Match Reports 07-08 from Alan Day and Kevin Byatt

Saturday (15th Sept)
Millbrook v Oakmedians Academy 46-26
A good, alround, seasoned performance, with the eight tries coming from eight different players. Oakmedians struggled up front and uncontested scrummages were played for most of the game. Millbrook moved the ball well and at the right times, using the forward advantage to gain ground and disorganise the opposition. A strong and aggressive return of Fijian center Ratu Degei following several injuries.

Nomads v Millbrook 2 5-25
Millbrook played well in all areas of the field with tries from both forwards and backs. Notable performances from Ryan Brito and Luke Wilson. One unfortunate event a half time saw the calling of an ambulance to take Millbrook captain Kevin Byatt to the QA hospital, he was feeling unwell and had chest pains. Following tests, it was found that he had suffered a small heart attack, thankfully he is OK and it is hoped he will be released on Wednesday. Our collective thought are with him, Karen, Rachel and Lisa.

Saturday (22nd Sept)
New Milton v Millbrook 27-19
A rearranged match at short notice, this was a chance for Millbrook to compare ourselves to the league we were relegeted from last year. A tight game in which we felt we played the better rugby but made mistakes that were punished. Three tries scored could have been five with Alan Day having one dissallowed and Ratu Degai losing control over the line.

Millbrook 2
A mix-up at by our opposition meant that no game was played.

Saturday (29th Sept)
Millbrook v Lytchett Minster 26-0
A solid start to our league program, but we struggled at times against a side who were intent on spoiling rather than creating. A slow first half was concluded by us scoring in its final minute, the second half saw our play come together. An explosive display up front gave us a good platform, but we know we should have spun it wide earlier. Four tries in the match keeps up a strong scoring average for the team.

Southampton 3 v Millbrook 2 55-17
Not so much a Southampton 3rds as a Vets side saw them control the game up front and in the loose. We continued to compete and made them fight for the points they scored as well as picking up three tries ourselves. Another day for strong performances from our younger players.

Saturday (6th Oct)
Millbrook 2 v Ryde 19-29
Many thanks firstly to Ryde for making the trip over on a day when a lot of players around the county decided to be spectators instead of players. Also thanks to one of their group for brandishing the whistle. A good open game played with spirit by both teams saw Millbrook take the lead and keep it for most of the game. Ryde showed that the Island has much to offer and stuck to their plans and won the match with two late tries.

Saturday (13th Oct)
Trojans 3rds 17 - Millbrook 2nds 7
A young lightweight Millbrook team took on a strong Trojans team. It took Trojans 55 minutes to break down a determine defence and score the first try of
the game. Millbrook took the lead 10 minutes later with a well worked try .Try scorer Mike Randal getting injured in the process. Unfortunately Millbrook could not hold on to the lead with Trojans scoring two late tries against a tired
Millbrook team that had played very well. A great team performance.

Saturday (3rd Nov)
Nomads v Millbrook 24-29
A quick start with Millbrook scoring in the first five minutes, closly followed by a converted try from Nomads. Millbrook soon made their mark on the game with two further scores going ahead by 7-19, this was then undone with some loose defending, letting Nomads back into the match 19-19.Mark Colmer then made his presence felt with a penalty and convered try. Nomads still would not lie down and with two minutes to go they scored again to get within five points. Millbrook came away with thewin but felt as if we had made hard work of it. (Report by Sonny Bedwell).

Millbrook 2 v Overton 2 37-7
Millbrook started well with a blistering run from deep by veteran fullback Mike Goodrige. Man of the match had to go to newcomer, Lewis Doughty, his five tries showing the more experienced hands how to finish. Multiple changes through the second half gave Millbrooks replacements the game they are always promised but did unsettle the units a little, this allowed Overton to get a consolation try. Leon Brito caused the try count to reach seven, showing the backs that they cannot have all the fun.

Saturday (10th Nov)
Millbrook v Eastleigh 0-7
A Hard fought scrappy game saw Eastleigh with the only ponits. Both sides seemed to have oportunities to score in either half but could not finish when required.

Eastleigh 2 v Millbrook 2 12-19
Another close game between these clubs, this time seeing the seconds fair beeter than the firsts. I am sure this was mentioned in the club afterwards. Three more tries to add to a growing list for the seconds with Millbrook newcomers making the running again. Mike Trent getting his first for the club and Lewis Doughty again scoring. Other points coame fron the Coffin houshold with Jordy getting over the line and Simon adding two conversions.

Saturday (24th Nov)
Chinham v Millbrook 0-12
We started strong with two tries in the first 15 mins, the first from Richard Goodridge being driven over the line, the second from Richard Colmer who also converted his own effort. Towards the end of the first half, after several warnings, Millbrook captain Sonny Bedwell received a yellow card for not staying on his feet at the ruck, prop Luke Farmer followed his captain shortly after this for the same offence. Scrum half Alan Day was also in the bin as Sonny returned in the second half, for not rolling away from a collapsed maul. During this thirteen man period Chinham did not look like scoring and no further points were added by either team.

Millbrook 2 v Chinham 2 27-0
This game was doomed from the start. Chinham could not bring a full front row to Millbrook. Millbrook lent some players for a game to take place. It became apparent that some of the Chinham players were not that experienced and several injuries unfortunately followed. Following one player needing to go to hospital in an ambulance for a suspected broken leg, it was decided that the match be abandoned for the safety of others. Result and merit points agreed to stand. Millbrook would like to extend their thanks to Chinham for trying to get a game played in difficult circumstances and wish the injured players a speedy recovery.

