As a result of the rescheduling of the Southwold vs Ely EC1 league game, Southwold secured a friendly game against old rivals Crusaders.

October 9th 2010 is still a thorn in the side of many Southwold players as this is when Southwold lost to Crusaders in the last 10 minutes of the game. Following 70 minutes of comprehensively outplaying Crusaders and having more points on the board, several handling errors gifted the game to Crusaders, who were quick to seize upon several spilt balls.

Time to make amends for letting the last game slip away!

Fielding a much changed side from recent months, Southwold were keen to come away from this friendly with the win. A win earned through expansive, fast flowing rugby would be great; a win by 1 point would suffice!

The game started at a frenetic pace with both teams keen to get the upper hand and secure good field position. Charging runs into each others defensive lines were exchanged as each team tested out each others resolve and ability to cope under pressure. Great tackling by both teams meant that most runs were snuffed out with turn over ball in the 2nd or third phase of play. Neither team could string enough phases of play together to take advantage of the gaps developing out wide.

After a particularly long period of sustained pressure from Crusaders, Southwold found themselves 5 yards from their own try line, defending for their lives. A well organised Southwold defence kept the home team from scoring on at least 3 occasions. Then, following another charge at the try line, Crusaders knocked the ball on. The ball was quickly picked up by Southwold and expertly driven back out of the danger zone and closer to the 22 line. Finally, a great pass to the Southwold winger - putting him into space - saw him run 60 yards to score out wide. This goes to show, the greatest form of defence is always attack! Half time: Southwold 5 – 0

The second half is best summarised as ‘40 minutes of stalemate.’ Neither team could string together many phases of play, with attacks lasting for 1 or 2 phases. As the stalemate continued, frustrated players gave more and more penalties away. Crusaders eventually scored a penalty after 3 misses, taking the score to Southwold 5 – 3.

Blood was nearing boiling point as neither team were able to string together enough phases of play to score. Then, after several fuses blowing simultaneously, and in a scene reminiscent of the 1974 British Lions tour to South Africa and Willie John McBrides ’99 call’ frustrations were vented………

Several minutes later, 2 people were sin binned and the game resumed, at stalemate for the final quarter, the score line remaining unchanged until the final whistle.

In summary, Southwold deserved the win, defending superbly well throughout the game. Defence however, is only part of the game, and more work needs to be done on attacking strategies. As we near the mid point of the season and honestly assess where we are as a team, more tries and points need to be scored in each game, giving us the best chances of earning vital bonus points and stretching the gap between points scored and points conceded. Southwold are only 8 points off 3rd place in the league which equates to just 2 wins with a bonus point in each game – very achievable with the squad we have.

Finally, there is a special mention to Tom who came on in the second half to join the forwards. This was his first full half for the 1st XV and he made a solid contribution. Well done!

Next game: Saturday 18th December EC1 Southwold vs Woodbridge (HOME)

Please note there is a Christmas lunch at the club before kick off. Tickets are available from Day Harvey. Everyone is welcome!