ERRFC Colts beat Fordingbridge

Right from the kick off Ellingham pushed into the Fordingbridge half and after a period of pressure on the Fordingbridge line, and with a penalty advantage the ball was spun out from a ruck and fly half, James Wilding, glided through 3 defenders and over the try line for the first score and an early lead. Unfortunately Zach Morrish was unable to add the extra 2 points.
Fordingbridge came right back at Ellingham and created some good phase play within the Ellingham 22, however the defence stood firm, and eventually won a penalty. This followed by another quick penalty near half way meant Ellingham were back in the Fordingbridge half. The ball was spread wide, stretching the Fordingbridge defence resulting in another penalty which was put into the corner. Quick ball from the line out resulted in a ruck 10m out, an audacious chip by Zach Morrish from the back of the ruck allowed Aiden to run through and dot down for the 2nd try, which was duly converted by Zach.
It was a repeat following the next kick off, Fordingbridge pressure, good defence from Ellingham resulted in multiple penalties and Ellingham are on the attach again. This time a blindside break from a scrum led to a ruck near the Fordingbridge goal line and Jamie Tunnicliff crashed over from short range. He claims it was at least 5m, we think it was more like 0.5m!! The conversion drifted just wide.
Fordingbridge are a good side, and it came as no surprise when they scored next. Again they pressured from the kick off, only this time it was Ellingham who made the mistakes. In trying to clear their lines there were a number of handling errors which resulted in the ball being turned over to Fordingbridge. The ball found it's way into the hands of their large prop who crashed over underneath the posts, the conversion was successful.
Half time came with the score 17-7 to Ellingham
The half time talk seemed to ignite Fordingbridge and the applied all the pressure from the restart. Ellingham were delivering their best defensive performance of the season with every man putting in tackle after tackle, however they finally buckled under the relentless pressure. Fordingbridge put in an excellent kick which resulted in Ellingham carrying over, and a scrum to Fordingbridge who then hit wave after wave of pressure on the Ellingham line which finally gave way. Unfortunately Fordingbridge were unable to convert.
With the score at 17-12 and Fordingbridge with the upper hand it was a test of character for the Ellingham boys, in previous games they have struggled when the opposition applied pressure, but not this time. Number 8, Ollie Barrett put in a HUGE cross field kick right into the Fordingbridge 22, unfortunately Ellingham gave away a penalty from the ensuing ruck. However, somewhat unexplainably, Fordingbridge took a quick tap penalty but a massive tackle on the ball carrier resulted in him knocking the ball on. Harry Avoth reacted quickest, scoping the ball up and moving forward, and excellent slight of hand pass to Zach changed the direction of play in an instant and Zach was able to find a way through the Fordingbridge defence and dive under the posts (a-la Chris Ashton) for a try which he converted.
This was the confidence boost Ellingham needed and they didn't look back. The next try came from a scrum in the middle of the park, Ollie picked up from No8, good hands saw the ball to Josh Cope who sprinted into the corner from 40m. Despite a good effort from out wide the conversion just drifted wide.
The last try was scored just before the final whistle, in similar fashion to the last, a break from a scrum resulted in a good ruck and then the ball was moved through many hands down the back line, again getting to Cope who drifted past multiple defenders to score in the same corner. This conversion was better, but again fell just short.
Final Score 34-12 to Ellingham.
A great performance both in attack and defence which can be taken into the rest of the season.