Newmarket 0 - 26 Huntingdon (match abandoned)

The last time these two met was in the County Cup, with Huntingdon coming out on top.  That unfortunately was the story again today, with missed tackles, lost balls and holes in the flat lines, which Huntingdon penetrated with countless runs.  It was a very hard game for Newmarket to get out of their half for the first 20mins, which resulted in Huntingdon's first try, which came from a missed tackle that let them through and over the try line. A very well taken conversion followed.

The second try was much the same, a missed tackle down the left hand wing, but a missed conversion. Defending on their 22, Newmarket conceded a third try and conversion.  The fourth try came from a scrum down, after a line-out won by Huntingdon, with the conversion kicking into the wind and taken very well.

There were some very good moments from individual players today. Great run from Iain Moffatt, goods hands from Matthew Marsh, tackling from Dan Bristow, and Joe Stafford's kicking.

The game was unfortunately abandoned with about 15 - 20mins to go, due to an injury to Joe Stafford, which resulted with Joe being taken to hospital with a dislocated right shoulder.

Match reporter: Cheryl Brown

County Cup v Huntingdon

Unfortunately, no opposition yesterday following cancellation by Bury. Next Sunday's home match against Huntingdon is a 10am meet for an 11am kick off.

Please make sure you are at training on Tuesday.

Ely 0 - 48 Newmarket

After a six week lay off because of the winter weather Newmarket showed suprisingly little sign of rustiness and ran in 8 tries without reply against a gallant Ely side.

Playing with the slope in the first half Newmarket quickly took the lead. Ben Jeacock crashed over the line, only to be adjudged to have knocked on, but from the 5 metre scrum the ball went along the line and Jack Watson set up full-back Ashley Reed to score under the posts. Joe Stafford added the first of his 4 conversions, which he later matched with 4 tries.

For most of the match Newmarket played a very narrow game with the forwards keeping the ball tight and Stafford almost playing the No. 10 position as an extra forward. It quickly resulted in the away side doubling the lead as Stafford started and finished a move for the second try with good support from the strong-running Dan Bristow.

Jeacock was again unlucky when he narrowly missed touching down Stafford's delicate chip over the Ely defence but with the home side unable to get away from their own line it was inevitable that another try would come. This time it was from the ever-alert Anton Phillips who pounced on the loose ball to score.

The fourth try was probably the best of the match and came from the unlikeliest of positions. Ely put up a high kick and Gwilym Davies, in his own half, slipped as he turned. Somehow he managed to catch the ball on the ground, avoid a tackle and pop the ball up to Reed. The Newmarket support play was excellent and eventually the ball went out to Matt Marsh who out-sprinted the defence to score in the corner.

Bristow followed the same route a few minutes later but had the extra space to run around and touch down under the posts to complete the first-half scoring.

In the second half the Newmarket backs began to see a little more ball and there were some strong runs and slick passing, notably from Nathan Buckle. But it was still the forwards who had the cutting edge and Ethan Brown soon put Stafford in for a try from short-range.

Ely's response was immediate and they had by far their best passage of play as they pinned Newmarket back on their own try line. Eventually they crossed it but their powerful No. 8 was held up by sterling defence and Newmarket smuggled the ball away with Bristow putting in a long clearing kick.

Newmarket again had territorial advantage and Stafford saw another opportunity to chip over the defence. This time he followed up himself and was able to dribble the ball over he line and score. He then completed his personal tally by scoring the final try in the opposite corner following good work by newcomer, George Rowley.

The match was much enjoyed by a large crowd of Newmarket MAGS.

West Norfolk Match On

Tomorrow's home match is on. Meet at 11.30am for 12.30 kick off.

Unfortunately this match, too, was cancelled when the referee judged that the pich was not fit for play. Thanks to West Norfolk for making the trip, despite the disapppointment of not playing.

Huntingdon match off

Due to frozen conditions, today's match is off.

Saffron Walden 0 - 36 Newmarket

In the first half of the match Newmarket played their most complete rugby of the season. The forwards continued their form of recent weeks to set a solid platform, but the backs also came into their own with a series of flowing moves that resulted in a number of scores.

