Match Reports by Brian Wren
NEW SEASON 2005-2006
18-2-06
Dagenham II RUFC ( zillions ) vs Braintree II ( ziltch )
Home BL Division 4
NEW SEASON 2005-2006
18-2-06
Dagenham II RUFC ( zillions ) vs Braintree II ( ziltch )
Home BL Division 4
Having been more than happy to allow our newly promoted side to travel to Braintree and play their 2nd 15 (we should have played the 3rd 15) earlier in the season we find this week that Braintree are not gracious enough to return the favour when they cried off our Merit Table fixture at 8.30pm on Friday evening!!!!!!!!!!
Yes the pathetic country bumpkins have done it again. The spirit of the Merit table has again been dragged through the mud by a supposedly superior Essex Rugby Club.
We should point out that when we travelled to Braintree last season for a Merit Table fixture against their 4th team we supplied 4 players so they could play (They couldn’t be bothered to travel to us last year either). I have no intention of granting them that favour again.
The award of the points for the fixture is scant consolation for all those Dagenham Men who have trained hard all week, re-arranged work and missed out on the customary Friday night piss-up all to be let down by Braintree again.
Well Done Braintree, I hope you lose every other game you play all season long (that’s all of your teams)
This is the opinion of Brian Wren only and does not necessarily represent the opinion of the Club or its Management (It is the opinion of all the players though!)
Match Report by Brian Wren
21-1-06
Dagenham II RUFC ( 26 ) vs Chelmsford III RFC ( 5 )
Away BL Division 4
Dagenham Rugby Club second team, Sponsored by Johnson Stevens Agencies, made the journey to Chelmsford on Saturday looking to avenge the narrow defeat of earlier in the season. However with a side that had been depleted by First team call ups, injuries and unavailablities this looked to be a big ask.
After last weekends capitulation to Basildon the main aim for the D’s was to show some pride in the Badge and all those who took the field had a point to prove.
From the first whistle it looked as if all the talk before hand had been wasted as the D’s allowed the ball to bounce and watched as a Chelmsford player ran 30m to fall on the loose ball. Thankfully for Dagenham the ball was spilled into touch and no harm came of the lacklustre start.
This was to be the last moment of loose play by the D’s who from here on in exerted good pressure on Chelmsford.
Playing up hill with a very strong wind at their back the D’s got the first score of the match. Some good forward driving at scrummage allowed the back line the time to make some incisive breaks into midfield dragging the Chelmsford line across the field.
Captain Jordan Wigham, playing another fine performance, hit a perfectly weighted cross field kick to on rushing wing Peter Blade who beat his opposite number to the ball, a turn of pace saw him go over in the corner to put the D’s 5-0 ahead. An enormous conversion from touch by Wigham put the icing on the cake 7-0.
Chelmsford came out strong after the score but some controlled defensive work, particularly by Dave Genovesso in midfield, allowed the D’s to weather the storm.
Again Wigham began to marshal the attacks with great timing and a second cross field kick to Blade saw the speedster score an even better try than his first. The kick bounced on the 22m line and with both the Chelmsford wing and full back challenging for the ball Blade looked second best.
However the never say die attitude that had been asked of all the players came into force as Blade challenged both of the home players for the bouncing ball took it cleanly and then accelerated away from them to score just left of the posts, again Wigham was spot on with the conversion giving Dagenham a lead of 14-0.
Dagenham coaching staff where not happy to settle for this as a half time lead and urged the side on. Again the forwards, who have come in for much criticism in recent weeks, put in some fine work at the breakdowns to turn ball over.
The balled was played neatly form the breakdown to full back Mark Smith, making his first start of the season, smith weaved his way through several tackles before drawing his wing neatly to ship a basketball style pass out to D’s Wing Ian Barlow who made the easiest of run ins to score, again Wigham converted giving the D’s a half time lead of 21-0
Chelsmford made 7 changes at half time, an illegal move under BL Merit Table rules, however the D’s had no intention of surrendering their lead in the second half.
