Harlow 5 Sudbury 17

London League Division Two North East

13th March 2010

Harlow made second placed Sudbury work hard for the points on Saturday. From the start Harlow made good use of their mobile pack to keep them pegged back in their own half, winning the bulk of the ruck ball and making good ground with the rolling maul.  Two good attacks by the backs were held out before a drive by the Harlow pack ball in hand allowed Kain Claridge the No.8  to score in the corner. The conversion missed but Harlow were ahead 5 – 0.  Harlow continued to have the best of the territory for the next 10 minutes before a break by Sudbury showed the pace of their backs. Their winger looked to be clear but was taken out by a hard low tackle by Harron.   On 30 minutes the Sudbury backs launched another good attack. Two ball carriers were taken out but effective offloading lead to a try in the corner converted to give them a 7 – 5 lead.  Two minutes from the interval Harlow had a chance to go ahead  with a penalty midfield but Danny Smith sliced his kick and Sudbury turned  round with a 5  - 7 ahead.

Early in the second half the Harlow pack continued to hold their own but as time progressed a rearranged visitors unit started to exercise more control. Pressure play from the Sudbury forwards and backs ended with them driving over in the corner for a try and a 5 – 12 lead  From the restart Harlow took play deep into the Sudbury 22 and forced two penalties which they opted to scrum. A chip for the corner went dead and the visitors cleared from the 22 drop out.  On 60 minutes another breakout by the Sudbury backs outpaced the Harlow defence and their fullback came into the line to run in the try.  The conversion was just wide but it now took the score to Fife points to 17 in their favour.  For the remaining 20 minutes Harlow continued to battle hard but were no longer able to dominate the forward play and Sudbury were able to whether several attacks on their line.  In the closing stages Danny Smith had one more chance to reduce the margin with a very long penalty which drifted just wide of the posts and the game ended with no further score.

Harlow first have a break this weekend before they meet league leaders Thurrock on the 27^th of March.  Thurrock have already clinched the league title and the guaranteed promotion that goes with it but will no doubt be determined to take the points from this game.  Harlow also have outstanding games against Romford and Gidea Park and Saffron Walden and if they can take points from these could finish the season with a respectable mid table finish.                     

Tries: Kain Claridge

Conversions:  

Penalties:

Team List

1 -  Paul Prindiville

2 -  Stuart Wilkins
3 -  Danny Lane  (Sub 65mins  Rob Treamer )

4 -  Kerry Palmer (Sub 60mins  Terry Blackwell )

5 -  Paul Eynon  

6 -  Scott Romaine (Captain)
7 -  Mark Bowering

8 -  Kain Claridge

9 -  Lee Harron

10 - Danny Smith

11 - Simon Vanbeck (Sub various - Blood Rob Mackie )
12 - James McFerran
13 - Luke Bowering

14 - Will Grimley

15 - Sean Banks

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