The first couple of plays were rather scrappy with Newmarket knocking on from the drop out. The Saffron Walden scrum was solid but the away side gave them no time on the ball and quickly recovered it with some fierce tackling. Scrum-half Lewis Heap put a foot into touch as he darted for the line but Walden had already infringed. From the short range tap penalty the ball went to Jack Watson and the inside centre scored under the posts. Joe Stafford added the extras for a seven point lead.

Newmarket were soon back in the opposition half as Nathan Buckle, Dan Bristow and man of the match Anton Philips drove the ball forward before it was spun out to the wing. Unfortunately the pass went slightly forward. Gwilym Davies recovered it after the scrum, first tackling the outside centre and then pouncing on the loose ball. Stafford's chip forward went slightly too far and ran dead but from the 22 drop out Newmarket worked it back to the Walden line and slick passing from Heap saw Toby Colletta score right of the posts. Stafford just squeezed over the conversion.

Newmarket almost scored again direct from the re-start. Bristow charged forward before the ball went to Levi Jagropp who broke the line. His pass went out through Stafford and Watson to Davies who couldn't quite find the final pass that would have given Colletta a certain second try. It was a temporary let off for the home side as Dan Downing wriggled close to the line before Stafford jinked past the defence to touch down.

Saffron Walden were finding it difficult to clear their lines and Lenny Gray ran the ball back strongly from full-back. The forwards then took over. The front row had needed some reorganisation following a foot injury to Tom Wills.  Oliver Sanusi-Bartlett was joined by Downing who moved to prop and Philips at hooker, but it proved an equally effective combination. The back row of Ben Jeacock, Buckle and Jamie Griggs continued to rampage forward and it was a simple task for Bristow to crash over from a couple of metres on the stroke of half-time.

Newmarket started the second half as they finished the first. Philips secured the drop out ball and it was quickly in the hands of Matt Marsh who produced a surprising turn of speed for a second row forward to outpace the Walden backs and score in the corner. His run was significantly straighter than the route he took to get to the ground in the first place.

It would have been easy for the home side to have become demoralised but they deserved a great deal of credit for digging deep. For the rest of the half they challenged Newmarket's overall superiority. Their full-back and No. 8 in particular led by example with strong, straight running leading to missed tackles by the away side and pressure on the Newmarket line.

With a number of rolling substitutions disrupting the organisation of Newmarket's backs, the game became rather scrappy and both sides were guilty of knock-ons and infringements when in good scoring positions. Five minutes from time Newmarket forced the home team to give away a penalty in front of their own posts. Tom Chandler, on at scrum-half, gave them no time to reorganise and nipped over for the final try, converted by Stafford.

Saffron Walden nearly had the last word and were unlucky not to score following great driving by their forwards. The faintest of knock-ons was spotted by the referee to bring the match to a close.

Next Fixture: Away at Saffron Walden

We are away to Saffron Walden on Sunday.

10am meet for 11am kick off.

Click here for Saffron Walden RFC website and directions

Shelford 24 - 10 Newmarket

It was a case of what might have been for Newmarket who put in a terrific 15 man effort against a strong Shelford side in a very watchable encounter.

With secure  ball at the scrums and lineouts and terrific rucking, (really showing the impact of this week's training sessions), the away side had a territorial advantage in both halves. However, Newmarket found it difficult to contain the speedy running and confident handling of the Shelford backs, who took   every opportunity to run the ball away from their own try line. As a result they went two tries ahead by half-time, having survived strong pressure from Newmarket who twice went close to crossing the line themselves.

Newmarket continued to pressure in the second half and were rewarded by two tries as a result of great driving mauls, with both backs and forwards keeping the ball alive. Tom Wills and Dan Bristow each got the ball down for the tries. Between these two scores, though, Shelford got a third break away try and they finished the game by wriggling over at the corner to stretch the margin to 14 points.

Every single Newmarket player put in a fantastic, committed performance and singling out anyone was difficult, but Tom Chandler was named man of the match for his outstanding
tackling.