With the wind at their backs the home side looked to exert some pressure on Dagenham and made a number of breaks into the D’s 22. After holding out for several minutes the D’s line was breached by Chelmsford replacement centre who crashed over to give the home side their only score of the match. 21-5.
With the wind playing a major part in the second half the majority of the play was confined to the midfield and the score did not look like being added to until the D’s were awarded a penalty some 30m out.
With the wind in his face Wigham hit a perfectly straight kick which was held up only to bounce 5m in from the goal line. And then from absolutely no-where centre Dave Genovesso steamed up to take the bouncing ball and crash over the line for a magnificent score. This score epitomised the effort of the Dagenham side put in on the day and capped a fine performance for Man of the Match Genovesso. Conversion missed leaving a final score of 26-5.
This victory guarantee’s the newly promoted D’s status as a Division 4 team for next season and was much more like the Dagenham of old.
Special mentioned should be made for some outstanding performances from Dave Meggs, Tony Wybrow, Jordan Wigham and Mark Smith.
Team : B Smith, Morris. Nelson, Wybrow, Wonderling (Wren), Powell. Hartney, Meggs Evans, Wigham (Capt.), Gennovesso, Stevenson, Blade (Dartnell), Barlow (Sullivan), M Smith.
Match Report by Brian Wren
5-11-05
Dagenham II RUFC ( 60 ) vs East London III ( 7 )
Home Friendly
Dagenham playing on their own ground started off well, with Dagenham putting on early pressure on the East London side. Dagenham scored 1st with a well worked drive off of a line out, with No 8 Jimmy Roberts breaking off and scoring. Dagenham got a wake up call with East London virtually scroring straight after. Dagenham then applied pressure again and fly half Tricky Dicky claiming a drop goal, this put Dagenham in the lead 10-7. From this point onwards Dagenham firmly took control of the game with their second try of the game scored by second row Tom Warwick side stepping two players and holding off another to go over the line. This was quickly followed by inside center Peter Blade barrelling through the middle of the park to score under the posts.
The second half saw some quick action after appling the pressure with winger Ian Barlow driving down the left wing to score in the corner. Good break by Jimmy Roberts from broken play saw Tom Warwick scoring in the right hand corner. Then came a purple patch for Dexter Devlin running in 3 tries in quick succession, with the best one being from outside to in which saw him take a perfect line through their defence to score under the posts. Again this was followed by a try by Jordan Wigam, who picked the ball up from the back of a ruck and ran 30 meters to score in the corner. Jordan also had a good game with his boot, slotting 6 conversions out of 9.
Players: Bill Smith, Neil Powell, Tony West, Tom Warwick, Steven Tucker, Jordan Wigam, Laurence Hartley, Jimmy Roberts, Peter Evans, Dicky Smith, Peter Blade, Pat Feeley Jnr., Ian Barlow, Dexter Devlin, Ryan Stevenson
Sub: Dave Genovese
Match Report by Tom Warwick
29-10-05
Dagenham II RUFC ( 21 ) vs Old Brentwoods ( 14 )
Away BL Division 4
Dagenham started the game more brightly of the two teams, with an early forage into Old Brentwoods half, which saw prop Bill Smith break from behind a ruck, close to there line and score under the post.
The second came from Peter Blade, after some good work by scrum half Peter Evans.
The third followed shortly with a kick and chase, which wing Ryan showed pace and composure to pick up, then calmly put in by Jordan Wigam under the posts, with Wigam geting all three conversions.
The second half was a diffreent story, as Brentwood piled on the pressure scoring two tries, but Dagenham held on and was unlucky not to score agian.
Match Report by Tom Warwick
8-10-05
Dagenham II RUFC ( 15 ) vs Braintree III RFC ( 26 )
Away BL Division 4
Dagenham Rugby Club second team, Sponsored by Johnson Stevens Agencies, made the long journey to Braintree on Saturday looking to keep their unbeaten start to the league campaign. However this was not to be as the D’s turned in their worst performance in the last 2 seasons.
