Norwich 11 Harlow 7

London League Division Two North East

24th October 2009

After holding on to the narrowest of leads for almost all of the game Harlow conceded a try with 10 minutes to go, allowing the home side to steal the points. The game was played in poor light and with a wet pitch and intermittent drizzle making it difficult to play good rugby. Harlow had the better of the territory for a large part of the game but allowed themselves to be hassled by a slightly fitter and quicker Norwich pack. The result was that although the Rams got plenty of possession it was usually as they were being pushed back, making it much more difficult for them to make the best use of the ball.

Norwich went ahead after 5 minutes with a penalty from R. Micklethwaite. Harlow countered from the kick off and a well placed kick towards the corner put their winger under pressure. He fumbled the ball and the Harlow number six Shaun Roberts was quick to pounce for the try. Dobson converted to give Harlow a seven points to three lead. Four minutes later another penalty from Micklethwaite closed the gap to Harlow 7 Norwich 6. For much of the remaining first half the game was a slog midfield with neither side creating that many opportunities of scoring. Harlow had some good periods in the Norwich 22 but their defensive line was good and there were no real occasions when a score looked likely. The teams turned around with Harlow still holding to their 1 point lead.

For much of the second half Harlow contested the ball midfield but were unable to create any clean breaks. The problem was basically a lack of quick clean possession. In the set scrums the home side had a very slight advantage but just enough to ensure that Lee Harron could not get clean possession to launch his backs. The result was that it was easy for Norwich to close down most of the Harlow moves. A major problem for Harlow which became worse as the game went on was that they were unable to take clean ball at the line outs. This is normally a strong point from Harlow rugby and combined with their normally effective rolling maul gives them a number of good attacking opportunities. Without this advantage and with no clear edge in other aspects of the play the game became a slow and boring spectacle. It was only when most spectators had decided that there would be no more scoring, and with just 10 minutes to go Norwich started to move the ball wide to their backs. A good pass out to their winger allowed him to the outpace be tiring Harlow defence to touch down for an unconverted try near the corner. In the few remaining minutes Harlow tried to counter that the home side tied the game up well and were able to run down the clock to win by 11 points to 7.


Harlow need to take this result very seriously and to sharpen up their game in the remaining matches between now and Christmas. Until last Saturday they had the comfort that there were three sides below them who were really getting nowhere at all. Last weekend however both Ipswich and Enfield Ignatians won and even the bottom club Mersea Island put in a respectable performance against second placed Braintree. It means that there are now no clubs in the league where Harlow can consider a win to be certain. More seriously the clubs below them are closing the gap and we could have a situation where there was virtually nothing to choose between the bottom half of the table. This weekend Harlow are away to Hemel Hempstead in the first round of the Intermediate Cup. The following weekend they are at home to Ipswich, the club immediately below them but only on points difference. If Harlow are to keep out of the danger zone that will be very much a must win game.

Tries: Shaun Roberts 

Conversions:  Michael Dobson

Penalties:

Team List

1 -  James Ephgrave

2 -  Scott Romaine (Captain)
3 -  Matt Branch (Sub Marc Williams 60 mins)

4 -  Kerry Palmer  

5 -  Mark Twiner
6 -  Shaun Roberts 
7 -   James Clark (Sub Stuart Wilkins 70 mins)

8 -  Kain Claridge
9 -  Lee Harron
10 - Michael Dobson
11 - Will Grimley
12 - David Stradling  
13 - Luke Bowering
14 - Dan Hockley
15 - Rob Mackie

Sub not used Francis Brown

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