Brentwood 18 Harlow 14

London Three North East

Harlow had difficulty coping with Brentwood on their home pitch last Saturday. Brentwood had a strong heavy pack who were able to control possession for a large part of the game. Although in many of the rucks Harlow were able to recycle ball they were unable to cross the gain line. This meant that the backs received the ball in a static position and attacking moves were easily shut down by a home defence. The pitch at Brentwood slopes steeply and in the first half while playing downhill they were able to keep Harlow pinned back into their own half for the vast majority of the game. Good tactical kicking by players who knew the conditions well added to the difficulty. Brentwood went ahead fairly early in the game with a penalty and then added to this with an unconverted try for an 8 nil lead. For a brief period Harlow did make it into the Brentwood half and had one penalty attempt which fell just short of the target. Late in a-half Brentwood produced an extremely good move by their backs with a well-timed pass allowing the wing to touch down in the corner. The conversion was also target making it a 15 nil lead. Towards the end of the half Harlow managed to distribute the ball rather better to their backs and were able to launch two good attacks. In the first Andy Vanston a retrieved a kick deep in his own half and made a 60 yard run being stopped only inside the 22. The second attack saw several players involved with Ben Jarvis finally stopped 10 yards short having broken clear of most defenders and unfortunately his supporting runners. In the closing minutes of the half a further penalty by Brentwood extended the lead to 18 nil setting Harlow extremely tough target for the second half.

As the second half progressed Harlow came more into the game. Some of the heavy Brentwood forwards were showing signs of fatigue and this provided better attacking opportunities. It was possible however for them to still slow down the ball and frustrate good attacking moves by Harlow . In particular the home forwards were consistently going over and killing the ball in the ruck, denying Harlow possession. To make matters worse Harlow were frequently penalised when attempting to ruck out the offending player. Part-way through the half Nick Ford had to leave the field and Harlow adjusted by moving Josh Bohl to fly half with Francis Brown were coming on at full-back. It was finely Brown on who broke the scoring deadlock taking the ball midfield as he came into the three-quarter line and successfully dummying two defenders to break through for a try. Bohl successfully converted from out near the corner making the score 18 - 7. With the slope in their favour and against a tiring Brentwood side Harlow continued to attack well, Snow was now taking very clean line-out ball and Harron was able to move it quickly to the backs providing several good attack attacking opportunities. The Brentwood defence however continued to a hold until, in the last move of the game, Harlow were awarded a five-metre scrum. They held the ball cleanly and opted to drive for the try-line pushing the tired home pack over the line for No8 Matchett to touch down. With the final kick of the match Bohl converted the try making the score 18-14 at the close.

This result leaves Harlow in 4th place in the league by points difference equal on 18 league points with Brentwood and Romford. Bury St Edmunds are clear at the top will 20 points. These four clubs are now all breaking clear of the rest of the league table and it's  likely that points difference will be a key factor in deciding the promotion slots. On this basis it is essential not only that Harlow win their matches against higher placed clubs but that they drive home large scores against those near the bottom of the table.

Tries: Lloyd Matchett

Conversions: Josh Bohl (2)

1. - James Ephgrave

2. - Scott Romaine

3. - Gary Brown (Blood Replacement Sub 10-20 mins Paul Prindiville)

4. - Jon Snow

5. - Paul Eynon (Captain)

6. - Scott Stoba

7. - Mark Pickett (Sub 60 mins Kain Claridge )

8. - Lloyd Matchett

9. - Lee Harron

10. - Nick Ford (Sub 50 mins Francis Brown)

11. - Simon Vanbeck

12. - Tom Davies

13. - Ben Jarvis

14. - Matt Howard

15. - Josh Bohl

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