YM Are Eastern Counties 1 (South) League Champions

YM’s 100% record came to an unfortunate end on a windy, raw afternoon at Sudbury, beaten by well drilled side.

Right from their own kick-off Sudbury seized possession and scored a converted try within two minutes, before YM had gained any possession.

Once they got into the game, however, the YM gained possession and territory, playing their forward-dominated, direct, quick-recycling game. This gained them two penalties, both converted by Barney Horsfield, but there their dominance began to fade and apart from a similar phase in the second half, which brought the YM’s try, the game belonged to the hosts. Their pack was the best the YM have come up against this season, and their threequarters were well organised.

Patchy defence and - apart from in their two purple patches - a tendency to run across the pitch with the ball rather than directly forwards, contributed to the YM’s downfall; their hosts, by contrast, cleverly wheeled the scrum when they were able, so as to give their ball-carrying back row a good opportunity to break.

By half-time Sudbury had extended their lead to 17 – 6, through two further tries, an advantage that they doubled by the final whistle.
It was as well that there was nothing riding on this result; the last of this phase of the season. The YM were already champions, but were denied the grand slam that looked a certainty before Christmas.

Sudbury certainly looked good but to put things into perspective, YM were suffering a number of injuries to key players, plus they had the knowledge that the league was already theirs.