To see what Shelford thought of the match, click here

Away match at Shelford

The Shelford match kicks off on Sunday at 11am. Please arrive for 10am warm up.

Training: Tuesday 2nd November

Tuesday's training will be taken by Dave Sayer, First Team Coach. Ideally we need the whole squad to benefit from this opportunity, so please make sure you attend. Usual time 6.30 - 8.00pm

Next Sunday's match is away at Shelford.

Swaffham 7 – 24 Newmarket

With both teams nearer full strength this match was much more closely fought than the reverse fixture a week earlier, though the result went the same way.

Much of the first half was a rather scrappy affair with Newmarket dominating open play but losing out in the rucks to Swaffham's more determined forwards. Nevertheless the home team found it very difficult to escape from their own half and were pinned in their own 22 for long periods.

Having held up Newmarket over the line in the second minute, Swaffham's defence couldn't keep them out again shortly afterwards. Ashley Reid returned a clearing kick from the home team. Gwilym Davies pressured the full-back, allowing Dan Downing and Ben Jeacock to move the ball forward. When it was smuggled back to Dan Bristow he handed off the full-back to score in the corner.

Joe Stafford missed the conversion but his penalty to the corner soon put Newmarket back in scoring range. However, a number of handling errors and penalty offences of their own halted  progress. In the best team move of the match, though, Ollie Sanusi-Bartlett, Downing and Ben Jeacock picked and drove to within 5 metres of the try line. Jeacock's pass to scrum-half, Lewis Heap, was slickly flicked on first to Stafford then to Levi Jagropp, and the outside centre touched down close to the posts. This time Stafford made no mistake with the conversion for a 12 point lead at half-time.

Any complacency Newmarket might have had was quickly dispelled as Swaffham's never-say-die attitude forced a 5 metre scrum from which they crashed over under the posts. The away side responded in the best possible way and within a minute they had again extended their lead. Bristow took the ball from a tap penalty and handed it off to Anton Phillips who wriggled into the corner despite the close attention of four defenders.

As the second half progressed Newmarket increasingly dominated, with man of the match Tom Wills and flanker Nathan Buckle influential in the loose. The backs had been outstanding in defence but now got chances to run at the opposition. Toby Colletta, Jack Felton and Reid all tested the Swaffham wingers. But it was Jeacock who set up the final try, getting to within a few metres and slipping the ball for Stafford to touch down. Reid converted and then, full of confidence, sold an outrageous dummy in a charge along the touchline shortly before the full-time whistle.

Newmarket 39 - 0 Swaffham

Newmarket had a number of regular players missing from this convincing victory against an equally depleted Swaffham side. However, that didn't stop them producing an excellent all-round performance in which a number of more recent recruits took their opportunity to shine.

The home team were on the scoreboard almost immediately as good chasing from the kick off set up Anton Phillips to score in the corner. With Phillips and Gwilym Davies putting Swaffham under pressure as they followed up Nathan Buckle's positional kicking, it was not long before Newmarket set up another try opportunity.  Swaffham were forced to give away a penalty and Dan Bristow proved unstoppable from short range. For the second time Joe Stafford slotted the conversion from the touchline.

The away side found it difficult to get the ball out of their territory. When they did they found themselves on the receiving end of some strong running from the Newmarket backs. Lenny Gray reliably gathered the ball at full-back and returned it with interest. Jack Watson added solidity on his return from injury with a broken leg ,and his running and tackling was enough to earn him the man of the match award. However, it was Levi Jagropp, playing his first club match, who made the most obvious impact. Picking up the loose ball, the winger was held up over the line. From the subsequent set piece, scrum half Lewis Heap spotted the blindside opportunity and this time Jagropp could not be denied.

With the front row of Dan Downing, Phillips and Ollie Sanusi-Bartlett forming a rock solid platform at the scrums, in the second half the backs continued to break the line and both Iain Moffat and Jamie Griggs were unlucky not to convert long range runs. However, it was another run from Griggs and some excellent handling that allowed Stafford to score the fourth try.