Dagenham took the field with what seemed to be a strong enough side to comfortably defeat bottom side Braintree but the players looked lethargic from the very start.
The opening 20minutes of the encounter were pretty evenly matched with Dagenhams forwards dominating but Braintree’s back line looking far sharper than the D’s.
On 20minutes the opening score of the game came from the D’s forward dominance. Having worked the ball nicely through the forwards setting up several phases to allow Skipper and Number 8 Brian Wren to charge over only to be held up by four defending players. The resulting 5m scrum saw the D’s pack put in a fine drive which allowed Wren the simplest pick up and dive over for his third try in as many matches. The conversion was missed giving Dagenham a lead of 5-0. The score was to come at a price though as D’s captain Wren had to leave the field with a calf injury.
This should have been the kick start that Dagenham needed but again the side fell back into the slow pace they had started with and Braintree took full advantage.
Again the home sides back line tore through the shoddy D’s defence to score right of the posts, the conversion being missed left the game at 5-5 at half time.
Dagenham second string are renowned for playing poorly one half and well the next so better things were expected in the second half. But again this was not to be.
Braintree got off to the better start and put the Dagenham backs under pressure again kicking long to the D’s 22. Wing Ian Barlow took the ball on the bounce and rather than clearing for touch inexplicably kicked back infield. Braintree’s centre took the ball cleanly and sent a massive kick back into the D’s half which should have had the defence scurrying back to cover.
Only one player however did scurry back to cover and was caught by 4 or 5 Braintree players attacking and rather than clear the ball into touch Wing Dave Gennovesso got caught failing to release the ball which resulted in a penalty try. The conversion was duly added giving Braintree the lead at 12-5.
From the restart D’s exerted some good pressure on the Home side and should have scored when centre Perry Lock kicked through and with the line at his mercy uncharacteristically knocked on.
But the D’s were not to be denied, again the forwards put in a huge shove at the scrum, the ball was moved along the back line to the opposite wing were scrum half Peter Evans popped up to take a nice inside pass from Lawrence Hartney to score in the corner with the conversion missed again the score was 12-10 in the Home sides favour.
But again the Dagenham boys rested on their laurels and allowed Braintree to score with relative ease. Some poor handling in midfield saw Braintree steel Dagenham ball and the centre of Dagenham’s defence made a marvellous impression of the Red Sea as it parted wide enough to drive a bus through as again Braintree capitalised to score the simplest of try’s again the conversion was a success leaving the score at 19-10.
It appeared that the D’s were only galvanised into action when Braintree scored because from the kick off The D’s again went on the attack. This time working some good changes between forwards and backs setting up a ruck some 10m from the line, Evans sent the ball wide, for fly half Andy Young to touch down, again the conversion was missed but Dagenham finally seemed to be in the ascendancy. 19-15.
With the clock ticking down a Dagenham attack was thwarted and the ball turned over, Braintree kicked the ball clear to wing Ian Barlow, Barlow had time and space on his hands and beat the first on rushing Braintree defender with ease, but then for no apparent reason he dramatically slowed allowing his opposite number the chance to tackle back and then threw the ball wildly into the air for Braintree’s wing to collect with ease and skate over the line unopposed to score the final try of the match which was duly converted.
As the final whistle blew the score read 26-15 in favour of Braintree and saw Dagenham lose their unbeaten start to the season in a most unsatisfactory manner.
Dagenham now look forward to the visit of in form Chelmsford next week and need consign this performance to the rubbish bin and pick their selves up for the next challenge.
Team : B. Smith, Ketteringham, Blakebrough, Wybrow, Wonderling, Warwick, Acerbis (Gennovesso) Wren (Capt.) (Powell), P Evans, Wigham, Hartney, Feeley, Barlow, Lock, Young.
