Harlow 27 Saffron Walden 29

London League Division Two North East

26th September 2009

The Harlow pack outplayed the heavier slower visiting forwards but were let down  by some poor tackling  as Saffron Walden  ran in four tries using both wings. Harlow were short of experienced players due to unavailability and injuries and had to call on Wayne Heapy to play at centre and 19 year old  James Clark in the back row. Together with wing Dan Hockley and centre Luke Bowering it must be the youngest set of three quarters ever fielded by the Rams.

The Harlow backs’ inexperience was exposed when the visitors won  possession and spun the  ball out wide.

Within seven minutes of the kick off Saffron Walden scored when their left wing Paul,Marshall crossed the line , his try converted by fly half Tom Hughes.

Harlow bounced  back and spent five minutes on the attack , Stradling passing to Grimley  who was pushed  into   touch just metres short. Stradling then crossed the line himself but was adjudged to have not  grounded the ball—no try!

Saffron Walden then broke away to score their second try when wing David Patch ran  almost the length of the pitch to score under the posts. Hughes’ conversion put Saffron Walden 14-0 up.

Further  pressure from the Rams brought some encouragement when Skipper Scott Romaine scored a try for Harlow out wide. He won possession at the base of the  scrum and brushed aside desperate tackles as he  ran forty metres and crossed the line. A Mackie conversion bought the score  to  5 –14 at the interval. Mark Bowering came on at half time for Clark.

Harlow made a disastrous start to the second half allowing the visitors to score another try from  the kick off scored by fullback David Philps. A third conversion by Hughes followed and Harlow looked to be out for the count.

The next five minutes however, was all Harlow with Hockley going close only to be pushed into touch. But it was the winger’s cross kick which allowed Mackie to catch before  passing to number 8 Shaun Roberts who scored  in the corner.

A long range penalty from Mackie gave the Rams some hope but it was soon cancelled out by a penalty from the visitors.

The Rams were now in the playing with much more determination  and they forced  their way into  the Saffron Walden twenty two. From a five metre scrummage the Rams pushed the visitors back and Roberts touched down. His try was converted by Mackie  bringing  the score to 20-24.

Saffron Walden thought they had won the game when they scored another try, Marshall the scorer. They missed the conversion and Harlow came back with  a converted try scored by prop Paul Prindiville to trail  27-29.

Five minutes from the end Stradling was injured and had to be replaced by Sean Banks. With huge encouragement from the crowd the Rams spent the last minutes of the game on the Saffron Walden goal line but just  could not snatch that vital score. They were  bitterly disappointed  to lose  but made a great come back to come within two points of their opponents.

Tries: Scott Romaine, Shaun Roberts, Paul Prindiville

Conversions:  Rob Mackie (3)

Penalties: Rob Mackie (2)

Team List

1 -  James Ephgrave

2 -  Stuart Wilkins
3 -  Paul Prindiville
4 -  Darren Hawkins
5 -  Mark Twiner
6 -  James Clark (Sub Mark Bowering 70 mins)
7 -  Scott Romaine (Captain)
8 -  Shaun Roberts

9 -  Lee Harron

10 - David Stradling (Sub Sean Banks 75 mins)
11 - Dan Hockley
12 - Wayne Heapy
13 - Luke Bowering  

14 - Will Grimley

15 - Rob Mackie

Sub not used: TBC

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