Match Report (archived)
Match reports 2005/6: 1st XV | Stacks | Gnus
1st Team Match Report - 25th March 2006
Score: 40 - 3
After a series of perhaps the toughest games Canvey, as a club, have had in their history, they made the conscious decision to rest no less than 12 First team regulars in view of next weeks Essex Cup final vs. Rochford. Knowing that second spot in the league was theirs and that in reality it was doubtful Upminster would slip up against bottom placed Thames, 2nd XV skipper Danny Horton and the majority of his "Stacks" side took up the challenge of facing Billericay at Willowbrook sports ground.
The Islanders made a real game of it in the first half, mixing it up with the large Billericay pack and went into the half time interval 17 vs. 3 down.
Many of the Canvey side were experiencing for the first time this year, the pace of First XV rugby and were playing with a lot of heart and determination. However Billericay knew they weren't facing the same side that had beaten them earlier in the year, and in the second half the differences became apparent.
With almost every refereeing decision going against the Islanders early on, Canvey found themselves down to 13 players after a couple of disgruntled players became frustrated.
The courageous remaining 13 battled on, but there was no way they could stop the well drilled Billericay backs, led by their player coach, Dave Harries.
It is hard for the scoreline to reflect this, but the Canvey heads never once went down and showed unbelievable spirit. For these players to come into a game against a good side like Billericay says a lot about the club spirit at Canvey. Many of them could have decided to have said no to playing, but instead relished the opportunity to test themselves and stepped up.
It's now up to the 1st XV regulars to show the same kind of spirit next Sunday and hopefully provide an upset.
First XV were:-
Simon King
Danny Horton
Kevin Hobart
Russell Wright
James Breading
Lloyd Miller
Phil Cowee
Nick Edwards
Luke Smith
Liam O Connor
Ben Chandler
Mark Colville
Stefan Lay
John Campion
Jason Carter
James Deller
Man of the match: Nick Edwards