The forwards didn't want to be left out and determined scrapping by Downing and Ben Jeacock allowed second row Matt Marsh to stretch out a long arm and score. Shortly afterwards it was Tom Chandler's chance to to pick up the loose ball from a Swaffham scrum and this time he was able to evade the chasing defenders and touch down after a 70 metre run.

In recent matches Newmarket had been let down by poor passing, but that appeared to be a thing of the past as the ball again went smoothly out to the wing and Jagropp outpaced the defence to cap a fine performance. Despite conceding the score Swaffham continued to show 100% effort and surprised Stafford by charging down his conversion attempt.

The final score didn't flatter Newmarket, but Swaffham were unlucky not to have put some points on the board themselves.

Thanks to Tim Davies for taking the photographs.

Sunday 17th October

No match this week, so training at 10.30am at Scaltback on Sunday morning.

Please note that next Tuesday's training will be taken by Dave Sayer, Newmarket First Team Coach. Please make sure you attend, if at all possible.

Sudbury 34 - 5 Newmarket

Every member of the squad did something good during the match. Unfortunately Newmarket's individual approach was no match for Sudbury's team effort. A disappointing day saw Newmarket out-tackled, out-passed, out-thought and out-played.

Newmarket's only points were a second half try from Joe Stafford.

Sunday 3rd October

The next match is on Sunday 10th October, away at Sudbury.

Please arrive at their ground to start warm up at 10am. Kickoff is at 11am.

Let's hope that we get to play this week, following the disappointment of turning up at Bury on Sunday only to find that the match had been cancelled. Some mis-communication between the clubs, apparently.

At least it allowed me to get to Shelford for the closing stages of the U11 County Cup. Newmarket were very unlucky to lose to the home team in the final. They were defeated by a golden try in the last play of extra time. Nevertheless, a fantastic effort considering it was the team's first competitive outing of the season.

Newmarket & Shelford U11 County Cup Finalists

Newmarket 31 – 7 Ely

Straight from the opening drop out, Newmarket had Ely under pressure. Following good driving by Ethan Brown, first Ben Jeacock and then Chris Le got over the try line only to be held up. However, it was third time lucky as the rock-solid scrum gave Joe Stafford the opportunity to crash over. His conversion was the first of three successful kicks.

It was closely followed by a second try as Tom Chandler at scrum-half picked up from a Newmarket heel and got close enough to the line for Le to have the simple job of diving over.

It looked as if Newmarket might rack up a cricket score but they then started giving away a series of penalties for infringements, around the ruck and at the line-out, that allowed Ely to clear pressure away from their lines. When the home side did get close to the try line they too often failed to spot the overlaps and Ely snuffed out the direct attacks.

However, Ely found it difficult to lift the pressure entirely and the Newmarket backs were quickly on them as they struggled to gather ball from some excellent territorial kicking from Stafford and Nathan Buckle. First Gwilym Davies caught the opposition winger behind his own line and then Iain Moffat chased down the ball, allowing Tom Wills to drive forward and present a short range scoring opportunity to Dan Bristow.

With Lewis Heap on at scrum-half there was time for a fourth try before half-time. The forwards drove the ball from near the half-way line to within ten metres. Heap darted for the line and Stafford was there to snaffle the ball and score another short-range try.

With the wind in their faces, Newmarket found it much harder going in the second half. A re-invigorated Ely side camped near their try line and crossed it twice in the first ten minutes. Their No. 8 was unlucky to knock-on the first time, but they soon put that right from a tapped penalty for a seven point score.

Newmarket soon returned the favour as strong runs by Moffat and driving by the front row of Ollie Sanusi Bartlett, Dan Downing and Wills allowed the last of these to cross the line, only to be penalised for a double movement in getting the ball down. Although a number of backs moves then petered out, Newmarket were soon back near the line, with newcomers Matt Marsh and Anton Phillips heavily involved in driving mauls, and this time man of the match Bristow was on hand to pick up his second try of the day.

