Written by David Vaughan

Wold arrived in Essex knowing Upminster were on a high from a great run of recent run of results, similar to Wold, but the game was tougher than expected in so much as neither side wanted to give an inch or indeed lose out to their opponents.
It was nail biting stuff for the travelling Wold supporters but it ended in a true display of character and a fine win for the yellow and blacks.
The slope of the pitch played a huge part in this game and Wold had the advantage in the first half and took a seven point lead after only twelve minutes. A scrum on the halfway line was well controlled by Wold and Sam Webb playing at 8 picked up at the back and fed Russell Hume ay 9 who broke blind and fed winger Ben Balls who crashed his way up the touchline to make 40metres before the ball went loose off an Upminster foot for a Wold throw in. It was Sam Webb who again caught the ball well at the back of the line and he broke round the back to feed James Hall who sprinted in for a great try by the right hand post and Russell Hume duly converted
Five minutes later with Wold doing all the pressing they were awarded a scrum five metres out and the front row held strong and pushed the opposition pack towards their try line when the flanker came round and deliberately kicked the ball from an offside position with Wold right over the line.
The penalty try that should have resulted was reduced to a penalty and Wold scrummaged again, pushing Upminster back at speed but this time for Sam Webb at 8 to be told he had made a double movement when dropping down on the ball for what looked a certain try but resulted in a penalty to Upminster who cleared their line from the kick to touch
Wold possibly harshly treated turned their disappointment into constructive aggression and camped in the Upminster half for a further fifteen minutes before James Hall broke away from a ruck in the centre of the pitch and broke through a small gap in the Upminster defence to sprint fully 45metres for one of the tries of the season wide on the left and with the conversion narrowly missed Wold now had a deserved twelve point lead
Two penalties to Upminster and one to Wold in the last five minutes of the first half saw the score at 6 - 15 in Wold's favour at the half time whistle
The second half was a gruelling affair with Upminster having the be4st of the territory with the advantage of the slope but Wold fighting and defending hard to share the possession
Half way through the half Upminster were awarded another penalty and a great kick from nearly on the halfway line reduced the visitors lead to six points and the game on with all nerves jingling
The Wold defence held strong and two vital things also happened to their advantage, firstly Upminster a missed penalty from the touchline by a whisker with a quarter of an hour to go and then five minutes from time with Upminster pressing hard they were awarded a penalty ten metres from the Wold line in a great position. Adrenaline got the better of their second row forward who aimed an elbow at Chris Aldous in front of the ref who then promptly overturned the decision in Wold's favour and they cleared the lines from the kick.
The resulting yellow card left Upminster a man short for the last eight minutes and they never really troubled Wold or the scoreboard again to leave the final score 9 - 15 to Wold
It had been a hard fought match and a hard win for Wold but well deserved and some more vital points to enhance their fifth position in the table

No games for the next two weeks and then a juicy fixture against L and Y at home on the common on 13th February, and lets hope the Wold can play better than they did in losing away last November

MOM Without a doubt James Ballsie Hall

Feed the pig and he will score !!