our own 22 that should have been fairly routine wasn’t and a mix up resulted in the Woodford second row catching on the floor unopposed and crossing the whitewash to regather the lead for the hosts. This game no doubt was a wonderful spectacle for the neutral, but for those involved not so! The Saxons struggled to gain field position, some handling errors, some decisions that were questionable, but overall seemed to be lacking continuity. Nevertheless, the players continued to battle and when Ben Lloyd made a good line break the Saxons were brought down in the hosts 22, two quick phases later allowed Jack MacVeigh to finish well in the corner and importantly regain the lead, 29-31.
The clock was ticking, three minutes remained. Retention of the ball was the order of the day as the visitors had a scrum on halfway. The ball came out and the Saxons managed to maintain possession before the whistle went again and were deemed to be holding on! Controversy towards the end as the two Woodford players got back up to their feet, from the Southend side of the ball. Woodford kicked into Southend territory and began to chip away to try and secure a scoring opportunity. Phases built but the visitors held firm, it was then anticipated elation as the Saxons player seemed to have the ball at the next breakdown, only for it to be deemed a different player hadn’t rolled away. The penalty was lined up right in front of the posts, around 30 metres out. The noise levels went through the roof as the hosts regained the lead and took the win.
The Saxons showed how devastating they can be in small glimpses, most notably the forty-to-sixty-minute mark. However, the first half was one to forget from a defensive point of view. A sobering afternoon, nothing won, nothing lost as such but a lot of learning you would expect for Josh, his staff, and players. The Saxons host Holt on the 9th where we will be right behind the team to hopefully kick start the 2023/24 season at home.
SRFC MANAGEMENT
