Feb 25 - LNE3 Sudbury (A)

L 46 - 8 Report Attached

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sudbury_A

Forced into last minute changes in personnel and positions as a result of injuries failing to heal, Wymondham slipped further towards the foot of the table when they came up against a Sudbury team which bore little resemblance to that which they had beaten at home in October.

Wymondham opened the half playing against a strong and awkward blustery wind.

The tone was set just five minutes into the game when the strong running Sudbury backs cut through the improvised Wymondham midfield and scored under the posts.

The early score gave Sudbury the confidence to run at Wymondham and after 13 minutes from a lineout on their left wing, they spun the ball across the field and finished with a try wide on the right.

At 12-0 down and only 18 minutes played, Wymondham suffered another blow when hard-tackling back row, Sam Hodgson, was forced from the field with what appeared to be a serious leg injury.

The Red and Blacks began to show the patterns that they have practised all season and put together a number of excellent phases of play, moving the ball quickly between forwards and backs and releasing the ball quickly from the breakdowns. Having progressed to the Sudbury 22, however, a knock-on gave the Sudbury scrum-half possession and, with all the Wymondham players in attack, he scampered the length of the field to score under the posts.

Not only had Wymondham conceded another 7 points, but young hooker Tom Masters was left in a heap with a twisted knee and was unable to continue.

There was some consolation for Wymondham when Sims kicked a penalty given for a Sudbury offside but the respite was short-lived as Sudbury bagged possession from the restart and waltzed through midfield for another try under the posts to make the score 24-3 at the break.

The second half proved no better for Wymondham as, straight from the re-start, Sudbury moved the ball quickly to their wing where Brugger made a solid tackle but Sudbury had men in support and crashed over the line.

Wymondham were having more of the play in the second half although the wind, which was now in their favour, had dropped considerably. However, Sudbury broke yet again and, with quick hands and strong running, passed the ball wide and scored again wide on the right to make the score 36-3.

Wymondham came back strongly and Duckham was just held up over the Wymondham line but, with continued pressure, Wymondham won a line out on the right and rolled a maul over the line for Josh Wright to score.

The Red and Blacks were now carrying ‘walking wounded’ but had used all their replacements to replace players injured earlier in the game. Sudbury took full advantage and ran in two more tries to finish the game with the score at 46-8.

This was, to say the least, an unfortunate game for Wymondham but there were some battling and courageous performances on display, in particular Tom Wilson, Josh Wright and David Blake worked extremely hard throughout the game making hard yards and big tackles for their team.

Wymondham must now hope that they can restore their injured players, put this game behind them and travel to Upminster next week determined to return with some league points.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Preview

After losing out to high fliers Harlow by a single point on a quagmire last weekend, Wymondham make a trip across the border to Suffolk this Saturday to play their re-arranged fixture against Sudbury.

Sudbury have an identical playing record to Wymondham with the Red and Blacks sitting one place above the Suffolk team by virtue of having acquired one more bonus point. In the reverse fixture in October, Wymondham prevailed by the slender margin of four points and both sides will be seeking a win to lift them clear of the relegation zone.

Sokia is still a major doubt with a troublesome knee injury while young scrum-half, Harry Anderson-Brown, who has impressed recently, looks to recover from an ankle injury sustained while playing for Wymondham Colts. Jonny Payne will stand by and will certainly not let down the side if called upon. Simo has also been under treatment and Colt, Long, who has impressed in training, may come into the squad for the first time.

Happily, the coaches have fewer problems in the pack and may be able to name a practically unchanged squad.

President, Chris Williams, was impressed with the effort and commitment shown against Harlow and is looking for his team to bag some points over the next couple of weeks to avoid a nervous finale to the season.

Wymondham (From): D Canning, T Masters, N Brown, J Wright, A Duckham, D Blake, S Hodgson, H Anderson-Brown, J Payne, T Wilson, R Dodd, P Sokia (Capt.), A Brugger, Simo, A Turner, J Riches, K Long, J Loveridge.