L 8 - 21  Report & pictures attached

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Photos CLICK HERE

After their win at Norwich last week, Wymondham returned to earth with a bump as, in front of a bumper home crowd of around 400 spectators, table toppers, Holt, recorded what was, in the end, a fairly routine victory. 

 The first ten minutes were decidedly scrappy as both sides tested their opposition and this period was, despite the near-perfect conditions, littered with handling errors as the players struggled to maintain some continuity of possession. 

Holt gradually exerted more pressure on Wymondham and, eventually, after a spell of play in the home 22, a missed tackle in the centre allowed Tim Allen to open the scoring for Holt with a try under the posts which was duly converted by ex-Wymondham youth player, Ian Young. 

With half an hour gone and 7-0 behind, Wymondham found themselves conceding a series of penalties in midfield and eventually they were caught offside within Young’s kicking range and he duly stretched the Holt lead to ten points. 

As the half-time break approached, the Red and Blacks at last began to fire and won a series of penalties in the Holt ‘red zone’ as the away side were forced to kill the ball to prevent a score. Eventually, the referee ran out of patience and sent the Holt scrum half to the sin bin presenting Wilson with a relatively simple kick to register 3 points for Wymondham and leave the score 3-10 at the break. 

The second half saw another spell of fractured play with Holt making use of their forwards to drive up the field and Wymondham conceding a series of penalties for pulling down the mauls. On the hour mark, and after one failed attempt, Ian Young slotted another kick to stretch the Holt lead to 13-3. 

The score seemed to sting Wymondham into action and there followed an excellent period of play with the home side playing the patterns the coaches have been working on all season. The ball was taken into contact, secured and quickly released to the backs through a series of phases until flying winger, Alex Brugger, picked up a pass on the Holt 22 metre line and made the most of his opportunity to burst through the Holt defence and ground the ball over the line. Wilson was unable to add the extra points so, with 15 minutes left, Wymondham had narrowed the gap to 5 points at 13-8. 

At this point, the home side must have felt that they could take something from the match but, again, indiscipline let down the players as one of the backs strayed offside in midfield and presented Young with yet another penalty from which he made no mistake, stretching the lead to 8 points 

Holt then showed why they are top of the table with a stunning try within minutes of the restart. In a move straight from the coaching manual,  Holt moved the ball quickly across the field with backs and forwards combining well to create a two man overlap which left the Holt left winger, Stuart Robson, the easiest of tasks to finish the scoring for the day with Holt running out winners by 21 points to 8. 

Reflecting on the match Wymondham President, Chris Williams, refused to be downhearted as he felt Wymondham were far from being outclassed by the league leaders and believed that his predominantly young side had developed considerably since the reverse fixture at the beginning of the season.

Preview

While Wymondham players and management took great heart from their first ever league victory against Norwich at Beeston Hyrne last week, they are well aware of the scale of the challenge which faces them when they take on league leaders Holt at Tuttles Lane in their second consecutive derby match.

Holt, having let slip their unbeaten record on the slope at Upminster last week, will be looking to bounce back and maintain their healthy lead over Harlow with a convincing win over their local opponents. Wymondham, on the other hand, face two difficult away matches after this Saturday and will be looking to garner some reward to keep them clear of the relegation zone.

The Red and Blacks anticipate good support with a sold-out pre-match lunch and local interest ensuring a packed touchline.

Coaches Justin Loveridge and Alan Turner will be hoping they can provide good entertainment for the crowd while building on the positives from last week’s win. Although they were obviously pleased with the effort and commitment on show against Norwich, they felt that the performance and result could have been improved if the decision making at key moments in the game had been sharper and this was a key aspect of their work in training during the week.

Most of the players who played at Norwich last week are again available but final selection may be delayed as there is an injury doubt over second rower Duckham while pacey winger Brugger  is back in contention having recovered from illness. Classy back, Simmo, is available once again while coach, Alan Turner, looks set to feature in the pack at some point in the match.

Wymondham (From): D Canning, T Masters, J Stuart, J Wright, A Duckham, ATurner, C Brown, D Blake, J Payne, J Wyatt, T Wilson, R Dodds, B O'Sullivan, P Sokia (Capt.), A Brugger, S Simms, N Brown, Simmo.