Chelmsford 16 Harlow 20

London League Division Two North East

23rd January 2009

Following on two good wins in their previous matches Harlow could be accused of not taking Chelmsford seriously enough. The home side played with great commitment and were helped by the fact that Harlow conceded too many penalties allowing them to clear their lines on a number of occasions. In the end two well taken tries and accurate kicking by fly half Michael Dobson saw them home for the win to hold on to their seventh place.

Chelmsford started well and a kick to the corner by fly half Tom Morrish, set up the try for winger Ashley Wright. Chelmsford remained in control for most of the first quarter before Morrish slotted a penalty following a high tackle by Harlow giving Chelmsford an 8 point lead. On 26 minutes Harlow hit back; from a maul on half way Paul Eynon broke to the left and carried to the 22. Tackled by their full back, he offloaded to Charlie Woodington, who passed to Shaun Roberts who then offloaded in the tackle to Dan Hockley to run in and score near the corner. Dobson kicked a difficult conversion to close the gap to 8 – 7. On the point of half time from a driving maul a break by Eynon down the blindside and a good kick ahead over the winger making him turn allowed Hockley to show his pace, winning the race to kick ahead and touch down for the Score. Again Dobson was on target with the conversion for an 8 – 14 lead to Harlow at half time.

From restart a great break by Kain Claridge followed by a series of offloads took Harlow to the Chelmsford 22. Chelmsford, who were now in disarray, infringed in midfield stopping a certain try out wide for Harlow; penalty to Harlow Converted by Dobson. Again poor discipline by Harlow allowed Chelmsford to clear their lines and work their way back into the Harlow half. A late tackle by James McFerran, who was sent to the sin bin, allowed Chelmsford to kick deep into the Harlow 22. From the lineout Chelmsford heavy pack drove well in a series of pick and drives before allowing winger Michael Mullins to score the try. The conversion missed leaving the score at 13 – 17. As the game progressed Chelmsford came back very strongly making good use of their forwards but were often robbed of possession by a streetwise Harlow pack. With ten minutes to go Chelmsford were awarded a penalty in front of the Harlow posts. They opted to take the three points although it was not enough for a lead. From the re-start Harlow kicked deep and worked to keep play in the home side half as the clock ran down. With a few minutes left the Harlow pack broke well again putting pressure on Chelmsford that resulted in a Penalty for Harlow who were able to shut the game out for the 16 – 20 win.

This Saturday Harlow are at home to Norwich who after struggling early on in the season have been doing much better recently. If Harlow can continue to exploit opposition mistakes and keep the penalty count down the game is winnable. The result however is critical for both clubs in terms of keeping clear of the bottom few places in the table so expect a close contest.
 

Tries: Dan Hockley (2)

Conversions:  Michael Dobson (2)

Penalties: Michael Dobson (2)

Team List

1 -  Paul Prindiville

2 -  Scott Romaine (Captain)
3 -  Marc Williams

4 -  Kerry Palmer 

5 -  Paul Eynon  

6 -  Shaun Roberts 
7 -  Mark Bowering

8 -  Kain Claridge
9 -  Charlie Woodington
10 - Michael Dobson

11 - Rob Mackie
12 - James McFerran
13 - Luke Bowering

14 - Dan Hockley (Sub Will Grimley 60 mins) 

15 - Frances Brown

Subs not used Matt Branch, Terry Blackwell  

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