Subs Not Used: Meggs, Simmons.
However, the improvement in the BL Division 4 leaders is quite remarkable as was proved by the way in which the match was played. Starting without 7 of the team who started the league fixture last week Dagenham really took the game to the supposedly superior opposition. Some poor handling by Upminster saw Dagenham secure clean line out ball on Upminster 10metre line. The drive took Dagenhams forwards to within 30m of the line when Upminster’s open side flanker fringed offside, one of many such infringements on the day, and D’s were awarded a penalty which Jordan Wigham duly converted giving the D’s a 3-0 lead.
Upminster quickly realised they were to be in a game and this was not to be the push over they may have expected and upped the ante from the kick off. Upminster used the forwards well in setting up phase after phase to allow a neat pass to the right wing who duly beat his opposite number for a score which was converted. 3-7.
Dagenham came back in fine style. The ball was worked neatly up field with some fine interchange between forwards and backs, a ruck being set up some 10m from Upminster’s line seemed to have lost momentum until Man of the Match, scrum half Peter Evans sold the most outrageous of dummies to glide in unopposed under the posts, with Wigham missing the conversion the score now stood at 8-7.
The rest of the half belonged to Upminster who exerted wave after wave of pressure in midfield sucking in the D’s defence to then release the right wing again for his second score. 8-14.
Again Upminster attacked from the kick off, again using the midfield to draw in Dagenham’s defenders and again sending the right wing in at the corner for a lead of 8-21. The scoring was concluded with a regulation penalty to Upminster leaving them with what looked to be an unassailable lead at half time of 8-24.
Half time gave the Dagenham coaches the chance to make a number of tactical and personnel changes that would have a great effect on the second half.
Dagenham came out of the blocks quickly in the second half and put Upminster immediately under pressure. A great chase from replacement wing Jamie Dartnell saw the ball hurriedly cleared to touch. The resulting line was taken cleanly again by outstanding line out work from Tony Wybrow and the drive saw Dagenham come within 5m of the Upminster line. Again the Upminster forwards were offside and Dagenham were awarded a penalty.
Rather than go for three the D’s set up a penalty move which worked to perfection. Peter Evans taking the ball from the set piece and moving infield only to sell the same dummy as in the first half which again confounded the Upminster defence to score left of the posts and the D’s were back in the game. Wigham was spot on with his kick leaving the score at 15-24.
With 10 minutes of the half gone Dagenham were in the ascendancy. The introduction of Brian Wren at Number 8 had an almost immediate effect. Again the D’s worked good field position and again Wybrow took the ball cleanly at the line out and unsurprisingly Upminster were again offside 5metres out.
A quick tap from Evans released Brian Wren 5metres from the line and as has been shown time and again he is unstoppable from 5 metres, crashing over with a number of would be tacklers hanging on, Wigham again made no mistake with the penalty and the game was up for grabs at 22-24.
Upminster realised that the tide was turning in the D’s favour and started to use any means possible to thwart the Dagenham advance. Means deemed unlawful at the first lineout of the restart when Upminsters skipper was Yellow carded for taking out a jumper in the line. The Yellow card normally carries a 10 minute sojourn to the sin bin, however, for reasons only known to the referee he allowed the player back on the field after only 3minutes.
Dagenham had the Division 1 side reeling at this point and were on the point of breaking through a second time when Flyhalf Wigham had a long attempted pass intercepted by the Upminster centre. He turned on the paced and raced upfield some 50metres setting up a ruck in field. Dagenham Appeared to have recovered and turned the ball over only for hands on the floor from Upminster stealing the ball back.
This unfortunately was one infringement too many for some of the D’s inexperienced forwards who showed a lack of discipline in becoming involved in a needless fracas that saw the penalty over turned and Dagenham punished by Upminster when the penalty was converted 22-27.
