Runwell Wyverns 25pts, Brightlingsea 13pts
Brightlingsea visited the champions with the simplest of game plans : the Runwell strike runners who had strutted with such imperious freedom around Strangers a few weeks earlier had to be stopped on the gain line; the aimless kicking and lateral running had to go and the ball had to be shipped wide through the hands; discipline to be kept and no cards. For 65 minutes they executed it perfectly and for 65 mins they were in no serious danger of losing. They did go behind when they failed to deal with a mazy run by the Wyverns winger and though the conversion was missed the home side added a penalty shortly afterwards to take an 8-0 lead. Brightlingsea hit back when the Wyverns full-back failed to deal with a bobbling ball and under pressure from Jamie Williams could only pop it to a grateful Mullet who run in unopposed. Bart added the conversion and Brightlingsea might well have taken the lead when with the home defence in total disarray and runners available Mullet opted for the most ludicrous of drop goal attempts which got the execution the decision deserved. Not to be too hard on Mullet though as otherwise he had an excellent afternoon in the 10 shirt. Curbing his natural instincts he brought his colleagues into the game with perfectly timed passes and unsettled the defence with intelligent, probing kicks. The only black spot on the first half came when Ollie Morgan mistimed a tackle and departed with a dislocated shoulder. The lack of third substitute now became an issue.
Bart added two well-struck penalties after the break to give the visitors a 13-8 lead and they seemed well in control until events turned against them. First they lost Joe Girdlestone when his recurring shoulder injury flared up. The opportunity to score the crucial try to clinch the game was then lost when a Wyverns defender ducked into Mat Rose’s tackle and the referee initially unmoved was impressed enough with the quality of the appeal to call back the winger from an unopposed run to line.
With about 15 mins to go Sam Girdlestone, Brightlingsea’s stand-out forward killed one ruck too many and the Wyverns pack, unseen by the referee dealt with it in the old-fashioned way. Ian Day figuratively saw red and was probably a bit fortunate not to literally see it as well but at this stage of the game a sin-binning largely amounted to the same thing. Referees are quite rightly trying to eliminate this brutal feature of our sport but they can only give what they see. The Wyverns skipper went to the bin as well but he had had an otherwise ineffectual afternoon and Brightlingsea were down to 13 with two key forwards off the park and no remaining substitute. With his chief tormentor on the treatment table and a permanent overlap the Wyverns 10 so effectively shackled up to this point was free to orchestrate the two tries that won the game. There was more than a hint of a forward pass in the build-up to the final try but Brightlingsea could have no complaints. With a full bench and enough discipline to stick to the game plan they might well have beaten the champions in their own backyard.
