Harlow 10 Braintree 32
London Three North East
Better finishing
gave
Braintree a clear win in
the final league match of the season. In terms of possession and individual
playing ability the margin between the sides was much less than the score
line indicates. Harlow,
still beset by a massive injury list, had managed to put together a side
with experience and a lot of commitment. A number of players had to play out
of position and many had not played together for some time so defensive
mistakes were bound to happen. To be fair to the Harlow squad two breakaway
tries against the run of play in the final three minutes of the game
produced a final score that flattered Braintree.
The
visitors started strongly taking play into the
Harlow half.
The rams defended well for a few minutes but a well orchestrated break from
close to the line by the visiting fly half saw him score a try and add the
conversion for an early 7 point lead.
From
the re-start Harlow applied some good pressure midfield but then a long
range penalty by the Braintree
fly half extended the lead to 10 points. For the next 15 minutes
Harlow took
play to the visitors. The forwards attacked well making good use of the
rolling maul with Steve Pope linking up well to control possession.
A penalty by Josh Bohl closed the gap to 10 – 3
and for much of the remainder of the half it looked as if
Harlow were
back in the game. The
Harlow backs made some good breaks,
two of them by David Stradling showing that he can still break the gain line
and set up good possession. A Braintree
converted try in the closing minutes of the half extended the lead to 17 – 3
at the interval.
Early in the second half
Braintree added a further unconverted
try but then for much of the time
Harlow had the
better of the play. Eynon playing at No 8 made some good pick ups from the
base of the scrum and set up attacking opportunities. When Harlow
did move the ball wide their backs made good ground but could not deliver
the scoring pass. Eventually however the made the link up and the ball went
through four pairs of hands for Francis Brown to run in a try in the corner.
Bohl slotted a good conversion taking it to 22 – 10 to the visitors.
For the rest of the half Harlow continued to
apply pressure but
Braintree
defended well with good kicking from hand by their No. 10 an important
factor in clearing their lines. As often happens with a side playing catch
up rugby, mistakes in injury time let
Braintree
in for two more unconverted tries in the final three minutes.
Tries:
Francis Brown
Conversions:
Josh Bohl
Penalties:
Josh Bohl
Good performances by
Harlow in the earlier part of the
season mean that they finish the league in fourth place, holding off a late
challenge by Romford on the basis of a better points difference. On Thursday
Harlow will play a visiting team from Sweden.
The Scandinavian climate means that they play their rugby in the summer and
for them this will be a pre-season warm up game.
Harlow looking
to the future hope to field a “development squad” based around their younger
players but re-enforced by a few older players. Kick off is scheduled for
6pm and spectators are very welcome.
1. -
Gary Brown
2. -
Stuart Wilkins
3. -
Steve Pope (Sub 70 mins
Paul
Prindiville)
4. -
Darran Hawkins (Sub
55 mins
Jamie Pope)
5. -
Jon Snow
6. -
Simon Vanbeck
7. -
Michael Weston
8. -
Paul Eynon
9. -
Lee Harron
10. -
Nick Ford
11. -
Will Grimley
12. -
David Stradling (Sub 40 mins
Sean Banks)
13. -
James McFerran
14. -
Francis Brown
15. -
Josh Bohl
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