Unfortunately this signalled a turning point in the game. Several Dagenham players felt unfairly punished by the referee and could not shake the sense of injustice. When the Upminster 7 came into the next ruck with a swinging arm completely flooring Dagenhams back row forward Tommy Warwick, a scrap broke out that saw Lock Tommy Waller red carded for punching.
The resulting penalty to Upminster saw the lead extended to 30-22 and now down to 14 men you would have thought D’s would have given up but not so. Again Dagenham attempted to put pressure on the visitors however showed naivety when awarded a penalty and rather then taking 3 points tried to go for 7 only to be foiled by Upminster’s defence.
The last score of the half again came from Upminster with a penalty harshly awarded for offside at a maul was converted leaving the final score at 22-33.
Dagenham could only think what if after this encounter and should note that again a lack of discipline from certain quarters cost Dagenham dearly.
Team : B. Smith, Morris, West (Simmons), Wybrow, Waller, Davis, Powell (Wren), Warwick, , P Evans(Capt.), Wigham, Hartney, Young, Gennovesso (Feeley), Venebles (Dartnell) Barlow.
Subs Not Used: Meggs, Ketteringham.
The D’s came out the blocks flying and directly from the kick off put Westcliffe under some immense pressure. Westcliffe kicked immediately for touch and gave the ball back to Dagenham. A good catch and drive from the line out saw the ball go through several phases each gaining momentum and yards until a ruck was set some ten metres form the line, with the Westcliffe defence in disarray scrum half Peter Evans popped a pass to on rushing Number 8 and skipper Brian Wren who was unstoppable taking 3 defenders with him over the line to score after on 3 minutes. Jordan Wigham landed a fine conversion from wide right of the posts to give Dagenham a dream start, 7-0.
Dagenham knew that Westcliffe would come back and that’s exactly what happened. Some good interchanges in midfield saw the visitors make good ground that was duly rewarded when the Westcliffe wing forward broke free from a ruck, he took the ball to the five metre line and mistakenly thought this was the try line diving over theatrically to score, however, Westcliffe quickly realised their mistake and set the ball up quickly for a pick and drive as the lock went over relatively unopposed, with the conversion being missed the score came back to 7-5.
From the kick off Westcliffe again took the initiative gaining good field position with some fine tactical kicking. This set the platform for their second score. The ball was worked well by the Westcliffe forwards setting up a ruck in midfield. The ball was cleverly chipped forward for the on rushing wings of Westcliffe, Dagenham made the fatal error of letting the ball bounce allowing the Westcliffe wing to pick the ball out of the air to score, again the conversion was missed giving Westcliffe the lead at 10-7.
Dagenham didn’t deserve to be behind and it didn’t last long. The forwards, who put in a tremendous effort all day, turned over Westcliffe ball 20 metres inside their own half, the ball was shipped out to Richard Smith at flyhalf who inturn fed fullback Jordan Wigham. Wigham took the ball at pace and stepped inside two defenders, seeing the field open up Wigham opened his stride fending off a Westcliffe tackler before rounding his opposite number for a fabulous score in the corner. Having taken the plaudits and dusting himself off he then hit a 50m conversion that dropped inches short of the mark. 12-10.
Westcliffe again came back into the game surging upfield. Although D’s defence stood firm for much of the remainder of the half until Dagenham 8 Brian Wren became involved in a fracas which resulted in a Yellow card and 10 minutes in the sin bin. Westcliffe used the extra man and resulting penalty award to the maximum advantage when they scored again to take the first half honours at 15-12.
With another 8 minutes of being down to 14 at the start of the second half Dagenham looked to be in for a rough ride early on, however, this Dagenham side is made of sterner stuff and again came out of the blocks at a rapid pace.
Again some fine work from the 2 man D’s backrow saw Westcliffe hurriedly putting their clearance into touch. The line out ball was very scrappy but superbly cleared up and then set up by Hooker John Ketteringham. The ball was driven forward and the 7man pack of Dagenham shoved the supposedly superior pack of Westcliffe over the line with Tom Warwick touching down to make the score 17-15 to D’s, Conversion missed.
