Ipswich II / III XV 40 - 22 Harwich & Dovercourt I / II XV
Everyone loves a match under the lights and this was evident from the numbers of both spectators and players that had made themselves available for the evening.
After what had seemed forever, Harwich and Dovercourt Rugby Club travelled to Ipswich Rugby club on Friday evening, for their first pre-season match of the year. H&D naming a large squad, made up of 1st and 2nd XV players.
Ipswich started very brightly and got straight into things in the first quarter showing both a strong power game and some flowing backs passing which caused the Harwich defence some trouble early on. That being said there was some resolute defending from the Harwich forwards to keep the home team at bay initially although the deadlock was then broken half way through the first quarter.
With so many players available Harwich we're able to field an almost entirely new team in the second quarter and although showing some ring rust, the players again quickly built into the game to put the home side under some pressure.
Once the third quarter had arrived, Harwich were looking much more like the free flowing rugby team they are aiming to be, mixing hard aggressive forward movement with some sublime punishing backs running lines which resulted in some very impressive scores!
Ipswich, having also made a host of changes to ensure everyone had plenty of game time did not shy away from this and with both teams wanting to play rugby made for an exhilarating period of play.
In the final quarter with both sides again ringing the changes, the home side started to dominate the set piece which provided great go forward allowing them to score some well earned points. However, led by their inspiration and talismanic leader, Harwich were able to muster a heroic effort to finish the scoring off, just before hearing the final whistle.
Although overall the home side had the overall victory, it's fair to say that the Harwich team put in a mighty shift and showed patches of excellent rugby which the coaching staff will look forward to building on.
Harwich now look to improve their pre season position further with a home friendly against Halstead Templars this coming Saturday at low road. 3pm Kick Off.
Report by Robert Wood
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