A double win at Sudbury in the Eastern Counties Colts Conference

Southwold Colts ventured across Suffolk to Sudbury for the latest round of the Eastern Counties Colts Conference matches.

The first match of the afternoon was between the hosts Sudbury and Shelford. A very tight game was interrupted with a spectacular clap of thunder and overhead lightning that sent all players heading to the safety of the clubhouse. Some very heavy rain accompanied the fireworks, but the hosts seemed to adapt better to the conditions when the game resumed and eventually found a try to record a 5-0 win.

Southwold Colts with a travelling squad of 23 were keen to get into the action against reigning Eastern Counties Cup Champions and National Cup contenders Shelford. We won this game 10-0. Please read the Match Report for details.

A brief break and a reorganisation of the squad brought any players who had missed out in the first match on to play against our hosts Sudbury. Sudbury were a bit of an unknown quantity for Southwold as we only played them at 7s last season, but we knew it was going to be a tough game given their win over Shelford. To their credit Sudbury were first to strike with a well worked lineout resulting in a try in the opening two minutes to give the hosts a 5-0 lead. Play continued from end to end with both sides showing plenty of attacking endeavour through to half time.

In the second half Sudbury were again first out of the blocks with a classy try to double their lead to 0-10. Wold knew they had to get themselves on the scoresheet quickly or the clock would be ticking on their ambitions. Strong breaks from the Wold half backs and consistent pressure from the Wold pack led to a string of penalties being conceded by the home side in their own 22. Eventually the pressure told and the referee awarded Southwold a penalty try for a deliberate knock on in a scoring position. Perhaps to the relief of the Sudbury team a yellow card did not follow but the score gave Southwold a fighting chance at 10-7 down. From this point on it was all about Southwold possession and some very strong Sudbury defence.

Southwold had the heavy artillery working overtime with some massive carrying efforts and fine clearing of the ruck continually presenting more opportunities to bombard the Sudbury line. The Southwold forwards continued to recycle high quality ball despite perhaps overlooking blindside and wider opportunities. The relentless pressure finally told with Southwold’s feisty prop Sam delivering the final thunderclap of the day into the Sudbury ranks and give Southwold the lead 10-12. That was the final score of the game and Southwold were delighted to have recorded two wins on the road with a great contribution across the whole squad. Arn the Wold Colts.