Were the first half had been a see saw affair the second was to be quite different, with Dagenham using tactical kicking to repeatedly pin back the visitors in their own 22. When the D’s came back to a full compliment of players there was only going to be one winner of the game.
The D’s spent most of the remainder of the game trying to batter Westcliffe into submission only to find poor decision making and handling errors costing the D’s more points.
The scoring was wrapped up some 5 minutes from time with a regulation penalty 30m out in front of the posts and Wigham made no mistake giving a final score of 20-15 to the home side.
The final whistle saw looks of relief rather than elation as Dagenham knew they had been involved in a very hard and difficult game. And so the avenging of the only home defeat in last seasons promotion campaign felt all the more satisfying.
This sets up a good platform to take into next weeks John Adler Cup fixture against Upminster and keeps the unbeaten start to the league season.
Team : B. Smith, Ketteringham, Blakeborough, Wybrow, Wonderling, ,Acerbis (Powell), Warwick, Wren (Capt.), P Evans, R Smith, Hartney, Gennovesso, Barlow, Feeley, Wigham.
Subs Not Used: West, Dartnell.
The match started very well for the visiting side with early exchanges being largely dominated by Dagenham. Good pressure at the scrum meant Bakers had very little clean ball to play with and repeatedly conceded territory and penalties from this.
The first score of the match came from a penalty some 15m from Bakers line. Prop Micky Blakeborough took the tap penalty and charged for the line. Good tackling from bakers set up a ruck in front of the posts which Blakeborough managed to escape to set up for the second drive. This time there was no stopping him as he crashed over from 2 yards to give Dagenham a 5-0 lead. A relatively straight forward conversion was missed.
From the kick off again Dagenham piled on the pressure making good territory and taking clean line out ball. Tony Wybrow secured some excellent line out ball from a May & Baker throw some 20metres out and the drive was on.
This time Richard Smith popped a nice little blind-side pass to Blakeborough who again raced over in the corner to touch down. 10 –0. Again the conversion was missed.
At this stage of the half Dagenham were cruising and although Bakers did make several breaks into the Dagenham 22, the next score again came from Dagenham. Having put Bakers under pressure handling on the floor by Martin Ryan of May & Baker gave the away side a penalty in front of the posts. This time Jordan Wigham converted giving Dagenham a 13-0 lead.
The scoring in the half wasn’t over yet though as Dagenham again were on the offensive. Good hands through the back line set up a ruck midfield which Dagenham cleared out nicely. Smith spun a smart pass out wide right to Wing Ryan who seemed to have it all to do with 3 men between him and the line. However Dagenham’s new flying machine left the first two defenders for dead with shear pace on the outside and then a smart step into the full back broke the tackle to allow him to dive over in the corner for the best score of the match. Again the conversion was missed giving a half time score of 18-0.
May & Baker made five changes at half-time bringing on a new back row and two in the back line and it made a huge difference to the performance. Bakers attacked from the whistle of the second half and the game looked to be turning on its head.
Bakers made a very fine break from the first move of the half shifting the ball wide with pace. Good hands from their line and some shoddy defending by Dagenham saw them go over unopposed just left of the posts to bring the score back to 18-7.
The Dagenham heads seriously dropped at this stage and it gave May & Baker the impetus. Time after time Bakers pressed Dagenham only for some last ditch tackles and some poor hands by Bakers costing them their second score.
The home side were not to be denied though, again they won good clean ball from a line out shipped the ball wide very quickly and put the D’s defence into disarray. The ball was moved quickly back across field and from a resulting ruck ex Dagenham player Brian Eyles strolled over unopposed to bring the game back to 18-14.
With only 20 minutes of the half gone Bakers looked to be in the ascendancy and the next score would be crucial and it went to Dagenham. A fly hack off a loose ball in the Dagenham half saw centre Dave Genovesso set off on a chase.
