Dec 03 - LNE3 East London (H)

L  15 - 25  Report Attached

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Wymondham will reflect on this match and wonder how they allowed East London, a team languishing at the bottom of the table, to come to Tuttles Lane and pick up a five point haul. The fact is that they failed to score during a period of early dominance and then gradually allowed the away team to disrupt their patterns of play and impose themselves on the game.

The early play saw Wymondham dominating but then, in a pattern that was to repeat itself all afternoon, they gave way to indiscipline and conceded a penalty which was advanced 10 metres for failure to retreat and found themselves 3-0 down after 10 minutes.

Five minutes later, Wymondham were back on level terms when Wyatt slotted a penalty of their own but then, on the half-hour, an East London penalty was kicked to touch and their pack drove over the home line from the resulting line out. The kick was converted to leave East London ahead by 10-3.

Wymondham had now fallen back into bad habits which the coaches thought they had eradicated and seemed determined to run the ball from their own territory while kicking away possession in attack.

Following a scrappy period of play, with the break imminent, Wymondham handed possession to the visitors in midfield and the ball was moved smartly along their line for a try in the corner to make the score 15-3 to the London side at half-time.

The second half saw Wymondham again demonstrate lack of cohesion which was typified by them conceding a penalty for ‘back chat’. Lapses in concentration cost them dearly and allowed the away side to score two unconverted tries in 15 minutes as tackles were missed and defensive lapses left the visitors with multi man overlaps.

After 25 minutes of the half, Wymondham at last pulled themselves together and began to demonstrate the skills that they have showed on occasions throughout this season. A delightful series of interchanges between Steve Simms and Alex Brugger saw a home try wide out on the right wing and then, just three minutes later, on the 38 minute mark, the backs again demonstrated their ability with newcomer Simo putting the ball down under the posts for his first senior try in Wymondham colours.

With the score at 25-15 to East London, the Red and Blacks now began to play with confidence but, unfortunately, they had left it too late and despite home pressure East London sensibly ran down the clock by taking advantage of a series of reset scrums in midfield.

This will go down as one of the most frustrating games of the season for the home supporters as there were glimpses of the side that has played some sparkling rugby at times this year but also a return to some of the more thoughtless play which must be remedied if their team is to achieve its undoubted potential.

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Wymondham v East London- Preview

After a blank week to recover from their heavy away defeat against South Woodham Ferrers, Wymondham return to League action at Tuttles Lane (2.15) against East London.

The visitors are relatively unknown to Wymondham and currently sit one place above the bottom of the League having won just two of their fixtures to date, against Campion and Newmarket.

The Wymondham management will know better than to underestimate their opponents, however, as experience has shown that any team in this League is capable of winning against another.

The week’s rest has given the Club physiotherapists time to work on the injured players and the Red and Blacks will welcome back their Captain, Pena Sokia, after four weeks out with a shoulder injury.

The final team selection was due to be made after Thursday night training but, with the exception of student Tom Wilson and consistent prop Dane Canning, who are unavailable, and David Martin, who is still suffering from a hip injury, the coaches, unlike their last league game, look to have a strong squad from which to choose.

With Dane Canning’s unavailability, Chris Miller, another graduate of the excellent Wymondham youth system, looks set to start in the front row in his place while classy Fijian, Simmo, and back rowers Riches, Johnson and Hodgson are all back in contention.

The Norfolk Senior Cup match at home against Lowestoft &Yarmouth, scheduled for Sunday, has been conceded by the away side.

WYMONDHAM: From: C. Miller, Forton, Masters, Brown, Kelly, Wright,Johnson, Phoenix, Riches, Hodgson, Blake, Wyatt, Graham-park, O'Sullivan, Sokia, Simmo, Brugger, Simms, Dodds, Crowe.