Sat 7 Dec 2024
IPSWICH YM RUFC First XV v MARCH BEARS RUFC Match Report
7th December 2024
The fringes of Storm Darragh made its significant presence felt at the Rushmere ground with buffeting winds and driving rain being a constant companion to the players, officials, coaches and supporters of both teams. So a big thanks are due to all – including the staff in the clubhouse – for making the significant effort to play, officiate and support both teams in such difficult conditions. It is also worth stating that the rugby played by both teams often belied those conditions and delivered a largely flowing game.
The YM were playing predominantly into the buffeting winds and rain in the first half but quickly established field position in the Bears half with the YM benefiting from infringements at the breakdown. The YM’s set piece, whether line-out or scrum, was solid and delivered clean ball to scrum half Adam O’Leary that allowed the back line to advance into the Bears 22 which was defended well. The soaking pitch and rugby ball inevitably led to knock-ons and the YM’s dominance in the resulting scrum allowed number eight Andrew Goodbourn to gather and touch down for the first try after 10 minutes.
Any kicks in the wind shearing into and across the pitch was always going to be an extremely tricky proposition but Barny Horsfield’s conversion effort was successful for the YM to take a 7-0 lead.
A touch of déjà vu quickly found the YM with an attacking scrum 5m from the Bears try line and the pack again delivered a similar outcome with Goodbourn once again left with the simplest of touch down scores at the base of the scrum. It may have been a simple try but it clearly reflected some hard training yards by all of the pack alongside coaching expertise.
Horsfield’s conversion effort followed a similar trajectory but this time was just wide of the uprights as the YM extended their lead to 12-0 on 17 minutes.
The rest of the first half was largely attritional play with the YM unable to convert their field position into points despite their continued dominance in the set piece. The conditions and dogged defence from the Bears being the winners in this particular contest.
With a quick half-time turnaround being welcome by players and supporters alike the second half got underway with the wind broadly providing some assistance to the YM and allowing Horsfield and inside centre, George Hendry, the additional option to kick into space behind the Bears defence. A chip and chase by Hendry on 45 minutes resulted in a penalty to the YM on 5 metres and a quickly taken tap-penalty allowed Hendry to score which Horsfield converted for a 19-0 lead.
The Bears fly-half, John Dibb, showed some quick-thinking by taking a quick tap penalty in his own half and evading tackles broke out of his half and rather too comfortably beat the YM back line defence to score an excellent individual try on 55 minutes. His conversion effort was unsuccessful in the worsening conditions but the Bears were on the scoresheet, YM 19 vs March Bears 5.
The YM were now seeking the bonus point score and it was delivered in slightly bizarre circumstances as the Bears attempted a repeat of running a penalty out of their own 22. Unfortunately, the quick tap was presented to a grateful Hendry who gathered and ran in a simple try under the posts which was converted for the bonus point try and a YM lead of 26-5.
The YM dominated the final ten minutes of the match despite their scrum dominance being temporarily suspended as a yellow card by the Bears prop led to ten minutes of uncontested scrums. YM substitutes finished the game with Joshua Rhind making a welcome return from injury and Sean Frisby and Baillie Malyon making their first XV debuts in the pack and wing respectively.
The YM were pitched down in the Bears 22 and the ruck set up from an attacking line out enabled Frisby to burrow over for a score. The conversion was missed for a score of YM 31-5.
The YM pinned the Bears back again in their own half from the restart and benefiting again from a dominant, competitive scrum provided Jake Goodwin with the opportunity to run in the final try which was converted by Horsfield as the final kick of the game to leave the score at Ipswich YM 38 vs March Bears 5.
WE ARE THE Y!
