Brentwood 29 Harlow 24 

London League Division 3

Harlow lost to Brentwood on Saturday on a hard fought and close game on Saturday.  Despite a frantic storm by Harlow on the Brentwood try line by Harlow in the closing ten minutes which resulted in a penalty try, one Brentwood player yellow carded and two others warned the Rams could not clinch it.

Harlow started well opting to tap and run an early kickable penalty which took them to within 5 metres of the visitors line. Brentwood survived tow attacks from a rolling maul and on from a number 8 pick up at the scrum before Harlow moved the ball wide and Vanbeck scored on the far side of the pitch. Ford’s conversion clipped the post and went over for a 7 – 0 lead.  Brentwood countered strongly and within five minutes had broken clear for their own try and conversion to level the score. The game continued at a ferocious pace for most of the half with Harlow having to defend strongly on one or two occasions. They also had their own opportunities but the speed of the Brentwood pack prevented them setting up the quality ball needed to break the gain line. A well struck penalty by ford put the Rams back in front Harlow entered the second half with a 10 – 7 lead.

Early in the second half a good running move by Brentwood saw then run in a good try, converted for a 10 – 14 lead.  Their pack continued to put pressure on Harlow and a further try extended the margin to 10 – 19 and then another penalty took it to 10 – 22. Moving in to the final quarter Harlow began to claim a better share of the territory and their rolling maul started to prove more effective. One such took them maul close to the line before scrum half Lee Harron peeled off with the ball and cut across to ground it close to the posts. Ford slotted the conversion reducing the margin to 17  - 22. Harlow continued to keep play up in the Brentwood half until disaster struck. The visitors kicked deep down into the Harlow half and two defenders raced back to clean up but when diving on the ball id skidded loose straight into the hands of a player chasing up who had an easy run in to score under the posts. The conversion took it to 17 – 29.

In the closing minutes a fired up Harlow mounted attack after attack in the Brentwood 22 but were unable to quite make the line. From a penalty 10 metres out Harron tapped and ran it only to be taken out after one stride by a player who had not retreated. The referee awarded another penalty and everyone including the opposition were amazed that the offender was not yellow carded. A minute later another Brentwood infringement brought a further penalty and this time the yellow was produced. Harlow tapped again and attacked and this time when a defender when offside the penalty try was awarded. Ford converted with a drop kick to save time but the whistle went for full time at 24 – 29.

Tries: Simon Vanbeck, Lee Harron, Penalty Try

Conversions: Nick Ford (3)

Penalty: Nick Ford

(Follow links to player profiles)
1. James Ephgrave
2. Scott Romaine (Sub Tommy Johnson)

3. Paul Prindiville (Sub Gary Brown)
4. Jon Snow

5. Paul Scott
6. Shaun Roberts
7. Mark Pickett
8. Paul Eynon (Captain)
9. Lee Harron
10. Nick Ford
11. Lee Smith

12. James McFerran
13. Billy Stanley (Sub Andrew Vanston)
14. Simon Vanbeck

15. Matt Howard

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