He reached the ball before the bakers cover to kick on again, with three bakers defenders chasing hard Genovesso needed some luck and he got it with the ball bouncing up into his path for him to take it without having to break stride, this coupled with a great change of angle and he was in right of the posts, 23-14 this time Wigham found his range and converted leaving the score at 25-14.
However, with 11 minutes left Bakers had no intentions of lying down and came back all the more fiercely. Again some great work by their forwards gave good clean ball to the backs who again found the Dagenham defenders wanting, this time going in under the posts and with the simplest of conversions setting up a nail biting end leaving the score 25-21.
For the last 6 minutes Dagenham grimly held on. The defence came back to the party and managed just to keep Bakers out. Flanker Tom Warwick saving the day with a magnificent tackle on Bakers Number 8 Dave Scawthorn when he had the line at his mercy.
With time up Bakers made one last attack up the blind side, bakers wing made a good break but run straight into Dagenham Captain Brian Wren who bundled him into touch for the final whistle and a fine away win for Dagenham.
Credit should be given to May & Baker for the way they came back at Dagenham in the second half and although Dagenham held on in the end it was a very close thing.
Team : B. Smith, Morris, Blakeborough, Wybrow, Wonderling, ,Acerbis, Warwick Wren (Capt.), R Smith, Young, Hartney, Gennovesso, Barlow, Ryan (Feeley), Young Subs Not Used: Meggs, Lewis, Powell, Venables.
SEASON 2004-2005
23-4-05
Dagenham II RUFC (36) vs Romford & Gidea Park RFC (0)
Away BL Merit Division 5
A full strength D’s took the field for the first time in 3 months and it showed from the start. In previous weeks first team call ups and injuries have meant players regularly being out of position but with the same team that started the campaign so well Romford were no match for a rampant Dagenham.
The scoring started early in the game, a good kick and chase from Dagenham resulted in a 5m scrum for Dagenham, an attempted backrow move failed when the ball was spilled over the line, but the resulting Romford scrum was turned over. The ball was fed to the back line for Centre Darren Gunner to crash over for the first score of the match. The conversion was made by Jordan Wigham, 7-0.
From the resulting kick off the Dagenham pack again secured good ball. Following some good exchanges in the middle of the field an excellent kick by flyhalf Jordan Wigham resulted in good field position for the D’s. The resulting Romford line out was spoiled by Dagenham, the ball was turned over and it was try time again as Darren Gunner again collected a magnificent pass from John Ketteringham to crash over for his second try of the afternoon. This time Wigham failed with the conversion. 12-0.
Dagenham kept up the pressure on Romford throughout the half, but a combination of poor handling and decision making and resolute Romford defending meant several good opportunities were wasted.
With 5 minutes of the half remaining Dagenham scored again. Romford had a line out on their own 5m line, an over throw from the Romford Hooker fell into the hands of Dagenham skipper Brian Wren who from five metres was unstoppable, again Wigham missed the conversion giving a half time score of 17-0.
The second half started much better for Romford with some changes to their team giving them good pressure on Dagenham, the first 20-minutes of the half was a topsy turvy affair with play moving up and down the field without any real incision by either team until an fine break by centre Lawrence Hartney.
Hartney Collected a neat pass on the Romford 22m line skipped and weaved pass 2 or 3 tackles and neatly touched down just left of the posts. This time Wigham made no mistake with the conversion. 24-0
The next score of the half was also another fine solo effort with an excellent break from half way by wing Mark Smith.
Having collected the loose ball Smith broke down the right wing beating two tacklers to score under the posts. The conversion was made by Wigham leaving the score at 31-0.
For the remainder of the half the play was broken with sporadic attacking from both Romford and Dagenham. The final score of the Match came from Captain Brian Wren. Romford were again penned back in their twenty two by a fine kick from Wigham, Romford tried to break out with a quick throw at the line only for it to be intercepted by Wren who went over unopposed for his second try of the Match, again Wigham was unable to convert, 36-0.