Saturday (1st Dec)
Millbrook v Isle of Wight 12-12

Salisbury Vets v Millbrook 2 10-12
On a bitterly cold & wet Saturday afternoon, the seconds travelled to Salisbury to take on a very experienced Vets team. From the first whistle Salisbury showed their game to be with a strong pack, the considerably younger (apart from Coffin Snr & Wayne Hobson!) team needed to defend with true Millbrook spirit or a white wash was on the cards. Sustained Salisbury pressure resulted in a penalty in front of the posts which saw an early 3 - 0 lead. The rest of the first half provided a lesson in experienced rucking and mauling from Salisbury finished off by a converted try just before half time. At half time, the Millbrook heads were still up and the plan to provide good ball to the backs could turn the game in our favour. The second half started in a strong gale, with Salisbury coming out strongly again the pressure was on Millbrook just to keep their own ball. With ten minutes to go and 10 - 0 down, Millbrook were defending in their 22. After some immense tackling by Steve Blewitt & our two young flankers the ball was presented to the backs for almost the first time in the game. Lewis Doughty took his first run and went all the way scoring under posts, Jordie Coffin converted. Salisbury came straight back at the Brook using their powerful pack to drive back into Millbrook's 22 (where most of this game was played). Great tackling again by the forwards created a turnover ball which went along the backs to again land with Lewis Doughty, who put another five points on the board. Following a number of games whereby the backs had lots of ball and scored many points, this game was all about the determination of the forwards to never give in. An all round great performance by everyone of the team. Man of the Match was blindside flanker George Johnson whose tackling and heart kept many of the players going.

Saturday (5th Jan)
Millbrook v Chinham 43 - 11

Chineham v Millbrook 2nds 10 - 27 (Report by Simon Coffin).
The game did not start well with Chineham requesting uncontested scrums as they could not provide a front row. This immediately took the edge away from the game. It took longer for Millbrook to react to the opportunities this could provide with Chineham taking a 10 - 0 lead. Finally, the 'Brook kicked into action with a new 8, in the form of Eric 'The Viking'. On his inaugral outing he scored two tries, from pick and go pressure. Also scoring in the first half was Zac 'The Mad Celt' Pitman. Unfortunately, our kicking combination of the Coffins was not performing to it's best and we went in 10 - 15 at half time. The second half saw a change of tack with Millbrook endeavouring to utilise our young & fast backs. The forwards provided good ball for the scrum half to ship the out.
Matt Carmichael scored from a Millbrook miss move, he ran half the length of the pitch and placed the ball between the posts. This gave Jordie Coffin a good conversion opportunity which he took. Again, Matt finished off a good backs move to make the final score 10 - 27.
Star players were the tenacious Wayne Rennick in the backs and Man of the Match Zac Pitman.

Saturday 12th Jan
Millbrook s v Tottonians Vets 10-14
On a wet & muddy pitch Millbrook seconds entertained a very experienced Tott's Vet team. Millbrook forwards found the strength and experience of their pack hard to deal with. The first 35 mins saw Millbrook mostly defending, rarely venturing into the Totts half. However for all the sustained pressure the half time score was 0 - 7. Millbrook finishing the half with 14 players following the sin binning of Steve Blewitt. Leon Brito came on for Tom Woodhouse and Jordie Coffin replaced Al Griffin in the hope some fresh legs could change the Millbrook luck. However Totts doubled their points tally very quickly into the second half and Millbrook really had to dig deep to come back. Simon Coffin scored the first Millbrook try with Leon Brito bringing the score to 10. Overall the game was tough for the forwards and a struggle for the backs as Totts closed down all play and really stopped Millbrook from playing. Man of the Match was number 7 Mike Trent whose superb play and support on the pitch helped keep the team going.

Saturday 19th Jan
Millbrook 2nds v Eastleigh 2nds (17 - 10)
Millbrook opened the scoring in the first five minutes with a superb chased down try via Matt Carmichael. He ran half the length of the pitch on what looked like a lost cause and managed to beat the covering Eastleigh back to the ball. The initial euphoria was counteracted by Eastleigh scoring an uncoverted try, and this sums up what was an unexciting first half.
After the break some changes were made of personnel and positions which seemed to give Millbrook the upper hand. From the back of a scrum Millbrook moved the ball out to Lewis Doughty on the wing, who ran in from 30yds, which Coffin coverted. Millbrook then had most of the play however Eastleigh broke through to score again. The Eastleigh fullback kicked the ball upfield which was caught and again passed to Lewis Doughty, who again ran in. Whilst the trys were the end results of the backs, the forwards worked well in line outs to win ball.
Man of the Match was Wayne Renwick, showing that the older members of the team still have plenty to give!

Millbrook 3rds v Eastleigh 3rds (46 - 17)
A real mixture of team was put together for this fixture. From players very new to our club, through to Millbrook stalwarts. This was matched by a team from Eastleigh of some very experienced players and a crop of their more youthful players. The game was played with energy, commitment & all round good spirit with try scorers coming from across the park. Tom Colling opened the scoring within minutes of the kick off and then carried on to score one further try and put in a very good performance in the centres. Millbrook lost their fly half, Ady Spafford, early in the game through injury.This enforced the first change. By half time the score was 15 - 17, with Zac Pitman & Brett Bundy adding to the Millbrook score. The second half had Millbrook make further changes to bring on fresh players & rest injured ones. Good rugby was played and the last quarter of the game opened up more to Millbrook allowing the final try count to reach eight. The others scorers
were Jordie Coffin: scrum half, Alan Day: flanker, Nathan Phippen:flanker, Bill Pugh: Lock. Disappointly the conversion rate was only 37%.
Mentions for good performances from Tom Woodhouse as Hooker and new boy Lloyd Chapple as full back. Thanks to Roberto Barry for replacing a front row replacement of Eastleighs, allowing the game to continue with contested scrums.
Man of the Match was Bill Pugh.