On a glorious evening in Colchester, under the floodlights on the main pitch, a dynasty was born. Well, Suffolk Wooden Spoon vets had their first run out, and what a run out it was with representatives from seven Suffolk sides in the 18-man squad
Played over four quarters, Suffolk bagged four in the first 20 minutes, equally split between captain Ed Merry, playing at fly-half and centre Nemani Ledua. Merry converting one of his two. Colchester only managed to grab one in response, but this was the only period where either side dominated the scoring. A quieter second 20 saw just one try apiece, Suffolk’s scorer was back row Simon Van Beck, meaning the half-time score was 14-27.
Honours were even in the third quarter with both teams bagging a brace. Merry completed his hattrick for the Spoon, as did Ledua, converted by Julian North. Ledua’s mazy running was a real thorn in the side of the Colchester defence, however, more than once, Suffolk’s defence had to be in top form to prevent further scores from the hosts, as their dynamic running back row and centre pairing caused no end of issues.
The final quarter was played at no less pace than the first and again, two tries were scored by Colchester and two by Suffolk. Ledua got a fourth, converted by Jon McKechnie, before Dean Benn got the visitor’s final try. Colchester’s final response was a well worked try by both teams which saw 76-year-old prop, Alan Goggin cross under the posts on his second carry of the four-phase move.
The final score, not that it matters, was 36-53 but more importantly £550 was raised for the disabled and disadvantaged children of Suffolk in the name of Wooden Spoon, the children’s charity of rugby.