The home side had a couple of further scoring chances before the final whistle sounded, but were foiled by the Ely full-back who first dumped Bristow into touch and then repeated the performance to thwart a strong run by Toby Colletta on the wing.

Biggleswade 32 - 7 Newmarket

After last week's impressive 15 point win against Peterborough, Newmarket were brought down to earth this week by a very competitive Biggleswade team and their own under par performance.

From the start of the first match between these teams for five years, the Bigglewade backs ran the show and it was only last ditch defence that held them at bay until ten minutes into the game when they scored left of the posts.

Nothing was working for Newmarket as passes failed to go to hand, tackle after tackle was missed and lineouts were lost. However, they saw a glimmer of hope when they finally got close to the Biggleswade line, due to good work by Anton Phillips, and Dan Bristow took the recycled ball to crash over. Joe Stafford converted the try for the away side to take a two point lead.

He really has scored

Unfortunately that was the last serious threat that Newmarket posed. As the game progressed Biggleswade also dominated the scrums – normally a Newmarket strength - and judicious kicking kept their opponents on the back foot. For most of the second half Newmarket simply couldn't get out of their own half as they faced wave after wave of attacks.

Phillips and Ben Jeacock showed how tackles should be made but even when Newmarket got temporarily on the front foot they found themselves on the wrong end of a number of close refereeing decisions. Biggleswade hardly made a handling error and their strong running allowed them to put a further five tries on the board for a well-deserved win.

Newmarket 15 – 0 Peterborough

These well-matched teams continued from where they left off in 3 encounters last season with another closely contested and thoroughly watchable game. Traditionally Newmarket have been slow starters but this year pre-season training seems to have paid off as they put in a ferocious performance and maintained a high tempo right to the end of the game.
The basis for the win was laid by the Newmarket forwards who dominated their opponents and frequently stole Peterborough ball from scrums and lineouts. This gave the backs early opportunities to run at the opposition and it was a quick tap from a penalty that allowed new recruit, Tom Chandler, playing at scrum half, to run half the length of the pitch and score in the corner for a 5 point lead at half-time.

This was only one of a number of champagne moments that made the match sparkle. Particularly notable were the strong tackling and running of Iain Moffat; Ashley Reid at fullback gathering a dangerous bouncing ball at full speed in order to clear the danger from the advancing Peterborough attack; the terrier-like determination of Anton Phillips as he somehow wrestled and wriggled his way forward out of rucks; and the equally good defensive qualities of Peterborough as they repeatedly held up Newmarket players who had crossed their try line.

In the second half Newmarket’s superior fitness began to pay dividends and they benefited from a rising penalty count. From one infringement Dan Bristow took the short ball ten metres out and a simple pass inside allowed man of the match, Joe Stafford, to score left of the posts and double the lead.

It wasn’t until the last couple of minutes that Newmarket’s territorial advantage was turned into further points. The ball went along the backs to Toby Colletta who ignored the pleas of his team mates to pass as he took on the entire Peterborough defence to go to ground two metres in front of the posts. As the ball came out of the ruck Ethan Brown popped up with it to dive over for the second time in the match. This time he was able to get the ball down and score.

A great start to the season for Newmarket, marred only by an injury to Jack Watson who played with a fractured bone in his leg for the last quarter of the match and will now be out for up to six weeks.

Trip to Twickenham

The U15s had a very enjoyable trip to Twickenham on 4th September to see the double header that opened the new Premiership season.

Traffic problems meant that we only arrived in time for the second half of the match between London Irish and Saracens. In the second match, Wasps versus Harlequins, the crowd was distracted from the play for at least 5 minutes as Mexican wave after wave rippled round and round the stadium. The air was thick with the cardboard beer holders as they were spun into space from the upper tiers.

Chris contemplates breaking something later

While waiting for the homeward traffic to thin, Chris Stafford showed the boys how it was done with a flat out tackle on a bush. When the pints of anaesthetic had worn off he discovered that he had broken his arm. First injury of the season to the parents.

Many thanks to Louise Buckle for making all the arrangements for a great day out. 

More photos here

Sunday 25th April: 3rd Place in the County Cup

Match report to follow