Although Dagenham threaten to score on several more occasions Romford defended the line admirably leaving a Final Score of Romford & Gidea Park (0) – Dagenham (36).
The win secured Dagenham’s position of second place in this years table and capped a very successful season for the Central Park second string.
Special mention should be made to all those players who have put in an enormous amount of effort this season, especially those who have supported the team and club throughout the year, to create a fine placing for a great bunch of Guys.
This leaves us looking forward to a successful Season in 2005-06.
Team : Lewis, Ketteringham (Morris), Brooks, Tape, B Smith, Powell, Acerbis (Davis), Wren (Capt.), Evans, Wigham, Gunner, Hartney, Blade (Genovesso), M Smith (Dartnell), Young (Barlow). Subs Not Used Meggs.
12-3-05
Dagenham II RUFC (27) vs Ilford IV RFC (8)
BL Merit Division 5
The Dagenham side were once again missing several key players especially in the pack but the return of Captain Brian Wren and outstanding player of recent weeks Number 8 Bill Davis gave the team the boost they needed.
The game started very well for Dagenham, who elected to play with the strong wind in the first 40minutes, with lots of good early pressure. Although physically the home side had a much larger pack the visitors put excellent team work and work ethic into each set piece situation and absolutely destroyed the Ilford Scrum and Line out winning ball against the head time after time.
The first score of the match came some 10minutes in, again the Dagenham drive at the scrum had the Ilford pack in full reverse mode and as they tried to clear their lines Number 8 Billy Davis charged down the kick and then touched down to score a fine try, goal kicking machine Jordan Wigham stepped up to slot the conversion to give a lead of 0-7.
Five minutes later Dagenham were at it again, this time a fine break by scrum half Peter Evans saw some good hands along the line for Ian Barlow to break through two tacklers, he was stopped just short of the line, great support work from Backrow partners Neil Powell and Reece Morris saw the ball cleared out for a pop to Jordan Wigham to score his 1st try of the day, again he converted giving a lead of 0-14.
Dagenhams next score came from a penalty near half way that Wigham again dispatched with aplomb, 0-17.
Ilford scored next, having put in some good running the ball was killed on the floor by Bill Davis for a penalty in front of the posts, this was duly converted leaving the score at 3-17. Ilford used this reward as a boost to exert some good pressure on Dagenham. However, the D’s defence stood firm and held up numerous driving mauls and included some good last ditch tackling from new centre pairing Patrick Feeley and David Genovesso.
Dagenham’s next score started in their own 22 after a massive tackle from Genovesso caused Ilford to spill the ball forward, Feeley hacked a huge clearance up field and the chase was on. As the ball sailed across field wing Ian Barlow kicked on again beating Ilford’s full back to the ball and raced on to score a simple try under the posts, remarkably Wigham missed the conversion leaving the score at 3-22.
As the half drew to a close Dagenham scored again this time through a well worked back move, Wigham having another outstanding game at 10. Passed long to Feeley in the centres, his quick break and pass back to Genovesso opened the space for Wigham to loop around and score near the corner giving a half time lead of 3-27 to Dagenham.
The second half was always going to be much harder with a very strong wind now in the home sides favour, that coupled with 3 substitutions at half time gave the home side the advantage.
However, although the only score came from Ilford scrum half (conversion missed) Dagenham still maintained complete domination in the Forwards and resolutely defended their line.
With a Final Score of 8-27 Dagenham moved a step closer to 2nd spot in the league, with two games left and only a point behind the current holders of 2nd place Dagenhams destiny is in their own hands.
With 2 games remaining maximum points will give Dagenham 2nd place and will cap a very good season for the vastly improved Dagenham II.
Team : Lewis, Ketteringham, West, Meggs, Wren (Capt.), Morris, Powell, Davis (Dartnell), Evans, Wigham, Genovesso, Feeley, Barlow, Venables, Young.