Harlow 16 Civil Service 11

Powergen London & S. E.  Div II North

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Within two minutes Harlow trailing by five points Harlow showed great bouncebackability from the kick off Harlow won possession and Jamie Pope, playing number 6 drove into the visitors' twenty two supported by a pack of forwards with the bit between their teeth. After a couple of short phases with the forwards bashing it close. A quick release from scrum half Darren Dunn found full back Keith Handscombe entering the line at speed. He went between the winger and outside centre to score. Dunn converted.

Harlow defended well and with Civil Service being penalised in the scrummages worked their way up to the Civil Service twenty two again. Following this good pressure they were awarded a penalty which Dunn dispatched easily, although it was not a straightforward kick.

Ten minutes before half time and Dunn struck again another kick from thirty yards which was again at an angle. Civil Service had an attacking spell but were held up and Harlow won the ball from a five metre scrum.

Eventually the pressure told and Civil Service kicked a penalty-in off the upright. - score at half time 13-8.

Second half started well for Civil Service. They looked dangerous when attacking through the middle and were rewarded with another penalty 13-11! The Harlow backs seemed to be in in no mood to allow anyone through and both Lee Smith and Simon Vanbeck on the Harlow wings kept their opposite numbers out of the game

and Wayne Morgan lead the way in in what was proving to be an unbreachable defence. More transgressions from Civil Service and again Dunn stepped up to kick another well struck penalty . With 60 minutes gone Pope limped off (cramp) to be replaced by Martin Edwards.

The last twenty minutes were nail biting. But the Harlow defence was superb. The closest the visitors got to scoring was a charged down clearance kick which rebounded over the dead ball line.

Overall the pack was excellent. Held their own scrums and won their lineouts. The two Scotts, Thorne at 8 and Romaine at 2 were terrific and Gary Brown had a great game at prop. Darren Dunn was awarded Man of the Match at the end of the games by his fellow players.

Team: Alan Yates, Scott Romaine, Gary Brown, Paul Scott, Robert Cochrane, Paul Eynon, Scott Thorne, James Pope (Sub Martin Edwards 60), Darren Dunn, Francis Brown, Lee Smith (Captain), Wayne Morgan, Ian Rundell, Simon Vanbeck, Keith Handscombe. Subs not used. Lee Hodges, Matthew Todd.

Above all this game showed that Harlow can field a side which has real commitment and self belief. Veteran Keith Handscombe has made a massive difference since he dusted off his boots a few games ago. The fact that he is so versatile was important on Saturday when he made a very successful switch from the back row of the scrum to take over at full back. Jamie Pope has returned to the team after a long break and is very important as a physically strong forward who is also a very good ball player. The fact that this season Harlow has a very effective second team is important. It meant that payers moving up to the firsts were match fit, they delivered on Saturday and made strong claims to keep their places. Next week Harlow are away to Hadleigh who will be a tough proposition on their own patch. If the Rams could snatch this one they will really be able to claim to be back in business.

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