Harlow 40   Diss 17

Powergen London & South East Div II North

Harlow produced an entertaining and workmanlike performance to see off Diss on Saturday. They ran in five excellent tries and Dave Stradling had his kicking boots on slotting three penalties and three conversions. The team was boosted by the return of James Ephgrave at prop providing extra strength in driving forward moves and by Rudi Esterhuyse at fullback. Perhaps the biggest advantage came from the return of veteran Keith Handscomb at No. 8. He still has real pace and was able to exploit any gaps in the Diss defence from both scrum and ruck. Harlow skipper Lee Smith had his best game of the season scoring two tries and setting up a third for Paul Scott.

Harlow started strongly taking play into the Diss 22. The home side responded to pressure by killing the ball and Stradling slotted the penalty to put Harlow in front. Minutes later he missed another, slicing his kick, but then slotted one to give Harlow a 6 – 0 lead. Against the run of play Diss broke out to score a try from deep in the Rams’ half, their centre committing two tacklers to create the overlap. A further setback followed when Harlow let them deep into their half from a penalty and then allowed them to drive in for a converted try making it 6 – 12. Harlow continued to apply pressure through the pack and from a further penalty Stradling closed the gap to three points. Some minutes later came Harlow’s first try; the best of the day. It started with Simon Vanbeck on the right wing bursting through the narrowest of gaps between defender and touchline and taking play into the Diss half. When blocked he passed inside and the ball went through the entire three quarter line plus Eynon who took it in on midfield before Lee Smith scored in the left hand corner. Stradling landed his best kick of the day from out wide and Harlow were 16 – 12 in front. Towards the end of the half another run by Vanbeck ended with the Diss scrambling the ball into touch about 10 yards out from their line. From the lineout Harlow set up the rolling maul and moved towards the line for Tommy Johnson and James Ephgrave to peel off and crash over for the try. Tommy got the credit for the touchdown making it 21 – 12 at half time.

Ten minutes into the second half Harlow took play into the Diss half following a 30 yard solo dash by Handscomb. From the breakdown they moved the ball out to Smith on the wing who made thirty yards before he was closed down by both winger and fullback. He chipped the ball over them and won the race for the touchdown taking it to 26 – 12. For most of the third quarter Harlow kept up the pressure using the pace of their backs. Esterhuyse added an extra dimension by his ability to come into the line at pace. Eventually it was Vanbeck in the wing who outpaced his opposite number to run in a great try, converted by Stradling to make it 33 – 12. In the last quarter a little of the momentum went out of the Harlow play allowing Diss to mount several forays into the Rams’ 22 and from one of these they drove in for a forwards try in the corner cutting the lead to 33 – 17. Harlow however had the last word from another solo run from Smith who when blocked passed inside to lock Paul Scott who ran in the try close to the posts. The kick was good making the final score 40 – 17.

Team: Ephgrave, Johnson, Yates, Grover, Scott, Eynon, Lakin, Handscomb, Roth, Jarvis, Smith (capt.), Stradling, Morgan, Vanbeck, Esterhuyse. Replacements not used: Romaine, Cochrane, Keeling.

Tries: Smith(2), Vanbeck, Johnson, Scott. Conversions: Stradling(3). Penalties: Stradling(3).

Next week Harlow are away to fourth placed Letchworth a very tough call. After that they complete the first half of the season with a home fixture against Woodford and an away against second place Ealing. If they do not win at least one of these games they face a very tough challenge in the return matches in the second half of the season.

Note to sports editors: Harlow ladies beat West Norfolk 25 – 15 in their home league match Sunday afternoon. The decisive factor was the absolute pace of the Harlow back. I am waiting for team lists and scorers. A report should follow shortly.

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